Posts: 2
From: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Registered: Jul 2017

posted 02-24-2019 10:50 AM               

---

I'm working on a dissertation about the history of space places and I was wondering if anyone could point me toward some sources on the term "Space Coast." I'm trying to get a rough timeline of when that term, and the idea behind it, started to appear.

With other terms, like "Space City USA" I have been able to trace them to the 1960s, but I'm not as sure about "Space Coast." If anyone has any ideas, or has seen some memorabilia or souvenirs from the 60s with that term, that would really help!

Posts: 729
From: South Carolina
Registered: Jul 2006

posted 02-24-2019 03:20 PM               

---

If it's any help, I did a quick search through my newspapers.com account and the first reference I found to "Space Coast" as we commonly understand the term was in a real estate ad on Page 11-D of the December 6, 1964 Orlando Sentinel. It was a display ad for nine acres along U.S. 1 with the headline "Now! Space-Coast Real Estate Opportunity!"

The next significant appearance was in the March 18, 1967 Brevard Star, in an article about discussions for an east-west expressway that included a proposal for "turnpike accesses to the space coast at Pineda and Fla. 192."

Usage of the phrase is sort of low throughout the 1960s but seems to leap in 1970 and really takes off from there, seeming to peak in about 1984 when the Shuttle program is really going.

There may be earlier references than this - Newspapers isn't all-inclusive, and its search engine can be kind of goofy - but I hope this will be some kind of guide.