Ernest Kouwen-Hoven (1875–1940)Gravestone at the Melbourne, Florida cemetery
at billiongraves.com came to the

U.S The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

at the age of 20 from the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. In 1908, his son, Jack, was born. His daughter, Phylis, followed in 1910. In 1915, the family arrived in

Melbourne, Florida Melbourne is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. It is located southeast of Orlando. As of th2020 Decennial Census there was a population of 84,678. The municipality is the second-largest in the county by both size and population. ...

from

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. He purchased land and platted it in 1916, thus founding

Indialantic, Florida Indialantic (officially incorporated as Indialantic-By-The-Sea, though the official name is seldom used in casual parlance) is a town in Brevard County, Florida. The town's population was 2,720 at the 2010 United States Census. It is part of the ...

. The plat was later revised in 1919. In the same year, he began construction of his

toll bridge A toll bridge is a bridge where a monetary charge (or ''toll'') is required to pass over. Generally the private or public owner, builder and maintainer of the bridge uses the toll to recoup their investment, in much the same way as a toll road. ...

across the Indian River. His original "Indialantic, Florida Land Sales" office, which was destroyed by fire in 1919, was built on Front Street in Melbourne. During construction of his bridge he set up three sawmills throughout

Brevard County Brevard County ( ) is a county located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 606,612, making it the 10th-most populated county in Florida. The official county seat is located in T ...

. The first one was in Melbourne Village, the second in

Merritt Island Merritt Island is a peninsula, commonly referred to as an island, in Brevard County, Florida, United States, located on the eastern Floridian coast, along the Atlantic Ocean. It is also the name of an unincorporated town in the central and sout ...

and the last one 5 miles west of

Grant Grant or Grants may refer to: Places *Grant County (disambiguation) Australia * Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia United Kingdom *Castle Grant United States * Grant, Alabama *Grant, Inyo County, C ...

. In 1921 his bridge was complete. In the 1920s, Ernest, along with Charles Steward, Claud Edge, L. G. McDowell, F.C. Powell and Ernest Every created the Melbourne Golf Course and Country Club in 1920. It is now the Melbourne Municipal Golf Course. In 1925, the pre-historic body of a human, dubbed the " Melbourne Man", was found there. The site can be seen from the ball fields of the

Florida Preparatory Academy Florida Prep (FPA) is a private boarding and day school founded in 1961 by Jonathan Dwight, located in Melbourne, Florida. Students in grades 6 -12 are provided a college-preparatory education that emphasizes leadership, character, accountability ...

. In 1923, he built a grand home, Magnolia Manor. It was to be part of the Magnolia Park subdivision, but it never materialized. Parts of the original property have been replatted, including Magnolia Manor. This house was eventually purchased by a Robert Widrig. Mr. Widrig added 2 wings and called it the Lincoln Hotel. It ultimately failed and was revitalized as The Belcelona in 1957. The property was sold to the Florida Air Academy in 1961, which is now the Florida Preparatory Academy. Ernest's wife dedicated the second bridge across the Indian River between Melbourne and Indialantic.

References

* Melbourne Bicentennial Book. Noreda B. McKemy and Elaine Murray Stone. Library of Congress 76-020298. * Melbourne Beach and Indialantic. Frank J. Thomas. Tempus Publishing, Inc. 1999 * Melbourne and Eau Gallie. Karen Raley and Ann Raley Flott. Arcadia Publishing. 2002. .
Brevard County Property Appraiser. Plat Book 6, Page 74. 1926 Magnolia Park

Brevard County Property Appraiser. Plat Book 11, Page 78. 1956 Magnolia Manor
*

History of Florida The history of Florida can be traced to when the first Native Americans began to inhabit the peninsula as early as 14,000 years ago. They left behind artifacts and archeological evidence. Florida's written history Recorded history or writt ...

1875 births 1940 deaths Dutch emigrants to the United States Businesspeople from California People from Melbourne, Florida {{US-business-bio-stub