Before formally adopting its current moniker, the region and its early settlements had different designations tied to indigenous populations, Spanish colonial exploration, and the establishment of United States military outposts. In the nineteenth century, the civilian community that formed near the newly established military installation of Fort Brooke was officially incorporated as Tampa Town before the name was shortened to simply Tampa. Earlier European maps and historical accounts by explorers often referred to the broader geographic area and surrounding coastal waters using various Spanish terms, such as Bahia de Tampa or alternative designations linked to local native tribes before the modern municipal identity took permanent hold.