Palm Bay is a city in Brevard County, Florida. The city's population was 103,190 at the 2010 United States Census,[3] making it the most populous city in the county. It developed at Turkey Creek at its mouth at Indian River, which flows into the Atlantic Ocean.

Palm Bay is a principal city[7] of the Palm Bay−Melbourne−Titusville Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a population of 543,376 at the 2010 census.

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The Ais people, attracted to the mouth of Turkey Creek at the Indian River by freshwater springs, fish, oysters, and wildlife, are thought to have been the first inhabitants in the Palm Bay area.

The earliest place names for this area on early maps of the late 1700s were Turkey Creek, Elbow Creek and Crane Creek. An 1870 map of the Indian River by John Andrew Bostrom shows the area void of any settlements within about 15 miles of Turkey Creek. The first prominent European-American settler was John Tillman in the late 1870s. Tillman's wharf marked the mouth of Turkey Creek at what became known as Palm Bay on the Indian River.[8]

By the late 1880s, Tillman was operating a profitable orange and banana grove on the north shore of the creek. He had the most notable banana grove on the Indian River. Tillman's wharf also attracted settlers, as it was a steamboat stop.[8]

By the mid-nineteenth century, there was a lumber operation,[clarification needed], orange groves, and packing house. Growth was slow until the arrival of the railroad in 1894. Then goods were brought in and produce was shipped to market faster.

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Between 1910 and 1914, a land company known as the Indian River Catholic Colony became established at Tillman. Attempting to grow two crops a season, farmers quickly depleted the soil, and the colony failed. Those remaining built St. Joseph's Church on Miller Street, the oldest building still standing.

In the 1920s, the city was renamed as Palm Bay, after the bay bordered with sabal palm trees known as Palm Bay, located at the mouth of Turkey Creek.[8] A group of Tillman businessmen established the Melbourne-Tillman Drainage District, and issued $1.5 million worth of bonds. Starting in 1922, a 180 miles (290 km) grid of 80 canals was dug to drain 40,000 acres (160 km2) of swampy land west of Palm Bay for other uses. The canals made it possible to control flooding and redevelop marsh lands to agricultural use. These actions had the unintended consequences of leaving the land more vulnerable to flooding from storms and destroying important habitats for complex ecology.

Farmers planted citrus groves and truck farms which shipped winter produce by the Florida East Coast Railroad to northern markets. Farmers sold timber and land to paper companies. Based on use of the Tillman and Hopkins canals, ranchers raised beef cattle in West Melbourne.[9]

In 1926, a fire among the dredges and a severe hurricane caused extensive damage, leading to an economic downturn in Palm Bay. The Melbourne-Tillman Drainage District went bankrupt.

In 1959, General Development Corporation purchased and platted extensive tracts of land in Palm Bay for a large residential project known as Port Malabar. The city of Palm Bay incorporated on January 16, 1960.[10] Prior to expanding its borders, the city population was 2,808 that year.[11]

The active development of the city after that point was intertwined with GDC, which laid out and built many of the streets, sold and built many of the city's homes, and built a water treatment plant. This was later purchased by the city of Palm Bay after GDC filed for bankruptcy in 1991.

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For three consecutive years between 2003 and 2005, Palm Bay was a finalist for the All-America City Award.[15]

In 2008, the city was named in an article from US News & World Report as the second "Drunkest City" in the US behind Reno, Nevada.[16]

In 2008, the former Port Malabar Country Club property was revalued at $300,000. This was considered an essentially "worthless" valuation because arsenic had been found in the groundwater and remediation would cost an estimated $12 million to clean up.[17]

Hundreds of miles of roads in the city are in such poor condition that the city Public Works Department considers them unserviceable. The voters have consistently defeated measures to raise money to invest in infrastructure to improve the roads, which are described as the worst in Brevard County. In 2005 they voted down a $58.7 million bond measure. In 2009, they defeated a $75.2 million tax referendum. In 2010, voters living in areas with the worst roads voted 9-1 against $44.7 million assessment for repairing them. In 2011, the city government created a Palm Bay Road Maintenance District that they hope can levy taxes and alleviate the situation.[18]

In 2008, fires on Mother's Day destroyed 37 homes in the southwest area of the city. Arson has been blamed as the cause of at least a few of the numerous fires.[19][20]

In 2009, the Brevard Zoo moved the remaining 15 Florida scrub jay families native to the city to Buck Lake Conservation Area in Mims. The Florida scrub jay is a threatened species due to it being territorial; it is unable to move to better grounds when its habitat is jeopardized.*

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Source:

*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_Bay,_Florida

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We service the following zip codes in the city of Palm Bay, Florida:

32905, 32906, 32907, 32908, 32909, 32910, 32911.