Tavernier

What is today Tavenier was originally inhabited by the Calusa and
Tequesta Native Americans. The Tequesta occupied the area around
Biscayne Bay, while the Calusa inhabited Southwest Florida. In 1513,
the Florida Keys were discovered and mapped by Spanish explorer
Juan Ponce de Leon who named the islands Los Martires ("The
Martyrs"), as they looked like suffering men from a distance. During
Florida's First Spanish Period, the Keys remained isolated from
imperial administration, as Spain focused its colonial efforts in
Central and South America. In 1774, British cartographer Bernard
Romans created a detailed map of the Keys, including Tavernier,
which he mapped as Key Tabona. The Tavernier vicinity offered a
favorable anchorage for Bahamian fisherman and wreckers due to
its location near the hazardous Carysfort Reef. All of Tavernier's
earliest settlers originated in the Bahamas. No settlement occurred
in Tavernier during Florida's Territorial Period, although Key West
began to grow as sponging, turtling, and wrecking became prominent
in the economy of the Lower Keys.

Submitted by @alwaysreadtheplaque