Florida Hispanic Heritage Facts
Día de la Raza, or Columbus Day is a holiday marking the arrival of navigator Christopher Columbus in the Americas on October 12, 1492. Columbus' voyage was funded by Queen Isabella I of Castile and led to the Spanish colonization of the New World.
Written records about life in Florida began with the arrival of the Spanish explorer and adventurer Juan Ponce de León in 1513. Sometime between April 2 and April 8, Ponce de León waded ashore on the northeast coast of Florida, possibly near present-day St. Augustine. He called the area la Florida, in honor of Pascua florida ("feast of the flowers"), Spain's Eastertime celebration.
Pánfilo de Narváez led a fateful mission into Florida in 1528. Marching northward from the Tampa Bay area, he and his soldiers lost contact with the supply ships. Facing attacks from native tribes and diminishing rations, Narváez and his men built five barges using pine trees to set sail for a Spanish settlement in Mexico. A storm in the Gulf of Mexico destroyed the barges and most men perished, including Narváez. Only four survivors made it to Mexico.
In 1539, Hernando de Soto arrived in the Tampa Bay area to begin an expedition in search of gold and silver. His exploration took him on a long trek through Florida and what is now the southeastern United States. For four years, de Soto's expedition wandered, in hopes of finding the fabled wealth of the Indian people. De Soto and his soldiers camped for five months in the area now known as Tallahassee, celebrating the first Christmas in America. De Soto died near the Mississippi River in 1542. Survivors of his expedition eventually reached Mexico.
In 1559 Tristán de Luna y Arellano led another attempt by Europeans to colonize Florida. He established a settlement at Pensacola Bay, but a series of misfortunes caused his efforts to be abandoned after two years.
Pedro Menéndez de Avilés traveled to Florida with his sights set on creating a Spanish settlement. Menéndez arrived in 1565 at a place he called San Augustín (St. Augustine) and established the first permanent European settlement in what is now the United States.
In 1566, Menéndez de Avilés and Father Francisco Villareal arrive in present-day Miami to found a Jesuit mission, which was completed in 1567.
Construction of the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine began on October 2, 1672, which was essentially completed by 1695. The fortification was designed by Ignacio Daza, a Spanish engineer living in Cuba. Castillo de San Marcos is made out of coquina stone (a sedimentary rock composed of seashells and coral) mined from nearby deposits. It is the oldest stone fort in the United States.
In 1821, Spain ceded Florida to the United States in accordance with the Adams-Onís Treaty. Florida was purchased for $5 million.
Joseph Marion Hernández became the first Hispanic-American ever to serve in Congress after his election as a territorial delegate in 1822.
Florida is admitted into the Union as the twenty-seventh state on March 3, 1845.
Vicente Martinez Ybor opened his cigar factory just outside Tampa in 1886. The forty-acre tract where the factory was located included housing and other amenities for its workers. Thousands of immigrant workers, many of them Cuban, Italian, and Spanish, inhabited the town that came to be known as Ybor City. Cuban independence activist José Martí addressed some of these workers at Ybor's factory, encouraging them to take part in the fight for an independent Cuba.
The port city of Tampa served as the primary staging area during the Spanish-American War in 1898 for U.S. troops on the way to battle in Cuba. Many Floridians supported the Cuban peoples' desire to be free of Spanish colonial rule.
Pan Am Airways began regular flights in 1931 between the cities of Miami and Havana. The duration of the trip was two and a half hours.
On January 1, 1959, the Cuban Revolution led by Fidel Castro culminated in the overthrow of Fulgencio Batista's government. Over 155,000 people fled Cuba from 1959 to 1962, many of them finding exile in Miami.
The Freedom Tower in Miami earned its name because it served as a government reception facility for Cubans fleeing Castro's regime. Hundreds of thousands received services and were documented at this building from 1962 through the early 1970's.
In February 2009, HM King Juan Carlos I and HM Queen Sofia of Spain visited Pensacola in honor of Pensacola's 450th Anniversary. Governor Crist Welcomes Their Majesties the King & Queen of Spain, Celebrates Florida's Historic Spanish Ties.
Florida has the third largest population of Hispanics in the nation, with close to 4 million residing in the state. Twenty and a half percent of Florida's population is Hispanic.
At least 60% of Hispanics reside in Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade, and Monroe counties.
The majority of Florida's Hispanics trace their heritage to Cuba, Puerto Rico, or Mexico. In addition, the percentage of individuals from Colombia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Dominican Republic is growing.
U.S Hispanic Chamber of Commerce estimates more than 266,000 Hispanic businesses operating in Florida, ranking the Sunshine State third behind California and Texas. Governor Crist Applauds Contribution of Hispanic Businesses on Florida Economy.
Goods produced in Florida account for 23% of all U.S. exports to Latin American and the Caribbean - higher than any other state.
Fifty-three percent (53%) of all Florida-origin exports go to the Latin America/Caribbean region.
In 2008, over 3.1 million travelers visited Florida from Mexico, the Caribbean, Central and South America.
Florida Place Names
Altamonte Springs, Seminole County -- Altamonte is Spanish for "high hill".
Anna Maria Island, Manatee County -- Ponce de Leon was said to have named the island for the queen of King Charles II, the sponsor of his expedition. Pronunciation is often disputed, most prefer Anna Mar-EE-a, but the old timers like Anna Mar-EYE-a.
Boca Ciega, Pinellas County -- Named for Boca Ciega Bay, Boca Ciega literally means Blind Mouth in Spanish. This may have been a reference to what it looked like at the entrance of the river.
Boca Raton, Palm Beach County -- The Spanish "Boca de Ratones" means rat's mouth, a term used by seamen to describe a hidden rock which a ship's cable might rub against.
Cape Canaveral, Brevard County -- Canaveral is the Spanish word for "a place of reeds or cane."
Columbia County (1832) -- Christopher Columbus.
De Soto County (1887) -- Hernando de Soto, Spanish explorer.
Escambia County (1821) -- Escambia River and derived from the Spanish word for "barter" or "exchange."
Fernandina Beach, Nassau County -- Fernandina was the early name of Cuba. Fernandina claims to be the oldest city in the United States.
Hernando County (1843) -- (was Benton, 1844-1850) Hernando de Soto, Spanish explorer.
Islamorada, Monroe County -- It is Spanish for "purple island."
Key West, Monroe County -- It is the westernmost island extending from the Florida peninsula. Key West was originally called Cayo Hueso (Bone Island) by the early Spanish explorers because they found large quantities of human bones there.
Largo, Pinellas County -- Largo is the Spanish word for "big" or "long." Lake Largo is nearby.
Leon County (1824) -- Juan Ponce de Leon, first European to reach Florida.
Madeira Beach, Pinellas County -- Madeira Beach is named for Portugal's wine producing island, Madeira, located just off the coast of Africa. The word means "wood."
Panama City, Bay County -- George West, the original developer of the town, named it Panama City because it is in a direct line between Chicago and Panama City, Panama.
Ponte Vedra, St. Johns County -- This is named for the city in Spain.
Punta Gorda, Charlotte County -- The Spanish words for "wide point" or "fat point" refer to the arm of land jutting into Charlotte Bay near the city of Punta Gorda.
St. Augustine, St. Johns County -- The oldest continuously inhabited city in the United State, St. Augustine was named by its founder, Pedro Menendez de Aviles, for St. Augustine, the Bishop of Hippo.
Santa Rosa County (1842) -- Rosa de Viterbo, Roman Catholic Saint.
Valparaiso, Okaloosa County -- This name was taken from the city in Indiana, which in turn was named for the famous Chilean port. The word is Spanish for "valley of paradise."