Eau Gallie is a section of the city of Melbourne, Florida, located on the city's northern side. It was an independent city in Brevard County from 1860 until 1969. That year residents of Eau Gallie and Melbourne voted to merge their governments. A subsequent vote resulted in the combined jurisdiction being named Melbourne. The name and identity of Eau Gallie persists in a number of local entities and was used by the Eau Gallie Arts District Main Street, a fully accredited Florida Main Street program since 2010.
History
Eau Gallie developed as a small coastal town along the Indian River on the Florida East Coast. Brevard County, home of Eau Gallie, was named after the State Comptroller, Theodore Washington Brevard in 1855. In 1859, the US Army sent John Houston to conduct a Seminole Indian census. Arriving in the Indian River area, Houston fell in love with its beauty. He took a leave of absence and applied for a soldier's land grant. Houston traveled to the area of Eau Gallie with his sons and 10 enslaved Africans. His wife joined him a year later when he had completed clearing land and building their cabin with the labor of enslaved African Americans. The area changed little during the Civil War. Former lieutenant governor, William Henry Gleason founded Eau Gallie in 1869 as he made his way to Arlington from Miami. Gleason acquired land consisting of the entire area from the Indian River Lagoon to Lake Washington. Eau Gallie is commonly said to mean "rocky water", since coquina rocks were found in the area. While ' means "water" in French, gallie is not a French word and may be derived from '. Some attribute it a Chippewa word; however, Chippewa speakers lived along the northern border of the United States and Canada. The first established post office in Eau Gallie was established in 1871, and remained in operation until 1970, when it was discontinued following the merger; however, a post office remains in place from the 1960s. The Kentucky Military Institute wintered in Eau Gallie from 1907 to 1921. For entertainment, the town had a "speedway" for stock car races west of Wickham Road from 1957 to about 1971.
Economy
Eau Gallie has original historic buildings, live oaks, and native plants located on the Indian River Lagoon. It is anchored by the Eau Gallie Civic Center, Public Library and Pier, as well as Pineapple Park which has a lighted gazebo under ancient live oaks along the Indian River Lagoon, Foosaner Art Museum/FIT, and the Renee Foosaner Education Center. Eau Gallie is home to the Eau Gallie Arts District Main Street program, an award-winning, fully accredited Florida and National Main Street organization. This area is also home to fine art galleries and long-established businesses, as well as new entrepreneurs that have opened new businesses in the historic little city stimulated by the presence of the Eau Gallie Arts District, which boasts an Outdoor Art Museum consisting of over 30 murals, a mosaic and sculptures. The Historic Rossetter House Museum and Gardens, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, offers home tours, rental space for private events and hosts their own events.
Eau Gallie Square in the Eau Gallie Arts District is a public green space with live oaks and band shell that serves as the center of some community events.
Notable people
Thomas Barbour, herpetologist, aged 14 years in 1898, lived in Eau Gallie with his grandmother.
Zora Neale Hurston, author, lived in a cottage on Guava Avenue and Fifth Street twice, first in 1929 and again in 1951.
Mark Boswell, film director, lived in a house at the corner of Pineapple Ave. and Montreal Blvd. from 1990 to 1992.
