Our History by the decades
The Space age influenece the growth of Merritt Island
This section is about the story of Merritt Island athletics. This school lives by the culture of "Pride, Family, and Tradition". You will see names, faces, and pictures. These are just some of the people that help grow stories over the years. These are just some of the people and their stories that help grow this foundation over the years. The sources will include NASA archives, old newspapers articles, Gannett Files, yearbooks, FHSAA archive files, Merritt Island High School archives, and the people. There is an effort to try to be as historically accurate in this section, but please contact the school if there is something that needs to be corrected. In the end, this is our story. As a great principal used to say to his staff, “Once a Mustang, Always a Mustang”.
Over time, Florida was transformed from the wilderness into a a beautiful place to live. There are many stories of people, like Henry Flagger, that helped move Florida into the modern world. Merritt Island's biggest influence was the space race. According to NASA, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was formed in 1915. This group researched anything with aeronautics into the 1950s. While this group was slowly expanding, Merritt Island was a very rural area. Merritt Island was just a collection of very small towns, and the area was known for mosquitos. There were no formal schools, and students had to go over the river for an education. After World War 2, the US was in the middle of a what was known as the "Cold War". The US Army teamed up with NACA to create and test missiles. In 1949, the US government awarded the Banana River Naval Air Station a contract to build a missile site. The space race was now brought to the area, and the result was a huge population boom over the next two decades.
Merritt Island saw a foundation to many great advancements during the 1950s. Nationwide, there were many issues America was facing including, Korean Conflict, communist scares, segregation, and the birth of the suburbs. A significant event occurred in the area on July 24, 1950 in Brevard, the Air Station finally had a successful launch of a missile after several failed attempts. Due to the missile research, this brought more people into the area. As a result, several new places opened that included a temporary bridge, new post office, fire department, airport, and by the end of the decade plans for Brevard Community College and Cape Canaveral Hospital. By 1952, Merritt Island was using mosquito spray from airplanes to help control the mosquito problem. The biggest event in education was the opening of Merritt Island Elementary School in 1954, which is now known as MILA Elementary School. As more people moved in, a school of just over 300 students grew to just over 1000 students by the end of the decade. In 1958, the US Government shifted to focus on space exploration, and the NACA became National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
On May 25, 1961, President Kennedy said to Congress, "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish."
On September 12, 1962, President Kennedy said to students in Houston, “We choose to go to Moon … in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win, and the others, too.”
Merritt Island's saw a huge population boom as a result of NASA in the 1960s. There were many events going on in the world that impacted the US, and many centered around the Cold War. According to NASA, the speeches by President Kennedy allowed NASA to buy up close to 80,000 acres of land between 1962 and 1964. This had a direct result on Merritt Island, 1000s of families would move to area and wanting homes on Merritt Island. To do so, land had to be converted into real estate usually by draining the swamps or farmers selling their orange groves. Overnight, many new subdivisions would emerge throughout Merritt Island. This increased growth would create an immediate need to build more schools on Merritt Island, including Merritt Island High School.
The fall of 1965, Merritt Island High School finally opened its doors to meet the needs of the increased population. Merritt Island High School started in 1965 as an integrated school, and the Mustang athletic programs began integrated. As far as the space program, the US met the objective of successfully sending a man to the moon in the summer of 1969. This was done with the help of many men and women of NASA, many of which send their children through the halls of Merritt Island High School. By the end of the 1960s, Merritt Island Athletic programs began to see success on the athletic fields and courts. Success was achieved in the early years by wrestling, swim team, cross country, and the football team. Today, all our sports have experienced championship levels of achievements. Over the past 50 years, Merritt Island High School athletics has built a culture of "PRIDE, FAMILY, TRADITION". This is our story.
1965 arial view of Merritt Island High School. If you look closely, there is no auditorium, N-Wing, building 17, softball field, or a football field. Many changes to come.
A picture taken in 1965 before the completion of the school. You are looking into the commons, with the gymnasium on the right. Strait ahead is wide open area that will be the future site of N-Wing.