Titusville's New Tax Exemption for Historic Structures

Congratulations to the City of Titusville, its Historic Preservation Board and to the indefatigable Roz Foster for seeing that the city has instituted the first tax exemption program for historic structures in Brevard County!

The City of Titusville has created an ad valorem tax exemption for qualifying improvements of properties designated on Titusville's Register of Historic Places. The exemption program was adopted by City Council on January 9, 2018. They believe the program provides a positive financial incentive for local designation of historic structures; encourages rehabilitation/restoration of locally designated historic structures; stabilizes and improves property values; and improves the appearance of designated structures, revitalizing neighborhood within the City.

For more information on the program click here to view their website.

Below are some of the properties that have been added to their register in the past few years.

Funniest Legal Opinion EVER!!

So the other day one of our dedicated volunteers, Wendy Whitney of Rockledge, was going through her daily pile of old land abstracts that she is indexing for us, when she called my attention to a lawsuit included among the papers. Now, there is nothing usual about this, we quite often find lawsuits over property included among abstracts, which are meant to sum up the long and often unremarkable history of a certain piece of property. What WAS unusual is that this particular lawsuit resulted in a legal ruling that had us in stitches from its beginning to end. I don't think I have ever seen a funny legal opinion, so this one certainly takes the cake. Even more interesting is that the lawsuit was brought by Gus Edwards, certainly one of Brevard's more colorful founders, and the opinion delivered by Judge Volie Williams, obviously an equally interesting individual.

Searching thorough our photo collection I was fortunately able to find photos of both of the major players in this case and added them below for your enjoyment.

Judge Volie Williams

Gus Edwards

 

While I first thought to just abstract the funny parts of the legal opinion, I realized that it was all funny, so have added the entire ruling below. It is only four pages and I promise you well worth the read. Sorry about the quality, but it took quite a bit of effort just to get them to this point. Hope you enjoy!!

Hurricane Irma Discovery

While last month's Hurricane Irma damaged some of our local historical resources, especially along the river's edge, it did bring at least one pleasant surprise in the form of an old wooden canoe! Luckily the canoe was discovered by Randy Lathrop, who rescued it from the amongst the debris and knew exactly what to do to ensure that it got preserved and studied.

Photo by Randy Lathrop

Randy's discovery has garnered national attention. Check out the story on ABC news for more details and great photos!! According to Randy's Facebook page carbon dating on the canoe indicates that it might date back as far as 1640!

Beginning Genealogy Class

A four week Beginning Genealogy course, sponsored by the Brevard Genealogical Society, will start on Friday, June 16, 2017. The class will meet each Friday, June 16, 23, 30 and Wednesday July 5, from 9:30am to 12 in meeting room 1 at the Catherine Schweinsberg Rood Central Library located at 308 Forrest Ave., in Cocoa.

For non-members of the society the fee is $20.00 which covers the cost of materials for the class and includes a membership in the society. Materials include a 3-ring binder with course syllabus which contains summaries of all classes, a supply of genealogy forms, sheet protectors and notebook paper.  Members may register for $10.00.

For more information contact Vera Zimmerman at (321) 453-4932, verazimmerman@flbgs.org or visit the BGS website.

Sign up soon as class size is limited and pre-registration ends June 1.

New Historical Marker for the Porcher House

Was great working with our friends at the City of Cocoa to get a well deserved State Historical Marker for the Porcher house in Cocoa Village. The well-known landmark turned 100 last year and as the result of several state preservations grants, and much additional city funding, it is poised to stand for another 100!! Special thanks to the Tourist Development Council for funding the marker!!

Titusville Veterans Memorial Pier Historical Marker Dedication

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