History of Palm Bay, Florida
Palm Bay began in 1870, when three Georgia partners bought 75 acres on the Indian River for citrus and built a packing house at Tillman's Wharf, at the mouth of Turkey Creek, according to the National Register nomination for St. Joseph's Catholic Church. The Tillman post office opened in 1887, the Legislature chartered the Town of Palm Bay in 1925, and it became a city in 1960. Long before that, the Indian River shore here was Ais country.
No Brevard city has grown like it. The census counted 2,808 people in 1960. By 1990 there were 62,632, and the 2020 count of 119,760 made Palm Bay the largest city in the county.
Population, census by census
| Census | Population |
|---|---|
| 1960 | 2,808 |
| 1970 | 6,927 |
| 1980 | 18,560 |
| 1990 | 62,632 |
| 2010 | 103,190 |
| 2020 | 119,760 |
Every article, in order
Each article on this site, grouped by the period it covers.
1900 to 1949
- The 1925 renaming: how the Town of Tillman became the Town of Palm Bay
- Tillman: what Palm Bay was called before 1925
1950 to 1979
1980 to today
- Turkey Creek Sanctuary: 130 acres on the creek, since 1981
- The 1987 Palm Bay shootings
- General Development Corporation: the fraud case, the bankruptcy and the reversal
- Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne (2004): Landfall Dates and Palm Bay's Damage
- The Indian River Lagoon at Palm Bay: the 2011 blooms and after
Places, people and institutions
- The Ais: the people of Palm Bay's stretch of the Indian River
- The Palm Bay High Pirates and their two state football titles
Sources for this page
- National Park Service, National Register Nomination Form: St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Palm Bay (listed 1987)
- City of Palm Bay, History
- U.S. Census Bureau, 1970 Census of Population, Number of Inhabitants: Florida, Table 6
- U.S. Census Bureau, 1990 CPH-2-11, Population and Housing Unit Counts: Florida, Table 10
- U.S. Census Bureau, QuickFacts (2010 and 2020 census counts)