Page 10 - Hotel Ormond
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Chapter 1 – In The Beginning
Nocoroco
The primary settlement was called "Nocoroco" and was mapped
by the Spanish in 1602 showing its location where Tomoka State
Park is today.
Spanish captain DePrado documented this village in late 1569 in
writings to the King of Spain. DePrado also documented the
declining welfare of this tribe. In the early 1600’s, Alvaro Mexia
was sent on exploring expeditions down Florida’s northeast coast
and in 1602 created a map, which shows Nocoroco on a peninsula
between two rivers. This is thought to be at the convergence of
Tomoka River and what is now the Halifax River. The Halifax River
is actually an estuary which is a water passage where the ocean
tide meets a river current.
The Tomoka, a corruption of the Indian word Timucua, was
named during the British period. The Halifax River was later
named after the President of the Board of Trade, George Montagu
Dunk, the Earl of Halifax, a distinguished British peer.
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