Vintage Brevard 16

Happy Tuesday Brevard !! Here's another interesting shot of Melbourne's long established hospitality industry. We here have always done a brisk business entertaining tourists and visitors escaping brutal northern winters, and Downtown Melbourne was quite the stopover for snowbirds in the early part of the 20th century. The climate this time of year was exceptional, and the natural beauty led to all sorts of recreational activities. Summers, with their clouds of mosquitoes, scorching temperatures, and hurricanes...not so much.

This shot happens to be of the Bellevue Hotel, which was located on the northwest corner of Melbourne Avenue and Melbourne Court, looking southeast over Crane Creek. In 1920, the name changed to the Orange Spot Inn, and operated for seven more years until it was lost to fire in 1927 - a fate common to many of the original structures in Melbourne.

Today, there's a historical marker on the east side of the property, which is now home to small apartment buildings.