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ANNA MARIA ISLAND
There are three cities on Anna Maria Island:
Anna Maria, Holmes Beach, & Bradenton Beach. The Island's rich
history is well preserved by residents and the Anna Maria Island
Historical Society efforts. Anna Maria Island is connected to Bradenton
on the mainland by two draw bridges, and to the northern end of Longboat
Key by Gulf Drive. The island, some seven miles long, was named
Ana-Maria-Cay by the Spanish to honor the Virgin Mary and her mother
Anne. Explored around 1530 by Spanish adventurers. The first settlers of
the Bradenton Area were the Timucan Indians who inhabited the area as
early as 1000 A.D. They were farmers, fisherman and fierce warriors.
Timucuan & Caloosan American Indians Tribes who were physically
large and fierce fighters, met the Spaniards. Ponce de Leon is said to
have landed on Florida's west coast in 1521 but his efforts at
colonizing the area were thwarted by marauding Indian.
In 1539, Hernando Desoto landed at Shaw's Point in Bradenton. Desoto is
said to have enslaved the Indians and demanded that they lead him to El
Dorado, the City of gold. After guiding his men through a 4,000 mile
search, Desoto grew weary and ill and died. After Desoto died his men
abandoned the quest and returned to Mexico.
There is no trace of the Timucuan in modern times. A variety of reasons,
including disease, wiped out the tribe.
George Emerson Bean was the first permanent resident in 1892.
Development on the Island began during the early 1900's by Bean and the
Anna Maria Beach Company. The first church, Roser Memorial Community
Church, was also built at this time. The Anna Maria City Pier is located
on Tampa Bay at the end of Pine Avenue.
The Pier and wharf were built by the Anna Maria Development Company in 1911-1912 before any bridges connected the Island to the mainland, so
that the ships from Tampa and St. Petersburg would have a place to dock.
The pier served as the port of call for ships carrying visitors and
supplies The 678 foot long pier has withstood many hurricanes and
storms. Parts of the pier were damaged and restored in 1918, 1935, 1974
and 1988. Although the pier has been remodeled over the years, it still
remains similar to its original appearance in 1910. Tropical storm
"Keith", November 1988, severely damaged the restaurant
portion. This damage was removed and part of the pier was rebuilt. The
wharf extends another 58 feet into Tampa Bay
In 1921, the Cortez
Bridge was finished a narrow, shaky structure. By the 1950's with the
addition of the Manatee Avenue Bridge, making two links to the mainland.
The Bradenton beach fishing pier is what remain of the western
end of the original Cortez bridge.
ANNA MARIA
Popular since the early 1900’s, Anna Maria was founded by Charles
Roser, father of the Fig Newton, who reportedly made his fortune when he
sold the recipe to Nabisco. The town numbers about 1,800 residents who
treasure the life they enjoy on the island. Between the Gulf and the
Intercoastal Waterway, Anna Maria is surrounded on three sides by
beaches.
HOLMES BEACH
The 600-acre village on the Gulf of Mexico got its name from developer
John Holmes. Incorporated in 1950,
it is the island’s largest community. Several Small: resorts, Motel,
& condominium developments and shopping areas serve the resident
population of nearly 5,000. Here prime assets are the Manatee Public
Beach ,shopping areas, two boat ramp, & public tennis courts. The
community’s population of free-roaming peacocks were move for there
safety from the island to the red barn flea market area. White Sands
resort is located In Holmes Beach.
THE HISTORY OF HOLMES BEACH
1- In 1896 Sam and Annie Cobb homesteaded 160 acres from Gulf to Bay,
the area now called Holmes Beach. Their acreage included a bayou and
provided a harbor for small boats and a natural channel to the bay. In
addition they purchased a 10 acre strip from John Jones, whose homestead
adjoined theirs, and built a dock. In
1897 the Cobb’s daughter, Anna Maria Cobb, became the first non-Native
child born on the island. Capt. John R. Jones became the third settler
on Anna Maria Island. The first, George Emerson Bean, settled near the
North Point in 1893. Jones took the land south of Cobb's which is
Sportsmans Harbor today. Settling to the south of him was Jose Casanas,
who came from the Canary Islands primarily to fish for mullet. Jones was
captain of boats running between Tampa and Cuba and was authorized by
the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture to establish an agricultural station on
the island. He brought trees from S. America, India and Mexico.
