Centennial Brochure Complete
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INTRODUCTION The following are the principal sources used for the first four chapters: Mr. Jack B. Horton, Jr's. manuscript entitled The First 50 Years, 1867-1917, that ran in serial form in the Titusvi lle Star-Advocate; a series of thirteen historical articles which appeared in th~ Spaceport News; miscellaneous information supplied by the Kennedy Space Center Historian; East Coast Florida Memoirs, 1837 to 1866 by Robert Hanson; a manuscript entitled Brevard County From The Wilderness; several articles and research papers compiled and written by Mr. l. C. Crofton; and pictures supplied by the Titusville Star-Advocate, the Bohannon Studio & Camero Shop, and the Kennedy Space Center Historian. The material in Chapters 5 through 10 was compiled by Barbara Heller .Kalanik (Mrs. Thomas Kolcinik) through interviews with numerous local citizens. Mrs. Kolanik p laced in quotation marks the stories that are translated verbatim although the person interviewed is sometimes not identi fied. Mrs. Charles Shuey assisted in the editing and writing of these chapters. The following residents of Titusville ore thanked for their interviews which contributed to this portion of the history: Miss Kate Shuey; Mrs. D. B. Pritchard; Mrs. Annie Griggs; Mrs. Marion Barnhart; Mr. AI Ziegler; Mr. L. C . Crofton; Mr. Charles E. McConnell; Mr. Everett Anderson; Mrs. E. l. Bottle; Mr. Chorels Heller; Mrs. Sadye Gibson; Mr. and Mrs. James Finn; Mrs. Truman Taylor; Mr. Dick Darden; Mrs. Virginia Bohannon; · Mrs. Natalie Gardne.r; Mrs. Robert Green; and Mrs. Becky DeViese. In addition the Andrew Gibson School is thanked for the material it supplied. The final chapter was written by Marylou Miller (Mrs. Richard H. Miller). Each organization and church was personally contacted in quest of an article and pictures. Printing deadlines dictated that only those chu rches and organizations that submitted on article could be included in. this chapter. The following is a COUNTDOWN IN HISTORY. The Co~nt begins with a savage and unex plored wilderness and proceeds through a varied and colorful history. The Count ends with .the p resent - the fastest growing city in Americ~'s fastest growing County. Titusville is ripe for her lift-off. Her future is grounded in the Space Age and intertwined with the excellen.ce and innova tion that Age will bring. Robert L. Nabors Compliments of Congratulations & Best Wishes On Your Centennial Celebration Sears 3550 South Washington Ave. Titusville TABLE OF CONTENTS Before The White Man Chapter 1 Exploration Chapter 2 Settlement Of Brevard Chapter 3 Civil War and Reconstruction Chapter 4 The Early Settlers Of La Grange And Surrounding Communities Chapter 5 Colonel Henry T. Titus Chapter 6 Commercial Development Chapter 7 Civic, Health and Community Organization Chapter 8 Recreation Chapter 9 Civic Development Chapter 10 The Boom And War Years Chapter 11 The Space Industry Chapter 12 Churches and Organizations Chapter 13 End of booklet ads Chapter 14 Organization, Credits and Program Chapter 15 The "Historical Booklet and Program" was scanned and compiled by David N. Rich of Peak Performance Co. in Titusville for the History website on the North Brevard Business Directory (.www.nbbd.comfgodolhistory/). There were some oversights in the construction of the original Booklet that are corrected in the above Table of Contents. Compliments of KINGMAN CARPENTER ED KITTLES AGENCY AGENCY Before The White Man About the year 1,000 B.C., a peculiar tribe of Indians each village belonged to the chief and it was usually settled in the general Brevard area. These early inhabi located in the center of the vlllage. In his house tants were named Ais or Ays (Ah-es) by the first was a seat of honor and other places where his second Spanish explorers. The Als Indians were aboriginal in command and advisors were stationed. It was here and should not be confused with the Seminole Indians that· the village chief enacted village laws and ruled of a later date. The Als lived in small nomadic bands and judged his tribe. and chose various prime locations along the Indian Physically, the Als were small in stature in compari River to make camp. The beach area was the normal son with the average conte:nporary American Indian. winter habitat but with the coming of summer and Their small stature did not result rn timidity, however, the ever present mosquito, the Indians would migrate for all known accounts indicate that the Als were to the higher mainland ridges. very warlike and were great hunters and skilled in the use of the bow and arrow and other weapons. The Ais tribe was loosely grouped with the Indian The main garb of the Als men was a breechcloth. tribes of the southern half of Florida. The