Indian Harbour Beach is a coastal city in
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 ...
,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, United States. The population was 8,225 at the
2010 United States Census
The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servi ...
.
It is part of the
Palm Bay–
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
–
Titusville Metropolitan Statistical Area
In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally incorporated as a city or tow ...
. It is north of the town of
Indialantic and south of
Satellite Beach. It is the first and only community in the United States to be a
NOAA Tsunami Ready community along the nation's East Coast.
Geography
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...
, the city has a total area of . of it is land and of it (18.63%) is water.
Fauna
![Green-sea-turtle](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Green-sea-turtle.jpg)
Threatened Atlantic
loggerhead sea turtle
The loggerhead sea turtle (''Caretta caretta'') is a species of oceanic turtle distributed throughout the world. It is a marine reptile, belonging to the family Cheloniidae. The average loggerhead measures around in carapace length when fully ...
s nest on the city's ocean beaches at densities of approximately one nest per of shoreline per year. Endangered
green sea turtles deposit an average of tens of nests along the city's ocean beach each year.
Endangered
right whales calve off the city's shoreline. Endangered
West Indian manatee
The West Indian manatee (''Trichechus manatus''), also known as the North American manatee, is a large, aquatic mammal native to warm coastal areas of the Caribbean, from the eastern US to northern Brazil. Living alone or in herds, it feeds on un ...
s frequent the city's canals and the
Banana River
The Banana River is a lagoon that lies between Cape Canaveral and Merritt Island in Brevard County, Florida in the United States. It is part of the Indian River Lagoon system, and connects at its south end to the Indian River; it is the only ...
.
Bald eagles forage over Samsons Island.
The of wetland created as mitigation by a local developer on Samsons Island provide nutrient-rich, sheltered aquatic habitat serving as
finfish nursery and feeding ground for a diverse assemblage of birds and mammals. The city established Samsons Island Nature Park, the only
gopher tortoise
The gopher tortoise (''Gopherus polyphemus'') is a species of tortoise in the family Testudinidae. The species is native to the southeastern United States. The gopher tortoise is seen as a keystone species because it digs burrows that provide ...
relocation recipient site on the barrier island. It is occupied by 42 relocated tortoises and three which had been living on the island when development began. The city has erected five
osprey
The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...
nesting platforms on Samsons Island Nature Park, from which young have been fledged. Efforts are now under way to create habitat for use by gopher tortoises and
scrub jays. The city is working with faculty of the
Florida Institute of Technology
The Florida Institute of Technology (Florida Tech or FIT) is a private research university in Melbourne, Florida. The university comprises four academic colleges: Engineering & Science, Aeronautics, Psychology & Liberal Arts, and Business. App ...
to promote graduate student research and class projects on Samsons Island Nature Park and to assist in devising and implementing maintenance programs to preserve and enhance desirable wildlife habitats.
Flora
There are plant species, both indigenous and imported. Vegetated sand
dunes are found along most of the beach's length and provide the major defense against storm events in the region. Native plant species found on the dunes include
sea oats
''Uniola paniculata'', also known as sea oats, seaside oats, araña, and arroz de costa, is a tall subtropical grass that is an important component of coastal sand dune and beach plant communities in the southeastern United States, eastern Me ...
,
Sabal palmetto
''Sabal palmetto'' (, '' SAY-bəl''), also known as cabbage palm, cabbage palmetto, sabal palm, blue palmetto, Carolina palmetto, common palmetto, Garfield's tree, and swamp cabbage, is one of 15 species of palmetto palm.
It is native to the So ...
,
sea grape,
railroad vine,
dollar weed,
coral bean,
Spanish bayonet,
wax myrtle,
yaupon holly
''Ilex vomitoria'', commonly known as yaupon () or yaupon holly, is a species of holly that is native to southeastern North America. The word ''yaupon'' was derived from the Catawban ''yą́pą'', from ''yą-'' tree + ''pą'' leaf. Another com ...