Mosquitoes were bad so the settlers burned powdered chrysanthemum.
In 1902 the first island post office was established in Sam Cobb's
house. Sam was the only government representative on the island. Before,
residents had to row across the bay to Perico Island for mail. The few
hardy island residents helped each other build homes. They hacked
through the jungle to create a sandy washboard road and laid logs across
streams and swamps. Rattlesnakes, wildcats and panthers lived in the
island jungle.
At the end of World War II Jack Holmes, a developer with a dream,
created a 600-acre community in the center of the island. In 1948 an
airstrip was built as a landing strip for small planes. The film
"On An Island With You," starring Esther Williams and Peter
Lawford, was partially filmed on the island. Esther Williams bought
property, although it is not known if she ever lived on the island. The
City of Holmes Beach was incorporated in 1950. The first mayor, Halsey
T. Tichenor, served from March 14, 1950 to March 20, 1951.In 1950 Jack
Holmes had 180 homes for sale and the island became known for its rapid
growth. The Anna Maria Island Elementary School was built in 1950 on Gulf
Drive. Lena Phelps was the first principal.
In 1953 the Island Medical Center was built by Dr. Edgar Huth, the
first island doctor and he made house calls. Dr. Rex Lee opened his
dental practice in the north end of the building.
In 1954 Jack Holmes built the Yacht Club Restaurant on the canal,
which later became the famous Pete Reynard's.
10- In 1952 Jack Holmes built a shopping center -the first on the
island. It provided a grocery store, post office, drug store,
restaurants, a bakery and clothing store. The Island Bank was completed
in 1960.
11- In the early 1960's Seaside Gardens on 63rd Street took shape under
the direction of Jack Holmes. With the help of his friends the town of
Holmes Beach developed into the fastest growing community in Florida,
according to an article in the Better Living Magazine, Sept. 1980. They
strived for a home community of modest proportions with affordable
prices in a luxurious setting. Dredging and filling in the picturesque
canals and bayous took place. Holmes gave people what they wanted
starting at $8,950 with no maintenance or hidden costs. The first
structure was completed in 1962. The five-unit apartment was one story,
under one roof .All units had boat docks along the canal. Each apartment
had central heat and air. They sold like hot cakes.
BRADENTON BEACH
Near the southern end of the island, Bradenton Beach has a population of
about 1,600. It was incorporated in 1953 and grew up around the first
bridge to the mainland. Much of the community’s restored business
district is oriented toward tourist Key asset Coquina Beach which is a
96-acre public recreational park.
BRADENTON AREA
Area history takes back to the arrival of Hernando DeSoto in Tampa Bay
in 1539. In May of that year, he led an army of 600 conquistadors ashore
at the mouth of the Manatee River in search of gold and other riches.
DeSoto never found the gold he sought, and ignored the riches of land
and water all around him. It was another three centuries before anyone
discovered the treasure that DeSoto overlooked. But finally in 1842,
Josiah Gates came upon the haven of the gentle Manatee, and when he and
others laid out their settlement, they gave it the name of the creature
the Spaniards had called the sea cow. Legend relates that Indians named
the Manatee River for the gentle sea cows which are found in the area's
inlets. The Manatees are large, plant eating mammals which inhabit the
coastal waters of the Bradenton & Florida's Gulf Island Beaches.
When the railroad came shortly after the turn of the last century, and
bridges and highways made access easy, the once rural area became a
mecca for retirees and vacationers. The first winter residents came in
1924, and by the 1930’s, major league baseball players were regular
springtime residents. Some, like St. Louis Cardinals’ pitcher Dizzie
Dean, stayed through the winter. In 1969, the Pittsburgh Pirates began
spring training in Bradenton, and today, they train at a newly renovated
McKechnie Field
SARASOTA AREA
1513, when Ponce de Leon landed near Charlotte Harbor, south of
Sarasota. The area's population grew rapidly in the 1880s when the town
was surveyed and plots of land were sold to a group of Scottish
settlers. By 1913 Sarasota was incorporated, and Florida's land boom was
in full swing.
