Hospital Creek, part of the Intracoastal Waterway, runs along the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park, where local lore places a 1513 landing by Ponce de Leon. Here local lore has long pointed to a 1513 landing by Ponce de Leon; the park is touted as that likely Florida landing site, though the text is clear that no evidence has been found to substantiate the claim. Recent research by amateur historian Douglas Peck has placed another possible landing in the vicinity of Melbourne Beach in Brevard County, a reminder that the story remains unsettled.
On these grounds is a well long described as a freshwater spring—claimed to be the source Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas mentioned in his Historia general de los hechos de los castellanos en las Islas y Tierra Firme del mar Océano and supposedly sought by Ponce de Leon—yet again without supporting evidence. Archaeological excavations led by Dr. Kathleen Deagan in the 1990s did uncover remains of the first Spanish settlement and its fortifications in St. Augustine, anchoring real, tangible history here. Beginning in the 1860s the gardens hosted small attractions that showcased that very well and the attractive grounds.
Picture Dr. Kathleen Deagan's 1990s digs uncovering the real remains of St. Augustine's first Spanish settlement here.