Philip Perry Chapter
'Cocoa'
The origin of the name of the
city is surrounded by myth. Since most of the chapter members reside in
Cocoa, and people always ask about the city's name, we are sharing one
of the stories.
The city was founded by fishermen around 1860 and there was just one
supply store on the river in the late 1800s. Since people didn't live
closely to one another, the store served as a meeting place for the
people of the area. Advertising signs had been placed on the river bank
so fishermen could locate it from the water. One old sign, advertising
"Baker's Cocoa," grew so weathered that the "Baker's" part of the sign
was not visible any more. The store never replaced the sign, the
fishermen got into the habit of referring to the store as "Cocoa," and
the name just stuck to the area.
The city could have been called "Cattle," since  one
of the main industries in 1880 was raising cattle.
The men who herded them were called cow hunters, rather than cowboys,
because the cattle free-ranged, which made them hard to find in the
palmetto bushes. Here is a photo of the cattle racing through the
middle of town in 1918.
Daughters
of the American Revolution promote
Patriotism, Education, and Historic Preservation.
Last Revision: August 4, 2008
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