Melbourne began as Crane Creek, a landing on the Indian River.

According to the 2016 National Register nomination for Melbourne's Green Gables, the first settlers at Crane Creek were freedmen who came in 1867. William Camp filed the first plat of Melbourne in 1886, and the town was incorporated on December 22, 1888, named for its first postmaster, Cornthwaite John Hector, who was said to have come from Melbourne, Australia. Eau Gallie, William Gleason's town to the north, was platted in 1884. Flagler's railway reached Eau Gallie on May 20, 1893, and Melbourne a few months later. The two towns grew side by side until 1969, when Eau Gallie was consolidated into Melbourne.

What this site covers

Melbourne's founding and its name. Eau Gallie and William Gleason, the former lieutenant governor who platted it and offered Flagler land to bring the railroad there. The 1893 railroad, and the fish, ice and citrus trades it carried north. Front Street, the 1919 fire and the move downtown to New Haven Avenue. Brevard Engineering College, which held its first evening classes for missile-range engineers in September 1958 and became Florida Tech. The 1969 merger, Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne in 2004, and the lagoon.

Corrections and pointers to primary records are welcome at hello@oldmelbourne.com.