Name/Title
Harvesting the Cocoa-nuts [Stereoview]Description
George Baker stereoview titled "Florida - Harvesting the Cocoa-nuts." Photographed on July 31, 1891. On the border is "ELEVEN FIRST PRIZE MEDALS", "GEORGE BARKER. NIAGRA FALLS. N.Y.", "Grand Prize / DIAMOND BADGE / 1887", "AMERICAN FOREIGN & COMIC GENRE", "INSTANTANEOUS PHOTOGRAPHY", and "GOLD MEDAL / PARIS / 1889".Context
What may be the first mention of the coconut in Florida was made by Bernard Romans in 1775. His statement is ambiguous: "The coco-nuts found on the shore [of Florida] likewise convince us that Cuba sends much of her outcast this way".
The first account of the palms seems to be that by Vignoles in 1823. On a surveying trip down the eastern coast of the peninsula in 1822, this visitor found an abandoned grove of coconuts about four miles north of Jupiter Inlet. This was formerly part of an old plantation started in 1807 by James Hutchinson. Vignoles thought that it might have even been occupied before that time by a Padre Torres, although no details are given. The size or age of the palms was not recorded, but they were large enough to be used by pilots to gain their bearings and giving fruits which suggests "about fifteen years coming to perfection. . ." for an age. This would place the trees in the time period o{ Hutchinson's settlement attempt. Coconuts at the Jupiter Island site are the oldest recorded in the historical documents