Angel City is a
populated place
In geography, statistics and archaeology, a settlement, locality or populated place is a community of people living in a particular place. The complexity of a settlement can range from a minuscule number of dwellings grouped together to t ...
on the
Horti Point peninsula
A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula.
Etymology
The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...
of
Merritt Island
Merritt Island is a peninsula, commonly referred to as an island, in Brevard County, Florida, United States, located on the eastern Florida coast, along the Atlantic Ocean. It is also the name of an unincorporated town in the central and sout ...
, in
Brevard County
Brevard County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Florida. It is on the Atlantic coast of eastern Central Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 606,612, making it the 10th-most populated county in Florida. The official county se ...
,
Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
,
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. Angel City had a post office between 1927 and 1931.
It is believed that the community was named for an early settler, John Angel.
Hattie Worley, wife of Oscar Worley, the bridge tender, named Angel City after the first
homesteader
Homestead may refer to:
*Homestead (building), a farmhouse and its adjacent outbuildings; by extension, it can mean any small cluster of houses
* Nguni homestead, a cluster of houses inhabited by a single extended family, typically with a kraal ...
, Captain Angel from
Rhode Island
Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...
.
Merritt Island Causeway Bridge
The
Merritt Island Causeway linked
Cocoa Beach
Cocoa Beach is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. The population was 11,354 at the 2020 United States census, up from 11,231 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Palm Bay–Melbourne–Titusville, Florida Metropolitan Stati ...
to Angel City via a wooden toll bridge from 1922 to 1941. A plaque that marks this location states, "On this site on April 19, 1923, a wooden
drawbridge
A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable b ...
across the
Banana River
The Banana River is a lagoon that lies between the outer barrier islands 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 ...
was opened to the public linking
Merritt Island
Merritt Island is a peninsula, commonly referred to as an island, in Brevard County, Florida, United States, located on the eastern Florida coast, along the Atlantic Ocean. It is also the name of an unincorporated town in the central and sout ...
to Cocoa Beach. To pay for the bridge, there was a round trip
toll
Toll may refer to:
Transportation
* Toll (fee) a fee charged for the use of a road or waterway
** Toll road, a type of road which for which payment is required for passage
** Road pricing, the modern practice of charging for road use
** Road to ...
of .20 for car and driver plus .04 charge for each additional passenger. Upon completion of
State Road 520 in 1941, the old bridge was dismantled. Only the concrete
abutment
An abutment is the substructure at the ends of a bridge span or dam supporting its superstructure. Single-span bridges have abutments at each end that provide vertical and lateral support for the span, as well as acting as retaining walls ...
and a few
piling
A pile or piling is a vertical structural element of a deep foundation, driven or drilled deep into the ground at the building site. A deep foundation is a type of foundation that transfers building loads to the earth farther down from th ...
s remain to mark the location of the bridge that opened Cocoa Beach to development."
Oscar Worley was the toll bridge tender until the present
SR 520 was opened on June 5, 1941. Oscar Worley was denied the opportunity to tend the new bridge, and instead ran a fish business in Angel City until his death in 1956 at age of 83. The Worleys were the second family to
homestead
Homestead may refer to:
*Homestead (building), a farmhouse and its adjacent outbuildings; by extension, it can mean any small cluster of houses
* Nguni homestead, a cluster of houses inhabited by a single extended family, typically with a kraal ...
in Angel City.{{Citation needed, date=June 2007 The road Worley Avenue is named after them. The Worley family still resides in Angel City. Oscar Worley had a
Grand Son, Donald Worley whom was born on the Bridge and his birth certificate reads: place of Birth reader Banana River toll bridge.
Geography
Angel City is bounded to the south and east by the
Banana River
The Banana River is a lagoon that lies between the outer barrier islands 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 ...
, to the west by
Newfound Harbor, and to the north is
SR 520. Buck Point is the southernmost point of the peninsula where Newfound Harbor ends at
Banana River
The Banana River is a lagoon that lies between the outer barrier islands 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 ...
.
There are two uninhabited islands south of Buck Point named Brady and George's islands, which are accessible from
Lotus and
Georgiana
Georgiana is a Catalan, English, Greek and Romanian name. It is the feminine form of the male name George and a variation of the female names Georgina and Georgia. It comes from the Greek word (), meaning "farmer". A variant spelling is Georgi ...
. These islands are
spoil islands. The southern of the two islands, commonly referred to as Bird Island, is popular with locals for boating, camping, and other such recreation. The island has earned this name, not by the overwhelming number of birds that populate it, but by its shape. From the air, the island resembles a pelican in mid-flight. The islands are a popular place for
manatee
Manatees (, family (biology), family Trichechidae, genus ''Trichechus'') are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivory, herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows. There are three accepted living species of Trichechidae, representing t ...
and
dolphin
A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...
sightings. The islands are also home to
pelican
Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before ...
,
great blue heron
The great blue heron (''Ardea herodias'') is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North and Central America, as well as far northwestern South America, the Caribbea ...
,
seagull
Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the subfamily Larinae. They are most closely related to terns and skimmers, distantly related to auks, and even more distantly related to waders. Until the 21st century, most gulls were placed ...
,
southern stingray
The southern stingray (''Hypanus americanus'') is a whiptail stingray found in tropical and subtropical waters of the Western Atlantic Ocean from New Jersey to southern Brazil. It has a flat, diamond-shaped disc, with a mud brown, olive, and gre ...
and
rat snake
Rat snakes are members – along with kingsnakes, milk snakes, Oxybelis, vine snakes and indigo snakes – of the subfamily Colubrinae of the family Colubridae. They are medium to large Constriction, constrictors and are found throughout much o ...
s.
White pelicans can be seen here in late winter, during their
migratory journey. The
Intracoastal Waterway
The Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) is a Navigability, inland waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the United States, running from Massachusetts southward along the Atlantic Seaboard and around the southern tip of Florida, the ...
passes by the islands to the north and east. To the west is Lotus, a part of Merritt Island more commonly known as Honeymoon Hill. To the south,
Pineda Causeway can be seen. To the east is
Patrick Space Force Base
Patrick Space Force Base is a United States Space Force installation located between Satellite Beach and Cocoa Beach, in Brevard County, Florida, United States. It is named in honor of Major General Mason Patrick, United States Army Air Corps, ...
.
References
Merritt Island, Florida