Florida's Space Coast: The Impact of NASA on the Sunshine State

The Florida History and Culture Series

by William Barnaby Faherty

The story of how NASA transformed Florida's East Coast over half a century
Florida’s Space Coast tells the compelling story of America's half century in space exploration, from the successful launch of the first two-stage rocket in 1950 through the latest space shuttle missions of 2000. Told from the unique viewpoint of the people who built the Spaceport, this book shows how the space program transformed the east central Florida coast from a traditional citrus production and tourist area to one of the most influential high-tech centers in the nation.
Cape Canaveral was chosen as a missile launch site because of its many geographical advantages. However, in the early years of the space program, the area was far from an ideal place for NASA employees to raise their families. NASA brought in thousands of space-related workers, who, besides sending machines and men into space, had to meet the challenge of moving their families from urban environs to a rural southern county. This book engagingly recounts the parallel stories of the establishment of America's space program and its impact on the development of Brevard County.

Genres: Nonfiction, Space

228 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 2002

Reviews

[Sarah Burton · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was so dry. Factoids and minimal narrative.

[Tyler · Rating 3 out of 5]

William Faherty, a longtime professor of history in St. Louis, Missouri, spent a great deal of time considering the significance of the Kennedy Space Center. He and coauthor Charles Benson wrote a book on operations there during the Apollo era. Then he received an invitation to write a book that delves into the influence of the space center on Brevard County and the state of Florida as a whole. This book does contain some great details I had not previously known. For instance, it explains what made Florida such an appealing site for rocket launches beginning in the late 1940s and then the incredible growth of industry in Florida that emerged around it. Near the midway point of the twentieth century, the Harris company was the only firm containing more than 20 people in all of Brevard County. The people who flocked to the area for launch operations over the following years needed to drive all the way to Orlando, on primitive roads, just to buy groceries. Yet these people laid a foundation for the thriving industries, primary and secondary schools, and colleges that would populate the county in the future. The book was quite dry and relied too much on statistics that the author had on hand. I also noticed several factual errors about the developments in spaceflight that the author mentioned. But I still consider the book worth reading for people who would like to know how the deployment of federal funding into the southern United States affected everyday living there, for people who were employed on space projects and even those who were not but lived in a transformed region.

[Dan E. Mongosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

An outstanding historical book about the relationship between Brevard County, Florida, with its previously sparsely populated small towns, and the sudden changes occurring from the newly built Kennedy Space Center complex and increase of new residents and workers associated with the Space Program. It discusses all the rapid changes that occurred on the "Space Coast" from the 1960's to the 1980's.
Great read for anyone associated with NASA or living in the area of Brevard County or Central Florida l.

[Jim Gallen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Histories of the Space Program frequently focus on astronauts, hardware and scientific discoveries. Did you ever wonder what impact the programs had on the communities in which they operated? If you have, “Florida’s Space Coast: The Impact of NASA on the Sunshine State” is for you.


This book combines a survey history of the Space Program as carried out at the Cape Canaveral facilities with the stories of local residents, both long term and blow-ins. A reading of this book makes one realize how big of a deal the Cape facilities are and how much of a change they made on the area. Before NASA the Cape Canaveral was a real backwater. As the facilities grew and attracted workers and support businesses a booming community grew up and matured commercially and socially.


Author William Barnaby Faherty, S. J. was chosen by NASA to write its history. During his research he lived in the area for two years during which he helped at a local parish and incorporated himself into the community. This book is spiced by many quotations from and references to people whom Fr. Faherty came to know during his time among them. That gives this work a feel that is absent in one drawn solely from documents and interviews occurring long after the incidents that they record. “Florida’s Space Coast” is one volume in the Florida History and Culture Series that brings to life the history of the Sunshine State. I read this in anticipation of a visit to Cape Canaveral and consequently better understood what I was seeing. Whether your interests are in Florida or NASA this is one you will not want to miss.

[Tammy Powley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Faherty gives a wonderful historical overview of the Space Coast and how NASA and the Kennedy Space Center affected the area and its residents. I found the early history covering the 1950s/60s most interesting.

My only beef with this book is that the author glossed over the financial impact that the Apollo program had when it was canceled. He mentions layoffs in about one or two sentences, and then talks about how the population wasn't affected and sort of moves on from there. As someone who was living there at the time, I was disappointed that he didn't mention the reason the population didn't change - in size - was due to the fact that retired Northerners were coming down here and buying the homes of ex-employees who couldn't afford them any more. So, the retirees were basically replacing the ex-employees who eventually had to leave the area in order to find work. Considering you could drive down any subdivision in the area at the time and see a "for sale" sign on almost every house, this fact should have been addressed much more. It gave me the feeling that he didn't want to put NASA in a bad light.