, and several grass species. More salt-tolerant and wind-tolerant species, such as sea oats and railroad vine, are found predominantly on the ocean side of the dune, while other dune vegetation species do not generally show such zonation. These plants assist in building the dune by trapping windblown sand and in stabilizing the dune with extensive lateral root systems.
Geology
There are approximately of
coquina rock outcrops frequently exposed along the low-tide line of Indian Harbour's ocean beach. The
National Marine Fisheries Service
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), informally known as NOAA Fisheries, is a United States federal agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that is responsible for the ste ...
has classified the rock as an Essential Fish Habitat-Habitat Area of Particular Concern. It is important to aquatic life and found only in a few locations along the
Eastern seaboard.
Fossilized Atlantic
ghost crab
Ghost crabs are semiterrestrial crabs of the subfamily Ocypodinae. They are common shore crabs in tropical and subtropical regions throughout the world, inhabiting deep burrows in the intertidal zone. They are generalist scavengers and predators ...
s can be found on the Indian Harbour's ocean beach, the remnants of a unique set of geological circumstances which preserved these creatures when they died in their burrows perhaps about 110,000 years ago.
There are significant deposits of sand,
marl, coquina and possibly
phosphate
In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphoric acid .
The phosphate or orthophosphate ion is derived from phosph ...
within the limits of Indian Harbour Beach.
Surrounding areas
*
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 ...
;
Indian River Lagoon;
Banana River
The Banana River is a lagoon that lies between Cape Canaveral and Merritt Island in Brevard County, Florida in the United States. It is part of the Indian River Lagoon system, and connects at its south end to the Indian River; it is the only ...
;
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
*
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
*
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
*
Satellite Beach
Climate
Indian Harbour Beach is located in the region where the climate is
Humid subtropical climate. Daytime temperatures average in the summer months and in the winter months. A study commissioned by NASA lends credence to the notion that Indian Harbour Beach is located in a portion of the North American Atlantic shoreline with a uniquely reduced incidence of catastrophic hurricanes.
Government
In 2007, the city had a taxable real estate base of $920.7 million.
Demographics
As of the
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...
of 2000, there were 8,152 people, 3,762 households, and 2,381 families residing in the city. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...
was 1,470.8/km (3,810.1/mi
2). There were 4,315 housing units at an average density of 778.5/km (2,016.7/mi
2). The racial makeup of the city was 95.40%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...
, 0.93%
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.28%
Native American, 1.57%
Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.04%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...
, 0.55% from
other races
Other often refers to:
* Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy
Other or The Other may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack
* ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 1.23% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...
or
Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
of any race were 3.28% of the population.
There were 3,762 households, out of which 21.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.8% were
married couples living together, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.7% were non-families. 30.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.17 and the average family size was 2.69.
The population was distributed by age with 18.5% under the age of 18, 5.4% from 18 to 24, 23.6% from 25 to 44, 27.5% from 45 to 64, and 24.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $42,889, and the median income for a family was $56,803. Males had a median income of $50,045 versus $29,697 for females. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
for the city was $29,986. About 2.3% of families and 5.5% of the population were below the
poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
, including 4.3% of those under age 18 and 2.2% of those age 65 or over.
Education
In 2010, the town had the highest percentage of people with undergraduate degrees of any municipality measured in the county, 41%, compared with an average of 26% countywide.
History
Indian Harbour Beach was founded on June 6, 1955, by
W. Lansing Gleason, John H. Neafie and Louis S. Henry.
In 2013, along with Palm Beach and Sanibel, Indian Harbour Beach ranked among the top 3 places to live in Florida according to
AreaVibes livability score.
Education
There is one elementary school, Ocean Breeze Elementary. In 2009, it scored 11th in the state on the
FCAT test.
*Private schools:
Indian Harbour MontessoriIndian Harbour Kindercare
Recreation
There are parks, recreational facilities and natural landscapes.
The Indian Harbour Beach Recreation Center is located in Gleason Park on the corner of South Patrick Drive and Yacht Club Boulevard. The Recreation Department offers a wide variety of classes, services and activities, ranging from those for toddlers and preschoolers, to a Senior Leisure-time Club. Also located in the park is the City's heated competition-size swimming pool—open seven days a week year-round, shuffleboard courts, two playgrounds, a walking/exercise trail and picnic facilities.