EGMONT KEY
At the mouth of Tampa Bay is the historic island of Egmont Key, a
virtually abandoned island located three miles off the northern tip of
Anna Maria Island. This finger-shaped island of sand and sea oats is two
miles in length, half a mile wide, and separates the open waters of the
Gulf of Mexico from Tampa Bay. It is home to Fort Dade, a military fort
built in 1900 during the Spanish American War, Florida's sixth brightest
lighthouse and the threatened gopher tortoise.
Today, Egmont Key is best known as a boater's and sheller's paradise.
Once proud, Fort Dade is now a crumbling fortress overtaken by the
swells of the Gulf of Mexico and is a popular anchorage for weekend
boaters. Because no roads lead to Egmont key and the only way to get
there is by boat, Egmont Key presents some of the most abundant and
diverse shell collecting on Florida's West Coast.
The only way to visit Egmont Key is either by private charter or on the
excursion boat, Miss Cortez, which sails from Cortez, a fishing village
just west of Bradenton on Cortez Road and the Intercoastal Waterway. For
reservations and information, call the Miss Cortez at 941-794-1223. The
Miss Cortez drops off visitors at Egmont Key just north of a cluster of
1930 style wood frame shotgun homes that make up the community of the
Tampa Bay Pilots Association. This is the only private property on the
otherwise Federally owned island and serves as the headquarters for the
close-knit group of harbor pilots who lead the mighty ore and cargo
ships into Tampa Bay.
The Miss Cortez docks in front of the distinctive white Egmont Key
lighthouse, built in 1847 for $ 7,000 by the U.S. government to mark
the entrance to deep water Tampa Bay.
THE EGMONT KEY LIGHTHOUSE
The lighthouse was only months old when the vicious hurricane of 1848
struck the West Coast of Florida. Giant waves inundated Egmont Key, with
high tides completely covering the island with seven feet of torrent
seas. Marvel Edwards, Egmont Key's first lighthouse tender, placed his
family in a boat during the hurricane and waded out to the highest point
of the island in the center of the key where there were some large
cabbage palms. Edwards tied the boat to the palms and during the night,
rode out the violence of the storm, his bobbing craft rising with the
high water almost to the top of the palms. By morning, though exhausted
by the ordeal, the family had survived. Returning to the lighthouse,
they found it badly damaged and all their possessions destroyed. The
following year, the lighthouse was repaired for USD 2,000.
THE BILLY BOWLEGS
WAR
One of the most dramatic scenes took place on Egmont Key in 1858 at the
conclusion of the Billy Bowlegs War, the final Indian War in Florida.
Billy Bowlegs was the last Seminole Indian chief remaining in South
Florida. He surrendered with his weary band of 138 followers in Fort
Myers on May 4, 1858. The tribesmen were transported to Egmont Key for
their final Florida rendezvous before being shipped across the Gulf of
Mexico to a reservation in Arkansas. One proud Seminole warrior - Tiger
Tail - could not endure the humility of being taken from his native
Florida. In the morning, the Indians were to leave Egmont Key, Tiger
Tail ground up a quantity of finely ground glass and swallowed it with a
glass of water. Tiger Tail's suicide tragically ended the era of Florida
Indians.
THE CIVIL WAR AND ONWARD
During the Civil War, Egmont Key was a blockade post for the Union Navy
and became a refuge for Florida residents who sympathized with the
North. From here Union troops sailed up the Manatee River and destroyed
the sugar mills of the Gamble and Braden plantations.
In 1900, Fort Dade was built on Egmont Key in the wake of the Spanish
American War. The Fort Dade Base was a sprawling complex complete with a
hospital and three artillery batteries. Fort Dade was activated again
during World Wars I and II.
Today, Fort Dade is literally crumbling into the sea where the beach has
eroded after almost 100 years of pounding surf against the fort. Other
historical military remains are scattered throughout the island that can
be easily found on foot.
a variety of wildlife, among them the slow moving gopher tortoise, a
very friendly creature with a dull brown shell who is easily spotted
along the trails cutting through the island. Egmont Key is also a
favorite nesting site for the endangered leather-back turtles. Nests are
highly protected and clearly marked to keep visitors clear. Egmont Key
is one of the last island treasures in Florida. It's strategic location
at the mouth of Tampa Bay has made for a vibrant history.
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