As I have mentioned before, I grew up in Satellite Beach from the 1970's on through. I did a short time in the service, but for the most part I have been in the area the whole time. Things have really changed. I'm apart of a group on Facebook, that do nothing but reminisce about all things that are no longer around. Landmarks, restaurants, stores, and hangouts that have gone the way of the wind and tides. This is one of the reasons I enjoy looking for and finding old pics of the area that I know like my favorite song. I have been surprised at what I have found, and what I did not know.
Down the coast, two towns south of my home town, is the City of Indialantic. My whole life, I have tripped over the pronunciation of it, wanting to call it Indian Atlantic. As you might have guessed it was intentionally the melding of the two words because it's between the Indian River and the Atlantic Ocean. Believe it or not, the beginning of Indialantic started with the lighthouse keeper at Cape Canaveral, planting a crop of pineapples in the 1840's. In those days, the area was known as "East Melbourne" and some of the Entrepreneurs in Eau Gallie and Melbourne decided to start Pineapple Plantations on the island. In 1892, J.H.Phillips built his pineapple plantation home in the Indialantic area. Pineapples where the start of the land boom on the Barrier Islands, with prices starting at $1.25 per acre in the 1880's going up to $1,000 per acre in the early 1890's.
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| first Melbourne bridge |
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Planters, and homesteaders were finding a wealth in the property until the freezes of 1894 and 1895. One family from Eau Gallie that was working their own pineapple nursery lost over 150,000 pineapples. Thus ending the pineapple industry in the area. As time went on, and the surrounding towns were growing, Indialantic stood still until 1916, when a man named Ernest Kouwen-Hoven came down from Chicago for his health. He started buying up the property on the barrier island and subdividing it into lots, ferry slips, a golf course, streets, a public beach, and area for a hotel. This was called "Indialantic-By-The-Sea".
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| Tin Can Travelers in Indialantic (1922) |
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When Kouwen-Hoven began, he was charging only $100 per lot, but after he built the bridge from Melbourne to the island, lots started going for $400 - $1000 each. With all this new land and accommodations, brought the newest type of traveler; the "Tin Car Traveler". In 1923 he sold the remaining lots and bridge to Herbert R. Earle, who continued selling and promoting the area. This gave way for two major developments The Indialantic Casino and the Indialantic Hotel .
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| The Indialantic Casino (1924) |
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| The Indialantic Casino with Saltwater |
The Indialantic Casino was located at the end of what is now 5th Ave.and flourished for many years. Rum Running during prohibition along the coast made it a very popular place. In 1944 the name was changed to the Bahama House and used as a Hotel. In 1970 the Indialantic Fire Department took it down. What now stands in it's place is called the Nance Park.
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| The Indialantic Hotel (1922) |
The Indialantic Hotel followed in the foot steps of the Casino. Both businesses boomed until the Stock Market Crash, then all grew quiet around the area until the 1950's and the start of the Space Program. The Indialantic Hotel was later named the Tradewinds Hotel and was at the end of Shannon Ave. In the 1970's it was owned and used by the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) as dorm rooms. During the 1980's it was sold room by room into condominiums until it was eventually torn down.
In 1947 the new Melbourne Causeway was completed, allowing the traffic from the mainland to Patrick Air Force Base and the Space Program. This surge of travelers created another land boom, and in 1952 the first Indialantic Town Council incorporated. Today, we all know 5th Ave. as the gateway to the beach from the mainland and where some of the best surf in Brevard County is. It's surprising that you can put a new outlook on an old friend you just have to look for it's roots.
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| 5th Ave. looking east circa 1940 |
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| 5th Ave. as it is today |
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