The Florida Star Archive

Situated on the banks of the Indian River, Titusville in Brevard County was settled in 1867 by a former Confederate officer, Henry Theodore Titus, and his wife, Mary Hopkins Titus. The town was incorporated in 1887, by which time it was already famous for its citrus and pineapple crops. The arrival of the Florida East Coast Railroad in 1892 laid the groundwork for a tourist industry as well. The Florida Star and later the East Coast Advocate and Indian River Chronicle provide a diary of these developments.

The Florida Star was a weekly newspaper published by P.E. Wagner from 1880 to approximately 1882 and later by S.W. Harmon. On November 1, 1912, the newspaper moved from Titusville to Cocoa, Florida. The Florida Star ceased publication around 1917 and was succeeded in turn by the Indian River Star, which operated until 1920.

Another Titusville paper, the East Coast Advocate and Indian River Chronicle began on July 13, 1900, as a continuation of the Indian River Advocate and East Coast Chronicle; the latter had been preceded by both the East Coast Advocate, edited by W.S. Graham, and the Indian River Advocate. In 1920, the East Coast Advocate and Indian River Chronicle merged with the Indian River Star and was subsequently published under the title of the Star Advocate.