Palm Bay, Florida
Palm Bay in Brevard County is a large and growing city. Home to 111,000 over multicultural people, Palm Bay is located on the Indian River lagoon, an area that has been inhabited since the Indian times. Palm Bay is an ideal place to stay with lovely residential neighborhoods and increasing industrial development.
About The Community
The first white settlers of the 1850s were attracted by the beauty and bounty of the area. They built homes on either side of Turkey Creek and named the settlement Tillman. It was a small strip of hammock, mostly pine and palmetto, with sandy barren oak scrub. The settlement grew with the planting of orange groves, lumbering and a packinghouse. The arrival of the railroad at the end of the nineteenth century sped-up development with goods being brought in and sent out with ease.
In the 1920s, the town renamed Palm Bay for the bay, bordered with palm trees, situated at the mouth of Turkey Creek, a 130-acred sanctuary surrounded by sand pines, saw palmettos and live oaks. One of the buildings of that era that still stands today is the St. Joseph’s Church. The city grew mostly in the middle decades of the twentieth century with more industries being set up here. The city administration today gives all possible support for starting businesses here, as the aim is to have Palm Bay grow from a predominantly residential area into a mixed-use city.
Important Links
There are activities and festivals for all ages all year round. Jazz nights, painting festivals and sporting events contribute to the rich quality of life of the city. Palm Bay has the nation’s first municipal paintball park that provides a safe environment for a fun sport for all ages. Recreational facilities including skating rinks and water sports abound.
Vicinity of Palm Bay
Additional Details
Turkey Creek is a black water creek, resulting from natural leaching of tannic acids from decomposing leaves. The Turkey Creek Sanctuary and Margaret Hames Nature Center are great attraction for nature lovers. The Center houses a reference library and offers tours, slide shows, and puppet shows. This unique Sanctuary has two distinct habitats inhabited by some endangered and rare plants and animals. Turkey Creek an important breeding area for fresh and salt water fish, birds and mammals. These include sea bass, trout, perch, bluegill, alligator, and mullet. The manatee and otters are spotted here too.
Bird watchers delight in the sightings of numerous water birds such as osprey, herons, egrets, ducks, ibis, brown and while pelicans. The rare white pelican migrates to the mouth of Turkey Creek for winters. A day spent at the sanctuary will regale you with the songs of cardinals, mocking birds, Carolina wrens, and blue jays that nest here. If you are lucky, you will even spot a bald eagle or wild turkey. View Turkey Creek from the boardwalk or enjoy the jogging trail with exercise stations.
The canopy is made up of live and laurel oaks, red maple, sugarberry and the sabal or cabbage palm with a sand pine ridge above the creek, a scrub area unique to Florida. Watch out for the indigo snake, rattlesnake, tortoises, spotted skunk, raccoon, opossum, and the endangered Florida mouse.
