Biohazard Cleanup Near West Cocoa Cocoa, FL

Cocoa was founded by fishermen in 1882 under the name Indian River City, on the western shore of the Indian River Lagoon in Brevard County.

The town got its shorter name in 1884 after the post office objected that 'Indian River City' was too long for a postmark; Captain R. C. May suggested 'Cocoa' at a town meeting, and the city was incorporated on October 1, 1895.

Cocoa was an Indian River citrus-shipping town long before the Space Age, and the Great Freeze of 1894-95 devastated its groves just as the city was getting started.

Cocoa's population jumped from 3,098 in 1940 to 12,244 in 1960 as the space industry took off at nearby Cape Canaveral.

The 2020 census counted 19,041 people in Cocoa; the city has about 8,500 households, and roughly 64% of its homes are owner-occupied.

Historic Cocoa Village, the city's riverfront downtown, preserves its citrus-era character, with some streets still paved in 1890s cobblestone and filled with locally owned shops and restaurants.

The Porcher House in Cocoa Village, built in 1916 for Edward Postell Porcher, one of the largest Indian River citrus growers, is a coquina-faced Classical Revival landmark.

The Aladdin Theatre opened in Cocoa Village in 1924 and still operates today as the Cocoa Village Playhouse; it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.

Eastern Florida State College began in Cocoa in 1960 as Brevard Junior College, opening in the old Cocoa High School building before moving to its campus by Clear Lake.

Cocoa is home to the Florida Solar Energy Center, the University of Central Florida's energy research institute.