Today on Monday Mysteries we discover the mystery surrounding the location of the spot where the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León landed in 1513.
If you’d asked me what I knew about Ponce de Leon a few weeks ago, I would have said that he was a Spanish explorer who sailed to the New World and landed near what is now St. Augustine, Florida, in search of the Fountain of Youth. That’s been the received wisdom for centuries about Ponce de Leon. Even though he also went other places, it’s his association with the legend of the fountain of youth which stuck in my memory all these years.
But now that we live in Melbourne, Chris and I have stumbled upon the real story.
Well, at least it the “real” story according to a local guy, one who has convinced people around here to believe it, at least. The new story is that rather than landing in St. Augustine, Ponce de Leon actually landed 150 miles to the south right here on Melbourne Beach. People have bought into that story to the extent that in 2005 they put up a marker for a Ponce de Leon historic site.
Marker Ponce de León site, Melbourne Beach, FL
There is absolutely no evidence about which spot along the Melbourne coast is the right spot, of course, but there’s a marker that designates a parking lot as the site of Ponce de Leon’s landing. Or rather, the marker is next to a parking lot. Give or take a few nautical miles or so, it could actually be the right spot. In 2005 they also had a summer project for kids to do a mural (on the side of the public facilities building in the parking lot) that is interestingly bi-directional: when viewed from one angle, it gives a scene that depicts de Leon and his men, while from the other angle it shows the scene of the locals greeting the sailors.
Ponce de León mural – angle #1, Melbourne Beach, FL
Ponce de León mural – angle #2, Melbourne Beach, FL
In 2013, though, they had a bit celebration marking the 500th anniversary of the landing. At that point (apparently) they put up a couple of big poster placards that explain that contrary to popular belief, de Leon was not a just a “vain conquistador” who was in search of the fountain of youth. On the contrary: he was a man with a dream to explore the world; the fact that he took over and trounced anyone in is way is probably just another of the foul rumors spread by jealous rivals over the subsequent centuries.
One of the info posters about Ponce de León , Melbourne, FL
Right. Well, you can decided for yourself who you want to believe. FWIW, though, somebody or some group here in Melbourne has believed this new story enough to pay for a statue to be added to that parking lot. Juan Ponce de León, sword at his side and cross in his hand now looks out toward the beach — the beach that may or may not have been the spot where he first spent a night in Florida.
Ponce de León statue, Melbourne, FL
Ponce de León statue boot (artist signature on heel)
Ponce de León statue – note the head on the sword
Melbourne Beach, Possible landing site of Juan Ponce de León
Ponce de León statue, Melbourne, FL (artistic license taken for the photo)
We might wonder whether the Fountain of Youth was so named because the myth was fed by youthful gullibility.
I liked the close-up of the boot and the sword. Several years ago, our friends took us to DeLeon Springs Park, west of Daytona, and we ate in a restaurant that gave you pancake batter and a pan and let you make your own pancakes! Maybe that’s the secret to keeping young?