Palm Bay, FL

About Palm Bay, FL

Palm Bay is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. The city's population was 119,760 at the 2020 United States Census, making it the most populous city in the county and the largest by land mass. The historic section of the city lies on the mouth of the Turkey Creek and the Palm Bay. Palm Bay has historically expanded south and to the west. The newer section is mostly situated west of Interstate 95 and south of the Tillman Canal.Palm Bay is a principal city of the Palm Bay−Melbourne−Titusville Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a population of 606,612 at the 2020 census.== History == The Ais people, attracted to the mouth of Turkey Creek at the Indian River by freshwater springs, fish, oysters, and wildlife, are thought to have been the first inhabitants in the Palm Bay area. The earliest place names for this area on early maps of the late 1700s were Turkey Creek, Elbow Creek and Crane Creek. An 1870 map of the Indian River by John Andrew Bostrom shows the area void of any settlements within about 15 miles of Turkey Creek. The first prominent European-American settler was John Tillman in the late 1870s. Tillman's wharf marked the mouth of Turkey Creek at what became known as Palm Bay on the Indian River.By the late 1880s, Tillman was operating a profitable orange and banana grove on the north shore of the creek.