In 1887, settlers landed upon coquina Rocks that lined the Ledge, then, as they do now. Given the name “RockLedge”, the City’s history began as a tourist stop along the Flagler Railroad.

President Grover Cleveland and his new bride, Frances Folsom, came in the early 1890’s. President Warren G. Harding brought the Presidential Yacht to the Hotel Indian River in 1921. Early American homes still stand sentinel to the historical secrets of the past. Shaded under ancient oaks that provide glorious canopies, our oldest road, Rockledge Drive, still hugs the Indian River shoreline.

Around 1939, members of the Brevard County Medical Society (which is still located in Rockledge today) knew the area needed its own medical center. Enter Eugene Wuesthoff, a doctor from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who spent winters in Rockledge. In 1940, with a gift of $12,500 to the hospital "building drive", his heirs kicked off the first matching fundraising campaign.

In December 1941, the Eugene Wuesthoff Memorial Hospital, a 10-bed, private, not-for-profit hospital opened, treating its first patient, with a staff of three physicians, one surgeon, two nurses, an orderly, a cook and an administrator. Today, like Rockledge, Wuesthoff Health Systems has grown to 2,000 employees and 500 physicians.

From citrus to rockets, Rockledge is the “Oldest City in Brevard”.

For more historical information visit www.rockledgeheritage.org