a day ago
Since 1st rocket launch 75 years ago, Brevard undergoes huge development sparked by Space Race
Assembled with a captured German V-2 missile, the experimental Bumper 8 rocket rose above surrounding wilderness on July 24, 1950, marking America's first launch from Cape Canaveral — and sparking the Space Coast's swift trajectory from "a sleepy, agriculture-based community" into the world's top commercial spaceport.
Only 246 people lived in rustic Cocoa Beach when Bumper 8 lifted off. Neither the cities of Palm Bay nor Satellite Beach yet existed. And with a mere 4,223 people, Melbourne had fewer residents than Cocoa's population of 4,245.
From those humble beginnings, rocket-fueled population growth during the Space Race of the 1950s and '60s propelled Brevard County's economic and community development far faster than U.S. cities that had a century-plus head start.
'You had thousands of technicians and engineers and just plain folks (move here) — everybody from launch directors to the people who clean the offices up there in the space center. So this was good news for Brevard County, and maybe some tough news,' said Robert Taylor, a Florida Institute of Technology history professor.
'The good news is that the economy, of course, is just being stimulated to all get-out. Because these people are relatively well-paid. And they're spending their money here,' Taylor said.
'The downside is the growth in population would happen so fast that there'd be shortages of everything. Shortages of housing. Shortages of schools. The roads very quickly became jammed with cars at certain parts of the day,' he said.
In 1950, a mere 23,653 people lived in Brevard, which Florida Historical Society Executive Director Ben Brotemarkle described as "a sleepy, agriculture-based community" along 72 miles of Atlantic Ocean coastline.
But Brotemarkle noted Brevard's population skyrocketed a remarkable 371% during the 1950s as Cape Canaveral missile testing, NASA and Project Mercury debuted, reaching 111,435 residents by 1960.
Then the population more than doubled during the 1960s, surpassing 230,000 residents by 1970. Brotemarkle views this as a microcosm of Florida's population influx as a whole, but the Space Coast's explosive experience was unique — ranking as one of America's fastest-growing counties in terms of percentage.
"A lot of infrastructure came with that, too. When the space program first happened, people that worked for NASA were complaining that they had to go to Orlando just to go grocery shopping," Brotemarkle said.
"When you talk about population growth, it's important to remember that that led to massive infrastructure here: Neighborhoods being built, and bridges that didn't exist. Causeways connecting the barrier islands. Churches and schools and roads — and everything that goes with more people," he said.
Indeed, Taylor mentioned local tales of early Cape employees moving into garages, "camping" in sewer pipes by the sides of roads, and living in tents on beach.
'That may sound nice, but it's hot on that beach — and there's these things called sandflies,' Taylor said.
Growing throughout NASA's Projects Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and the 30-year space shuttle program — and the ongoing, accelerating industry transition to commercial companies led by SpaceX — Brevard's population reached 658,447 residents by July 2024, census records show. That represents a healthy 8.5% increase since April 2020.
"Those of us who have been around a while have watched that growth continue," Brotemarkle said. "Over the past 60, 70 years, that growth has continued. And we see it every day. The Viera area, in particular: That used to be cow pasture. And now, it is many housing developments and restaurants and shopping malls.
"Just amazing growth continuing today, from what started with NASA in the mid-20th century," he said.
For the latest news from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's Kennedy Space Center, visit
Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale at Rneale@ Twitter/X: @RickNeale1
Space is important to us and that's why we're working to bring you top coverage of the industry and Florida launches. Journalism like this takes time and resources. Please support it with a subscription here.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: U.S. Space Race rockets Brevard through decades of swift development
