March 2017 | Business View Magazine

106 107 PalmBay Palm Bay, Florida Florida T he City of Palm Bay is no stranger to reinvention. The history of the Florida city is varied and vibrant, rooted in the lore of Native Florida and represent- ing the cutting edge of engineering and technology today. It is the spirit of the city and residents that has allowed Palm Bay to adapt to the times and thrive, becom- ing Brevard’s largest community. Palm Bay’s early inhabitants are thought to have been the Timucua Indi- ans, who were originally attracted to the freshwater springs, fish, oysters, and wild- life at the mouth of Turkey Creek at the Indian River. In the 1850s the area, then known as Tillman, was host to European settlers who built homes along Turkey Creek and founded a lumbering opera- tion and orange groves. Between 1910 and 1914, Tillman became the center of a land company known as the Indian Riv- er Catholic Colony. The colony’s zealous farmers attempted to grow two crops a season, which quickly depleted the soil quality and the colony ultimately failed. In the 1920s the city was renamed Palm Bay, calling to mind the beautiful sable palm-lined bay anchoring the city’s east side at the mouth of Turkey Creek. A group of Tillman businessmen estab- City on a roll