tribe consist Many ornaments of stone, bone and shell have been ed of a series of small villages each commanded found which would indicate that the women's wearing by its own village chief. They lived in crude and apparel was made of the skins of animals. flimsy wooden frame structures that were completely Hunting and fishing were the chief occupational op· covered with palmetto leaves. The largest house in portunities and since wildlife was in abundance, food was no problem. Their staple food was fish speared from the Indian River which was known to the Ais Tribe as the "Aysta-chatta-hatch-ee". Translated, this means " the river of the Ais Indians". Later the Span iards were to·refer to the Indian River on all of their maps as "The Rio d' Ays". In addition to fish and game, oysters, clams and snails were a mainstay of their diet. As these Indians became more civilized, their society lost much of its simplicity. An example of the complexi ty which required a conmunity effort by the Indians is the burial mound. One of the larger burial grounds is located on Kennedy Space Center property at the northermost boundaries of the Spaceport near Oak Hill. The most noteworthy of the various mounds is the Ross Hammock Site. Here. the ·dirt is piled twenty five feet high in an area 100 feet in diameter. The mound is full of skeletons at varying levels of depth and was dug into in 1963 by the Florida State Museum. Evidence shows that there are at least forty separate burials in a small portion of the mound. There is no conclusive evidence showL'lg any practice of religion by the Als prior to the arrivill of the Spaniards. This plus an indifference to agriculture Indian relics found on the Merritt Island launch and an apparent late development of different types area by the William Andrews family of Indian Riv of pottery has led to the belief that the Als were er City. a backward tribe. CoNGRATULATIONs ON YouR lOOrH ANNIVERSARY, TITUSVILLE. " • . more power ahead . • " FLORIDA POWER AND LIGHT co Exploration The first accurate account of the Cape Canaveral safekeeping. The Als therefore became the wealthiest area was made by the noted Spanish explorer, Ponce tribe in North America when measured by the white de Leon when on May 8, 1513, he and his men anchored man's standard. off shore from an Als Indian village just below the The exploration of the French touched on the Cape Cape. By the year 1550, Spanish ships were sailing Canaveral area in 1565 when Admiral Jean Ribault with regularity northward through the Caribbean and passed by Cape Canaveral on his journey to the mouth up the Florida straits to catch the prevalling western of the St. Johns River to reinforce an established winds that drove their ships home to Spain loaded French garrison. This French fort established near with gold and treasure from the New World. Jacksonville was known as Fort Caroline. On this In addition to the perils and uncertainty of the trip it is written that Ri~ult paused briefly in an sea, these early Spanish explorers were faced with Als village and rescued two sailors who bad been the presence of scurvy, an additional and equally captured by the Indians. One of the two bad been perilous danger. On Columbus' third or fourth voyage a prisoner of the A1s for fourteen years. almost every sailor eventually died of scurvy because Pb1111p n of Spain considered the French a threat of the absence of any citrus fruit. As possible solution to Spanish settlement and sent Admiral Pedro Menen each departing ship was required to have stored in dez de Aviles to destroy the French colony at Fort the Captain's cabin a keg of lime for each sailor Caroline. Accompanying Menendez were 2,646 persons aboard. This solution was beset with problems. The aboard 34 Spanish vessels. The ensuing massacre of 1lme juice would sour and ferment in the kegs to the French resulted in the settlement and establishment such a point that the sailors who drank it became of the City of St. Augustine in 1565. drunk. Eventually the fermentation would split the There were no major incidents between the Spaniards kegs. Later the King in another vain attempt dictated and the Indians between 1513 to 1564. The Spanish that each sailor who came to the new world would had declared the majority of Florida as off lim1ts plant 100 orange seeds. However, the hot Florida sun since the Indians were so hostile and the land virtually and the lack of care killed all the plants which sprouted impenetrable. During ·this period the fun and profit from the seeds. lay in exploitation of Mexico and Central and South At last the King decreed that each sailor bring America. However, after the destruction of their colony ten young orange trees with him to the New World by Menendez and his Armada, the Frenchmen who and plant them ashore.