More historic than 5% of U.S. towns · #555 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
Most of Cocoa Beach was built recently: 0.5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1949 on, and the census since 1930.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1926.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Cocoa Beach’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cocoa Beach is more historic than 5% of U.S. towns, #555 of 638 in Florida. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Cocoa Beach’s overall grade.
Few Florida towns list much on the Register (a typical Florida town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Cocoa Beach’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (33% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to D. The pre-1940 share (±0.5 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1925.
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Cocoa Beach’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first non-native settlement in the area was by a family of freed slaves following the American Civil War. In 1888, a group of men from Cocoa bought the entire tract of land, which went undeveloped until it was bought out in 1923 by a member of the group—Gus Edwards, Cocoa's city attorney. At that time, Edwards' total holdings included approximately 600 acres (240 ha). He stopped practicing law to devote all his efforts to developing the area.
In 1925, according to Wikidata. Cocoa Beach’s post office opened in 1926, and the census of 1930 counted 31 people here.
How does Cocoa Beach rank for history?
Cocoa Beach is more historic than 5% of U.S. towns, #555 of 638 in Florida. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in Cocoa Beach?
0.5% of Cocoa Beach’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1975.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1962
1962
