Some historians believe this site corresponds to the offshore location where Juan Ponce de Leon calculated his fleet's position when he first sighted Florida. His fleet of three vessels sailed from Puerto Rico in early March 1513, and on Sunday, March 27, the day of the Festival of the Resurrection, they saw what they thought was an island. After sailing northwest along the coast, the fleet moved close to shore, and at noon on April 2 a sighting of the sun was taken, probably with either a quadrant or a mariner's astrolabe. In Historia General de los Hechos de Los Castellanos en las Islas Y Tierra Firme del Mar Océan, published in 1601, Spanish historian Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas recorded the location as 30° 8' north latitude. Herrera, appointed by Phillip II of Spain as the major chronicler of the Indies, had access to authentic sources, including documents made during Ponce's voyage that were not available to other writers. Preserved in its natural condition, this site is likely what Ponce de Leon would have seen as he approached Florida for the first time in 1513.
