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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

We have a couple of goals for our Gazetteer:

  • That it be a tool which helps us with planning our trips.
  • We're trying to shape our Gazetteer as a tool to help us understand the community in which our ancestors lived, the community that was part of their daily lives.
  • On our trips, we try to visit those places where our ancestors left their footprints.

By learning about Cocoa Beach (and the surrounding area) during the time that our ancestors lived, we hope to have a better understanding of both their community and its relationship to their lifes. We hope that this tool helps to give us an insight into their world.

As we add data and organize our Gazetteer to help with our family research, we will be adding to this our Genealogical Helper for Cocoa Beach. While we don't have information that is specific to any given person or family, we intend to expand our understanding about where and how people lived.

Name Variations for Cocoa Beach ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Cocoa Beach: Cocoa Bch.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

Neighboring Counties ...

When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties.

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the east. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the south.

So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties instead of the county in which they lived:  their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the east contained birth and death records; the county to the south contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.

Cocoa Beach is located in Brevard County.

To see how the shape of Florida's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Brevard County: Indian River, Orange, Osceola & Volusia.

Below are the counties that are near Cocoa Beach. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Cocoa Beach:

  • Brevard County     (The home county of Cocoa Beach)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cocoa Beach, with the one closest to Cocoa Beach listed first.
    • Angel City
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angel City
      • Angel City is located in Brevard County
    • Cape Canaveral
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Merritt Island
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Port Canaveral
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Suntree
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Rockledge
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Cocoa
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cocoa
      • Cocoa is located in Brevard County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,694 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cocoa <1>
    • South Patrick Shores
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Patrick Shores have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Patrick Shores
      • South Patrick Shores is located in Brevard County
    • Viera
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Palm Shores
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Satellite Beach
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Tropic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Indian Harbour Beach
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Orange County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cocoa Beach, with the one closest to Cocoa Beach listed first.
    • Christmas
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Wedgefield
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wedgefield
      • Wedgefield is located in Orange County

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Cocoa Beach, see our County-by-County Page for Cocoa Beach.

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Cocoa Beach ...

An ongoing effort between the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has resulted in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).

To share their results, the partnership has created the Chronicling America website. The goal of this partnership is to assemble a database about the current and historic newspapers of the United States. This includes a growing collection of scanned images from selected papers. All of it available to the public on their website.

Using information that we've taken from the Chronicling America website, we've identified 32 newspapers that have been published in the area around Cocoa Beach.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Cocoa Beach. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Cocoa Beach and those printed in the larger area surrounding Cocoa Beach.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 23 miles [37 km]<3> of Cocoa Beach.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either offer the information directly or else point to where you can find it. Their information is open to everyone.

To help you get started, the following links will take you to the pages that are relevant to Cocoa Beach:

Cemeteries Near Cocoa Beach ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Cocoa Beach.

This is a new section and is likely to have errors. If you find an error, such as a missing cemetery or we have the wrong name, please let us know. If you know of them, we would also appreciate learning about previous or alternate names.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Cocoa Beach covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Cocoa Beach, with the one closest to Cocoa Beach listed first.

  • Brevard Memorial Park
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Brevard Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Brevard Memorial Park
  • Florida Memorial Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Florida Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Florida Memorial Cemetery
  • Williams Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Pine Crest Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pine Crest Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pine Crest Cemetery
  • Quarterman Family Cemetery #2
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Bethel Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bethel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethel Cemetery
  • St. Luke's Parish Episcopal Church Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Luke's Parish Episcopal Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Luke's Parish Episcopal Church Cemetery
  • Fountainhead Memorial Park
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
  • Grant Community Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
  • Christmas Cemetery
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Christmas Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Christmas Cemetery

Nearby Communities in 1895 ...

We've built the following list with information that came from an Atlas published by Rand McNally in 1895. The Atlas had details such as the population of the community (which appears to have come from the 1890 Census) and whether there was a post office and/or railroad service available. We also indicate if the community no longer exists and is now historic.<5>

While we didn't find Cocoa Beach in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Cocoa Beach.

These communities are listed based on their distance from Cocoa Beach, with the one closest to Cocoa Beach listed first.

  • Georgiana
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Georgiana have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgiana
    • Georgiana is located in Brevard County
  • Rockledge
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Indianola
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indianola have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indianola
    • Indianola is located in Brevard County
  • Cocoa
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cocoa
    • Cocoa is located in Brevard County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,694 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cocoa <1>
  • Tropic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • City Point
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for City Point have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for City Point
    • City Point is located in Brevard County
  • Canaveral ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Canaveral have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canaveral
    • Canaveral is located in Brevard County
  • Sharpes
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Eau Gallie
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eau Gallie
    • Eau Gallie is located in Brevard County
  • Melbourne
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Malabar
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
  • Titusville
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
  • Valkaria
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Valkaria have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valkaria
    • Valkaria is located in Brevard County
  • Mims
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)

We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Cocoa Beach. See our List of 1890's Communities around Cocoa Beach.

The official website for Cocoa Beach: www.cityofcocoabeach.com/

The official website for Brevard County: www.brevardcounty.us/

The official website for State of Florida: www.myflorida.com/

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Cocoa Beach) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Cocoa Beach. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 28.3184, Longitude: -80.6101    
<4>The Find-a-Grave website is an excellent research tool with information about a cemetery's location and interments. They also offer a forum for their members which can provide additional help. More information about Find-a-Grave can be found on their website: findagrave.com.
<5>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Cocoa Beach, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024