Harry T. Moore Center and Monroe Center in Cocoa, Florida

The Moore Center is a 1924 school building at 307 Blake Ave. in the Diamond Square community of Cocoa, restored by the city to house the Leon and Jewel Collins Museum of African American History and Culture (City of Cocoa museum page).

The City of Cocoa says the Harry T. Moore Center was the original campus of Monroe High School, the first all African American school in the Cocoa community, and that the building was named for Harry T. Moore, a local civil rights leader, in 1954 after Monroe High School left it (City of Cocoa museum page). The city also calls it the only African American high school still standing in Brevard County (City of Cocoa museum page).

Diamond Square, the neighborhood around the Harry T. Moore Center, is one of the two Cocoa community redevelopment areas, bounded by Pineda Street, School Street, the Florida East Coast Railroad and Rosa L. Jones Drive (Diamond Square CRA page). The 2018 Cocoa CRA plan traces the African-American community of Cocoa to the area west of Florida Avenue and the railroad, known as the Heart of Cocoa, which formed near the citrus fields and supported several black-owned businesses and two churches (2018 Cocoa CRA Plan Update).

The museum page lists parking, a playground and restrooms at the Cocoa site, and names the City of Cocoa Community Services Department, 321-433-8577, as the contact (City of Cocoa museum page).

Harry Moore was a Brevard County educator who became a full-time civil rights activist, organized the county's first NAACP branch in 1934 and led the Florida State Conference of NAACP branches from 1941 to 1946 (Florida Division of Historical Resources marker list for Brevard County).

A state marker in Brevard County says Mr. Moore was fired for demanding equal pay and then worked to equalize the salaries of Negro teachers with those of their white counterparts, the term used on the marker; he also organized the Progressive Voters League of Florida and served as executive director of the state NAACP conference after his term as its president (Florida Division of Historical Resources marker list for Brevard County). The City of Cocoa named the Blake Avenue school building for him in 1954 (City of Cocoa museum page). State markers in Brevard County record that he and his wife, Harriette V. Moore, were killed when their home was bombed in 1951, on Christmas night by one marker's wording and on Christmas Eve by another's, and the Moore homesite guide covers that site (Florida Division of Historical Resources marker list for Brevard County).

The Collins Museum is a City of Cocoa museum of African American history and culture inside the Moore Center, dedicated in 2017 and not yet open to the public (City of Cocoa museum page).

The museum carries the names of Leon and Jewel Collins, whom the City of Cocoa recognizes for their advocacy and contributions to Cocoa and Brevard County (City of Cocoa museum page). The city page says Leon Collins was the first African American elected to the Cocoa City Council, in 1973, and served ten years; Jewel Collins was the first African American woman elected to the Cocoa City Council, in 1999, and served through 2006, along with seats on the Beautification Board, the Cocoa and Diamond Square redevelopment agency boards and the Stadium Committee (City of Cocoa museum page). The couple married on January 17, 1956, marched in Cocoa for voting rights for African Americans in the 1960s, and were active in the NAACP and the Cocoa/Rockledge Civic League (City of Cocoa museum page).

On June 1, 2026, the City of Cocoa published a tribute on the passing of Jewel Collins, recalling her 1999 election, her service as Deputy Mayor and her work for the Diamond Square community, and naming the museum as the place where the Collins legacy lives on (City of Cocoa news release of June 1, 2026).

The museum is still being prepared. The City of Cocoa asks anyone with items of significance for the collection to contact the City Clerk's Office at (321) 433-8480 (City of Cocoa museum page).

Cocoa restored the Moore Center with state help: in 2015 the city received a Division of Historical Resources Historic Preservation Small Matching Grant and a Special Category Grant for the work (City of Cocoa museum page).

The City of Cocoa page says the grants helped renovate and preserve the historic building, including roofing, flooring and an interior redesign for its future use as a museum (City of Cocoa museum page). It describes the result as a newly redesigned and restored building that is home to the future Leon and Jewel Collins Museum (City of Cocoa museum page).

The City of Cocoa CRA 2025 Annual Report says the Alliance for Neighborhood Restoration was in its 12th year of youth programs at the Harry T. Moore Center, in a partnership the Diamond Square CRA continued in fiscal year 2025 (City of Cocoa CRA 2025 Annual Report).

The Monroe Center at 705 Blake Ave. in Cocoa is the former Monroe High School, which a state historical marker says was built in 1954-55 as one of three segregated high schools serving Brevard County (Florida Division of Historical Resources marker list for Brevard County).

The marker says the school was named for Jessie Ruth Monroe, a pioneer, teacher and principal of Cocoa Junior High School, an earlier segregated school in the community (Florida Division of Historical Resources marker list for Brevard County). Its original address was 705 Avocado Street; the marker says the street name now honors Virgil Blake, a prominent activist in the community who lived on that street (Florida Division of Historical Resources marker list for Brevard County).

Monroe High served Black children in grades 7 through 12 from across Central Brevard until 1966-67, when area public schools were integrated, and the marker says it had a distinguished reputation as the alma mater of community leaders in education, government, industry and the arts (Florida Division of Historical Resources marker list for Brevard County). Today the Monroe Center in Cocoa is the Children's Village, with educational and social services for children and families; the Child Care Association of Brevard County, Inc. sponsored the marker with the Florida Department of State (Florida Division of Historical Resources marker list for Brevard County).

Cocoa had two Monroe High buildings: the 1924 original campus at 307 Blake Ave. and the 1954-55 school at 705 Blake Ave. (city page; state marker).

Read together, the City of Cocoa page has Monroe High School leaving the 1924 building in 1954 (City of Cocoa museum page), and the state marker has a new Monroe High School built at 705 Blake Ave. in 1954-55 (Florida Division of Historical Resources marker list for Brevard County). The sources differ on one point: the city calls the 1924 building the only African American high school still standing in Brevard County (City of Cocoa museum page), while the marker describes the 705 Blake Ave. building as the Monroe High School of 1954-55 and says the Monroe Center is now the Children's Village (Florida Division of Historical Resources marker list for Brevard County). This guide states both and does not decide between them.

Last verified: October 21, 2026, by re-reading the City of Cocoa page for the Collins Museum at the Moore Center, the city's June 1, 2026 Jewel Collins release, the Brevard County marker texts from the Florida Division of Historical Resources, the Diamond Square CRA page, the 2018 Cocoa CRA Plan Update and the CRA 2025 Annual Report.