Indianola is a historic

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

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 ...

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. It is centered on Indianola Drive, which is about half a mile south of where State Road 528, the Bennett Causeway across the Indian River, enters Merritt Island. It extends north of 528 a short distance to include the ''Indianola Cemetery'' near the Barge Canal, and east to State Road 3

History

In 1868, Martha Ann Justice the wife of J.R. Field, named the spot they picked to settle on the east shore of the Indian River, "Indianola." Indianola dates from the latter part of the 19th century and is the home of the Dr. George E. Hill House and the J. R. Field Homestead, both of which are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

Cemetery

On November 4, 1898, Thomas H. Sanders and his wife Mary donated land to the community of Indianola for a cemetery as long as a group of Trustees was formed to care and manage the property for that purpose. Indianola Pioneer Cemetery (a.k.a. Williams Cemetery and formerly referred to as Evergreen Cemetery) is located next to a marina and bordered on the north by the Barge Canal and the south by State Road 528 in Brevard County, Florida. The cemetery is 4.36 acres and is owned and maintained by PIONEER CEMETERY CORP TRUSTEES. Cemetery address is Marine Harbor Dr., Merritt Island, Brevard County, Florida, 32953 USA; GPS Latitude 28.4059360. Longitude -80.7110010. There are 329 grave sites, the oldest being John Moss Field (1 Sep 1809 – 1 Dec 1891.) A masonry wall with gate was constructed and a bronze plaque mounted to dedicate the wall to David and Sallie Williams and the name "Williams" began to be attached to the cemetery. Coordinates are 28.406105, +30.710401.

Post Office

A U.S. post office was established on January 22, 1889, at Indianola. It closed on May 15, 1926, and the area was transferred to the Cocoa post office.Bradbury, Alford G., and Hallock, E. Story, ''A Chronology of Florida Post Offices, reprinted 1993, Port Salerno:Florida Classics Library.

Notable residents

Emory L. Bennett Emory Lawrence Bennett (December 20, 1929 – June 24, 1951) was a United States Army soldier in the Korean War who posthumously received the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor. Biography Bennett was born in New Smyrna Beach, F ...

- medal of honor winner. Lived here briefly as a child

References

External links

Brevard County listings
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National Register of Historic PlacesBrevard County listings
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Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs
Merritt Island, Florida Unincorporated communities in Brevard County, Florida Populated places established in 1889 Unincorporated communities in Florida {{BrevardCountyFL-geo-stub