Just down river from New Orleans, the Mississippi River makes a sharp turn.  Today, it doesn't present a problem to boats trying to travel upriver, but for vessels dependent on wind for their upstream power, this was a BIG problem.  In the 18th century, boats waited at this bend for the wind to change direction.  Often, impatient passengers disembarked here, near Belle Chasse, and traveled overland to New Orleans.

While there is disagreement among scholars, it is believed that this site may be in an area where Juan Ponce de Leon made landfall in April 1513. It has long been thought that this event took place near St. Augustine, based upon studies of de Leon’s compass headings that did not account for the inability of 16th century navigators to accurately determine longitude, magnetic compass deviations, or the effects of the Gulf Stream and prevailing winds. Professional navigator Douglas Peck re-traced Juan Ponce de Leon’s route in a sailboat, however, and found a more likely landing site. Peck, who sailed the same waters for 30 years, has an ‘intimate geographical knowledge of the route’ Juan Ponce de Leon took. When he re-sailed the route at the same time of year as the 1513 voyage, he reached Florida’s eastern shore at 28 degrees North Latitude and 80 degrees 29 minutes West Longitude, just south of Melbourne Beach. He can place the accuracy to within 5 to 8 Nautical Miles on either side of this navigational fix. Many historians now conclude that an area south of Melbourne Beach, such as this site, was a more probable location for Juan Ponce de Leon’s first landing. This Brevard County Park, Juan Ponce de Leon Landing, was created in 2005.