The S. F. Travis Company

Founded in 1885, the S.F. Travis Company is the oldest continuously operating business in Cocoa and one of the oldest hardware stores in Florida. Family owned and operated for more than five generations, it survived two world wars, numerous hurricanes, and financial busts. Its store, built in 1891 as one of the first buildings constructed after the 1890 fire, was purchased by Colonel S.F. Travis in 1902. It is the only commercial structure in Cocoa from that period still used for its original purpose and the city's oldest brick building. A second building was added in 1907, and the business sold goods ranging from groceries and furniture to caskets and appliances. Since a 1924 renovation added large display windows, an awning, a brick facade, and a second-floor walkway between the buildings, the exterior has changed little. The property also housed a mortuary, a telegraph office, and at one time a small movie theater, and it was the first building in Cocoa to have an elevator and a sprinkler system and one of the first businesses to install a telephone. Before many modern conveniences and local infrastructure existed, much of its early business was conducted by boat from a dock at the back of the store, with deliveries made along the Indian River until the 1950s, when the dock was removed and the shoreline filled for the Cocoa River Development project. The tools, building materials, and other supplies it sold helped build Cocoa Village, the Kennedy Space Center, the Banana River Naval Air Station, later renamed Patrick Air Force Base, and other neighboring communities, supporting Florida's space industry as well as defense contractors, aerospace companies, small businesses, and homeowners.

Cocoa, Florida · United States