Historic City Point Church Open House

The Brevard Heritage Council, the county's oldest historic preservation group, http://www.brevardheritagecouncil.org/ would like to invite local history lovers to an open house at the Council's new home, the City Point Church, on February 18th starting at 4pm. It will be a great chance to view this historic structure and meet the board members of the Council. The BHC is famous for its historic home tours, annual property awards, monetary grants to deserving groups and much more. They can always use volunteers and new members to support their work, so if you are interested stop by and say hi and partake in some light refreshments!

The City Point church is owned by the county and has been leased to the Brevard Heritage Council to be used as a meeting space and a home for their records. The former church is on the National Register and the following interesting history can be found on the marker in front of the building.

Known as City Point, this area was settled shortly after the Civil War by Confederate veterans, citrus grove workers, northern winter residents, and consumptives seeking a healthy climate. By early 1885, a board of trustees was formed consisting of William H. Sharpe, George W. Holmes, A.L. Hatch, John M. Sanders, and George E. Chester, to construct this building to be used for a public hall, school, and non-denominational church for both white and black residents. On land donated by J.C. Norwood, this building was designed by A.L. Hatch and built by John M. Sanders who completed the work on November 1, 1885. This structure served as the beginning congregation for the following churches: the United Methodist Church of Cocoa, Church of Christ, Church of God, Primitive Baptist Church, Calvin Baptist Church, Indian River Baptist Church, Baptist Enterprise Church, and the First Apostolic Temple. The building was used as a school until 1924. Picnics, dances, political rallies, a precinct voting station and observation tower during World War II, were some of the many uses the community found for the building.

Beginning Genealogy Class

A six week Beginning Genealogy Course will start on Thursday, Jan 20, 2011 and will meet each Thursday from 9:30 to noon in Meeting Room 1 of the Central Brevard Library, 308 Forrest Ave., Cocoa, Florida through February 24.

There will be a $30 materials charge which will include a 3-ring binder with course syllabus which contains summaries of all classes, a supply of genealogy forms, archival sheet protectors and notebook paper.

Instructiors will be Vera Zimmerman and Betty Eichhorn with guest teachers on several topics.

For more information contact Vera Zimmerman (321)453-4932, verabzim@bellsouth.net or visit the BGS website at http://www.flbgs.org/ed/classes.html

Welcome

This blog is being introduced as a way of sharing what is going on in the genealogy department at the Central Brevard Library in Cocoa, Florida and the wider genealogical community in our area. Information will be posted on upcoming classes, lectures, speakers and special events. Since genealogy and history go hand in hand I will also be posting items related to the rich history of our area. This may include stories about interesting individuals, events and places. At least initially, several of the topics covered will be the result of frequent questions by library patrons on the same subject, such as the 1934 murder of Cocoa's Ethel Allen, and while we cannot post all our historical documents on a particular topic it will give the reader an idea of what is available at the library. Individuals may also contact me about posting information on events or topics they feel would be of interest to the readers of this blog.