Hearth, Enjoyable and Folklore: Meet Annie, Merritt Island’s Legendary Dragon on the Indian River

Located on southern tip of Merritt Island, Dragon Point Mansion was inbuilt 1961

BREVARD COUNTY • MERRITT ISLAND, FLORIDA — For generations of Space Coast residents, the sight of an enormous inexperienced dragon rising from the mist on the southern tip of Merritt Island was greater than a landmark—it was a logo of caprice, journey, and native legend.

That dragon was Annie.

Built in 1971 by Florida artist Lewis VanDercar and property proprietor Aynn Christal, Annie was no small feat.

Twenty tons of concrete and metal have been hauled to “Dragon Point” by wheelbarrow, the one entry being a slender picket boardwalk.

The dragon’s design was impressed by an American Indian legend: seeing a dragon rising the place the Banana and Indian Rivers meet was mentioned to convey success.

The 65-foot-long, 35-foot-high dragon was constructed with a metal skeleton and lined in concrete.

Its hole stomach served as a novel playhouse, full with tables, chairs, electrical energy, and hieroglyphics painted alongside the inside partitions. Stairs spiraled up Annie’s neck, providing breathtaking views of the dawn and sundown over the lagoon.

By 1974, Annie might breathe hearth, with purple lights in her eyes and a propane-based flamethrower in her mouth—a lot to the delight of kids and adults at Fourth of July celebrations, charity occasions, and birthday events.

Annie’s legacy grew within the Nineteen Eighties below new property proprietor Warren McFadden.

The dragon expanded to incorporate a tail, an prolonged neck, a caveman named Fred, a cavewoman named Wilma, and 4 hatchlings named Joy, Sunshine, Charity, and Freedom. Their adventures impressed the 2003 kids’s ebook, River Dragon: A Real Florida Fairy Tale.

For almost three many years, Annie and her hatchlings stood proudly between Melbourne and Indian Harbour Beach, close to the Eau Gallie Causeway.

But storms and vandalism took their toll. In August 2002, a storm partially collapsed the dragon into the lagoon, and vandals wielding sledgehammers and spray paint additional broken the beloved construction. Multiple plans to rebuild Annie—together with a luxurious lodge proposal and county rehabilitation efforts—by no means got here to fruition.

A grassroots effort to protect Annie’s spirit emerged in 2012 with the founding of “Save Dragon Point,” later renamed the Annie and Kids Arts and Education Foundation.

Space Coast developer Don Facciobene bought the property in 2015, asserting plans to create a brand new dragon named “Rojak,” mentioned to be Annie’s fifth hidden hatchling. Demolition work started in 2017, clearing the best way for a future riverfront mansion and Rojak’s arrival.

For those that grew up close to the Indian River Lagoon, Annie was greater than concrete and metal.

She was a childhood journey, a Space Coast icon, and a spark of Florida folklore come to life. Though storms and time have claimed the unique, the legend of Annie continues—flying, fire-breathing, and unforgettable—within the reminiscences of all who encountered her at Dragon Point.