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About Merritt Island

Merritt Island is a peninsula, commonly referred to as an island, in Brevard County, Florida, United States, located on the eastern Florida coast, along the Atlantic Ocean. It is also the name of an unincorporated town in the central and southern parts of the island and a census-designated place (CDP). The population was 34,518 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Palm Bay – Melbourne – Titusville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center is located on Merritt Island to the north of the town, and Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge is located north of the space center. The central part of Merritt Island, previously known as Merritt City, is home to the majority of the population and includes the local high school, library, and shopping district. The southern area is heavily residential, with centralized light commercial and light industrial areas. == History == === Etymology === Merritt Island owes its name to the King of Spain. The entire island was part of a land grant given by the King to a nobleman named Merritt. === Pre-Columbian === Archaeological excavations have uncovered the fossils of extinct animals such as mastodons, giant land tortoise, camel, glyptodont, horse, mammoth, giant armadillo, peccary, and tapir, which lived in the area up to 11,000 years ago.