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Melbourne, FL

Melbourne, Florida
City
Downtown Melbourne in January 2009
Downtown Melbourne in January 2009
Official seal of Melbourne, Florida
Seal
Official logo of Melbourne, Florida
Wordmark
Nickname(s): The Harbor City, The Midway City
Location in Brevard County and the state of Florida
Location in Brevard County and the state of Florida
Melbourne, Florida is located in the US
Melbourne, Florida
Melbourne, Florida
Location in the United States
Coordinates: 28°7′N 80°38′W / 28.117°N 80.633°W / 28.117; -80.633Coordinates: 28°7′N 80°38′W / 28.117°N 80.633°W / 28.117; -80.633
Country United States
State Florida
County Brevard
Settled c. 1867
Incorporated (village) December 22, 1888
Consolidated with Eau Gallie July 15, 1969
Founded by Cornthwaite John Hector
Named for Melbourne, Australia
Government
 • Type Council-Manager
 • Mayor Kathy Meehan
 • City Manager Mike McNees
Area
 • Total 39.6 sq mi (103 km2)
 • Land 33.9 sq mi (88 km2)
 • Water 5.7 sq mi (15 km2)  14.4%
Elevation 20 ft (6 m)
Population (2010)
 • Total 76,068
 • Density 2,518.8/sq mi (972.5/km2)
Time zone EST (UTC-5)
 • Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code 32901, 32934, 32935, 32940, 32902, 32912, 32936, 32941, 32904
Area code 321
FIPS code 12-43975
GNIS feature ID 0294589
Website City of Melbourne

Melbourne /ˈmɛlbərn/ is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 76,068. The municipality is the second-largest in the county by both size and population. Melbourne is a principal city of the Palm Bay – Melbourne – Titusville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. In 1969 the city was expanded by merging with nearby Eau Gallie.

Evidence for the presence of Paleo-Indians in the Melbourne area during the late epoch was uncovered during the 1920s. C. P. Singleton, a Harvard University zoologist, discovered the bones of a mammoth (Mammuthus columbi) on his property along Crane Creek, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from Melbourne, and brought in Amherst College paleontologist Frederick B. Loomis to excavate the skeleton. Loomis found a second elephant, with a "large rough flint instrument" among fragments of the elephant's ribs. Loomis found in the same stratum mammoth, mastodon, horse, ground sloth, tapir, peccary, camel, and saber-tooth cat bones, all extinct in Florida since the end of the Pleistocene 10,000 years ago. At a nearby site a human rib and charcoal were found in association with Mylodon, Megalonyx, and Chlamytherium (ground sloth) teeth. A finely worked spear point found with these items may have been displaced from a later stratum. In 1925 attention shifted to the Melbourne golf course. A crushed human skull with finger, arm, and leg bones was found in association with a horse tooth. A piece of ivory that appeared to have been modified by humans was found at the bottom of the stratum containing bones. Other finds included a spear point near a mastodon bone and a turtle-back scraper and blade found with bear, camel, mastodon, horse, and tapir bones. Similar human remains, Pleistocene animals and Paleo-Indian artifacts were found in Vero Beach, 30 miles (48 km) south of Melbourne, and similar Paleo-Indian artifacts were found at Lake Helen Blazes, 10 miles (16 km) southwest of Melbourne.


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