Ponce De León Island
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Ponce de León Island was a proposed name for the long,
barrier island Barrier islands are coastal landforms and a type of dune system that are exceptionally flat or lumpy areas of sand that form by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from a ...
stretching from
Cape Canaveral , image = cape canaveral.jpg , image_size = 300 , caption = View of Cape Canaveral from space in 1991 , map = Florida#USA , map_width = 300 , type = Cape , map_caption = Location in Florida , location ...
to
Sebastian Inlet Sebastian Inlet, located in Sebastian Inlet State Park in Brevard County, Florida and Indian River County, Florida, offers surfing and fishing opportunities. It is off State Road A1A just 12 miles north of Vero Beach. There are annual surf tour ...
in
Brevard County Brevard County ( ) is a county located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 606,612, making it the 10th-most populated county in Florida. The official county seat is located in ...
in
central Florida Central Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, including the Tampa Bay area and the ...
, located on the
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
. The population was 67,933 at the
2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators serving ...
. The barrier island is . Another proposed name for this area was Ais Island after the native
Ais people The Ais or Ays were a Native American people of eastern Florida. Their territory included coastal areas and islands from approximately Cape Canaveral to the Indian River. The Ais chiefdom consisted of a number of towns, each led by a chief who ...
who originally inhabited the area. Currently, the island has not yet been designated any official name.


History

Since 2000, historians from Brevard County have worked to name this stretch of land to Ponce de León Island due to a theory originated by Douglas Peck that the Spanish explorer and soldier
Juan Ponce de León Juan Ponce de León (, , , ; 1474 – July 1521) was a Spanish explorer and ''conquistador'' known for leading the first official European expedition to Florida and for serving as the first governor of Puerto Rico. He was born in Santervà ...
first landed there in 1513 as the first European to set foot in Florida.Datzman, Ken. "Did the famous explorer Ponce de Leon first hit Melbourne Beach", ''
Brevard Business News ''Brevard Business News'' is a weekly newspaper in Melbourne, Florida, United States covering business news and trends for the Space Coast region of Central Florida Central Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources ...
'', vol 30, no. 1 (Melbourne, Florida: January 02, 2012), p. 1 and 19. This contests the once popular view that Ponce de León first landed in
St. Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afr ...
. The American Indian Association of Florida also proposed the name Ais Island for this area, sparking a controversy. Both proposals were considered by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN) in 2012, but no name was approved. Many beach-side cities who were formally for the naming of Ponce de Leon have since rescinded their previous decisions based on the revelation of old evidence of Ponce's treatment of the Taino Indians in Puerto Rico and that Peck's theory is not universally accepted as fact.


Pros and cons

Arguments against naming the barrier island include claims that he was actively involved in the Higuey massacre in Hispaniola. and then in 1508 chosen by the Spanish Crown to lead the conquest and exploitation of
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
and the enslavement of the Taino native people there, for gold mining operations.


Ais Island

There is a proposal with
USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...
to name the formentioned barrier islands, Ais Island. The reasoning is that this name is more historically accurate than the name Ponce de Leon. The Ais and their ancestors lived in this area for 3000 years. It was named The Province of Ais by the Spanish in the 17th century. In
1601 This epoch is the beginning of the 400-year Gregorian leap-year cycle within which digital files first existed; the last year of any such cycle is the only leap year whose year number is divisible by 100. January 1 of this year (1601-01-01) ...
the Spanish king commissioned a map of Florida indicating his desires for a fort to be built in Miami. On the map he indicated the land we know as Brevard County as the 'Province of Ais', as it was typical in those days to designate a region of specific tribal domination and generally took its name from the ruling cacique.


Coacoochee Island

A third naming application was submitted to the BGN by the Council of the Original
Miccosukee The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida is a federally recognized Native American tribe in the U.S. state of Florida. They were part of the Seminole nation until the mid-20th century, when they organized as an independent tribe, receiving f ...
Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, ...
Nation on May 29, 2012. To be named in honor of a Seminole chief, Coacoochee.


See also

*
South Beaches South Beaches is an unofficial area in Brevard County, Florida, United States. It includes cities, towns and unincorporated area on the barrier island south of Patrick Space Force Base. The cities and towns include: South Patrick Shores, Satelli ...
* North Hutchinson Island (sometimes called Orchid Island) -- the barrier island immediately to the south


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ponce de Leon Island Atlantic Coast barrier islands of Florida Beaches of Brevard County, Florida Islands of Brevard County, Florida Indian River Lagoon Beaches of Florida Islands of Florida