Bings Landing Preserve has a fascinating history dating back as far as the early 1800s. The land was previously the plantation home of Brigadier General Joseph Hernandez, Florida’s first voice in the U.S. Congress and also its first Hispanic member.

The property was purchased by Joseph (Jose) Hernandez in 1816 from a Roman Catholic priest name Michael (Miguel) Crosby. The land was then known as Mala Compra Planation. Mala Compra means "bad purchase". The plantation consisted of 724 acres with an estimated purchase price of $1,500.

The land was surveyed in 1818 and by then there were several structures and a road on the plantation. Also in 1818, Hernandez purchased another plantation called Bella Vista to expand the cultivated area of Mala Compra. He intensely cultivated both plantations.

The principal crop grown on Mala Compra was cotton. By 1835, buildings on the plantation included the family dwelling (the foundation of which exists today), a cotton house, a corn house, a house for someone designated "Driver", slave houses and various other buildings. Hernandez also had horses, cattle, a cotton gin and farm implements on the plantation.

The main house is thought to have been a 6 room, one and a half story house with a shingled roof, finished on the outside with weather boarding and on the inside with lathes and plaster. The house was 30 feet by 18 feet in dimension and rested on a stone foundation 3 feet deep with an underground cellar. Out buildings included two free standing kitchens (the foundation of one still exists today) and a privy.

In December 1835 and January 1836, during the Second Seminole Indian War (1835-1842), Hernandez established military supply depots at both his Mala Compra and Bella Vista Plantations. The Seminoles burned Mala Compra Plantation and in the 1840s Hernandez began the reconstruction process. He lived at Mala Compra on a seasonal basis.

By 1850 Hernandez lived at Mala Compra producing corn, peas, potatoes, rice and hay. Joseph Mariano Hernandez died on June 8, 1857 in Cuba.

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