Historic Guidelines - City of Melbourne, Florida

Historic Setting
The Florida Land Boom of the 1920s was
Florida’s first real estate bubble, shaping its future
by creating entire new cities. The Melbourne/Eau
Gallie area also felt the frenzied development that
occurred throughout the state. Their combined
population in 1920 was at 1,040 but grew into
an estimated 8,200 by 1926. The 1920s brought
tourists, settlers, and land speculators to the area.
New subdivisions were platted. This boom was
short-lived, however, as Melbourne, Eau Gallie
and other communities in the State went into
economic decline in 1926, three years before the
Great Depression. Few significant building projects
were undertaken in the city until the mid 1930s
when the most severe effects of the depression
began to wane. Growth since World War II has
increased the demand for services and has created
concerns about the conservation of the natural
and cultural resources of Melbourne and Eau
Gallie. The historic buildings that were constructed
and survived, represent a significant collection of
culturally important artifacts to the area. In 1969,
Melbourne and Eau Gallie were consolidated into
the City of Melbourne.
The Eau Gallie Historic District comprises
portions of the residential neighborhood south
of Montreal Avenue and east of U. S Highway
1 – the location of the town’s first settlement
by the Houston family. The district is comprised
of mostly single family homes, some of which
are representative of the area’s history and
architecture, and features the James W. Rossetter
House, a National Historic Landmark, and the
Houston Cemetery, which was established in 1865.
DRAFT
INTRODUCTION
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