The million-dollar Algonquin Sports Complex located off Wimico Drive is home to senior baseball, major Little League, softball and soccer fields serving multiple age groups. Other city ball fields are located next to Ocean Breeze School and serve minor Little League teams as well as T-ball participants. Some of the special activities offered through our Recreation Department include the annual Art & Crafts Show held the third Saturday in November, the annual Breakfast With The Easter Bunny, and numerous pool activities including American Red Cross instructed summer swim lessons.
There is a private tennis club and a private
yacht club
A yacht club is a sports club specifically related to yachting.
Description
Yacht clubs are mostly located by the sea, although there some that have been established at a lake or riverside locations. Yacht or sailing clubs have either a mar ...
.
Public safety
The
National Weather Service
The National Weather Service (NWS) is an agency of the United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weather-related products to organizations and the public for the ...
has named Indian Harbour Beach the first "tsunami-ready" city in Florida.
The city has a 100%
Volunteer Fire Department
A volunteer fire department (VFD) is a fire department of volunteers who perform fire suppression and other related emergency services for a local jurisdiction. Volunteer and retained (on-call) firefighters are expected to be on call to respond ...
, consisting of 30+ members and utilizing three Class-A pumpers, including a 75-foot ladder truck.
Infrastructure
Roads
Travelocity.com named State Route A1A as the "Best Driving Route" in Florida. This runs close to the ocean. A secondary major route, paralleling it, is South Patrick Drive, which is close to the Banana River.
The
Florida Department of Transportation
The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is a decentralized agency charged with the establishment, maintenance, and regulation of public transportation in the state of Florida. The department was formed in 1969. It absorbed the powers of t ...
maintains SR A1A, SR 513, and SR 518. See
State Roads in Florida for explanation of numbering system.
*
SR A1A – This is the main route through Indian Harbour Beach, leading from Melbourne and Satellite Beach. It has no local name. Major intersections include SR 518 and Pine Tree Drive.
*
CR 3 – A small portion of CR 3 runs through Indian Harbour Beach, from
Mathers Bridge
Mathers Bridge is a low-level swing bridge located on the southern tip of Merritt Island, Florida, Merritt Island, Florida, crossing the Banana River at the end of County Road 3 (Brevard County, Florida), County Road 3.
History
The bridge was ...
to SR 513.
*
SR 513 – This is a parallel state route of SR A1A, known locally as Patrick Drive. Major intersections include SR 518, CR 3/Banana River Drive, and Cassia Boulevard.
*
SR 518 – Known locally as Eau Gallie Boulevard, this road leads from the
Eau Gallie Causeway
The Eau Gallie Causeway connects Eau Gallie, Florida (which merged with Melbourne, Florida, Melbourne in 1969), with State Road A1A (Florida), SR A1A near Indian Harbour Beach, Florida, Indian Harbour Beach, across the Indian River Lagoon. Located ...
to SR A1A, where SR 518 ends. Major intersections include SR 513/Riverside Drive and SR A1A.
Notable people
*
Larry Guarino, spent 8 years as a
POW in the
Hanoi Hilton
Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...
during the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
*
Mike Haridopolos, American politician
*
Deborah Jin, American applied physicist
*
Jim Rathmann
Jim Rathmann (July 16, 1928 – November 23, 2011), born Royal Richard Rathmann, was an American race car driver who won the Indianapolis 500 in 1960.
He drove in the AAA and USAC Championship Car series in the 1949–1950 and 1952–1963 sea ...
, 1960
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
winner
*
Tim Wakefield
Timothy Stephen Wakefield (born August 2, 1966) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Wakefield began his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, but is most remembered for his 17-yea ...
, Major League Baseball player
References
External links
*
{{authority control
1955 establishments in Florida
Beaches of Brevard County, Florida
Cities in Brevard County, Florida
Cities in Florida
Populated coastal places in Florida on the Atlantic Ocean
Populated places established in 1955
Beaches of Florida