A Florida East Coast Railway map published in Simpson's "In Lower Florida Wilds", 1920, shows West Washerwomans Key at the present location of Washerwoman Shoal, midway between the southern tip of Vaca Key and the outer reef. Spanish charts show La Lavendera (SP. "The Washerwoman) at this location, and a dry key may have been here in the past, coming and going with the storms.

The Juan Elixio de la Puente chart of 1765 has the legend, "Una Pena, que ve la siempre nombrado La Labandera, y es lapunta de Los Martires." (A rock, which is always visible, named The Washerwoman, and which is the point of the Florida Keys.).