Orlando Weekly
In the early 1500s, Ponce de Leon came here in search of a boat that had been separated from his fleet by strong currents. He named the area Bay of the Cross and set forth exploring. By 1569, thanks to what is now our state insect, the colloquial name became Mosquito Bay, which stuck for the next 300 years. Still, the area wasn't settled until the 1700s, when British plantation owners planted crops of oranges, rice, cotton and indigo nearby.