Place Names

Written by Vera Zimmerman

Indian River

The Indian River was the Rio de Ays or the Laguna de Ays to the Spanish. The English called it the Hes and Jece and maps after 1820 labeled it the Indian River.

Cape Canaveral

Cape Canaveral is the oldest place name in Brevard County. It is sometimes translated as "place of canes." Marjory Stoneman Douglas wrote "The name 'Canaveral,' meaning 'cane bearer' for the great reeds then in the swamp at the southward bight of the cape, appeared on Florida maps after 1520". She believed it was Spanish ship captain Francisco Gordillo who named the cape for the Ais indians who used arrows made from cane to repel Spanish invaders. (Gill, 1975)

Spanish soldier Alvaro Mexia came from St. Augustine to meet with the Ais chief in 1605. He drew a rough map of the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River with place names of Surruque, Urribia, Urruya, Suyagueche, Potopotoya, Ulumay, Saboboche, Savochequeya, Pentoaya and the Baya Grande de Ays. (Rouse 1951, 1981) Only the name Ulumay has survived as the name of the Ulumay Wildlife Refuge on Merritt Island, named by naturalist and local historian Johnnie Johnson.

St. Johns River

The St. Johns River was called Welaka or Illaca meaning String of Pearls by the Indians. The French called it the River of May. The Spanish first called it San Mateo and later San Juan. The English translated that to St. John and the 's' was added by early map makers. It was the first highway into the area for the Native Americans and later European settlers.

Sebastian and St. Lucie

The St. Sebastian and St. Lucie Rivers were both named by the Spanish. A settlement was attempted by Governor Pedro Menendez near the Rio San Sebastian, but conflicts with the Ais soon caused them to move south to the Rio Santa Lucia. This settlement was also soon abandoned. (Rouse, 1951, 1981)

Pineda

Some sources say the name Pineda comes from the stands of piney woods in the area, but it is hard to believe that the person suggesting the name was unaware of the Spanish explorer Juan Pineda who made the first map that showed Florida to be a peninsula and not an island.

New Smyrna

New Smyrna was named by Scottish physician Dr. Andrew Turnbull for Smyrna, Turkey, the birth place of his wife. Turnbull's plantation was on the northern boundary of what is now Brevard County. In 1766 he brought about 300 families from Minorca, Greece, and Italy as indentured laborers. Turnbull's indigo plantation was a failure and the surviving settler's fled to St. Augustine.

Merritt Island

The Spanish referred to Merritt Island as Isla de Punta de Piedra or Stoney Point. The tip of Merritt Island has a distinctive outcropping of coquina rock eroded by water into fantastic shapes.

Merritt Island was referred to as Merritt's Island as early as 1803 and as recently as 1930. The post office was commissioned as Merritt Island on June 1, 1935. In John McIntosh's grant it is described as "An island in the Rio Ais, known by the name of the Isla de Punta de Piedra or by the Isla de Marrat, which name was given by the memorialist having a man of the same name residing thereon." (Spanish Land Grants in Florida, vol. IV, Con. M28b-c, M29) Some believe Marratt may have been Captain Pedro Marratt, head surveyor of the Spanish governor in East Florida from 1791-1800. McIntosh was said to have 250 people on his grant including five white men, two of them with their families. (Certificate of Grant, May 18, 1803) The earliest map on which Merritt's Island is named is the 1823 Tanner map