Anna Maria Island, Florida History

The First Inhabitants on Anna Maria Island

Science says that the south-west coast of Florida has been inhabited for as long as 12,000 years. The archaic people as early settlers were attracted to the coast by the bountiful supply of fish and shellfish, created by an incredibly productive estuarine ecosystem developed when the barrier islands formed across the coast. These archaic people were predecessors of the Calusa Indians.

These Indians controlled most of South Florida and lived along the coast and inner waterways. The fished for their food, instead of farm like other Indian tribes and were considered to be the first shell collectors, discarding them into huge heaps, mounds of which are still found and protected today in many part of Southern Florida, such as Mound Key.

Described as fierce warriors, and defending their land, the first of the Spanish Explorers to document an attack by the Calusa Indians, was a party led by Ponce de Leon in 1513.

The Calusa Indians died out in the late 1700's. Enemy Indian Tribes from Georgia and South Carolina began raiding the Calusa territory and many were captured and sold as slaves. In addition, diseases such as small pox and measles were bought into the area from the Spanish and French and these diseases wiped out entire villages. It is said that the few remaining Calusa Indians left for Cuba when Spain turned Florida over to the British in 763.

The Beginning of the Development of Anna Maria Island

In 1892, renowned traveller George Emerson Bean became the first permanent resident on the island, settling with his family near the North Piont, now known as Bean Point. George Emerson developed much of what is now the City of Anna Maria.

Bean's son George 'Will' Wilhelm Bean along with a number of associates established the Anna Maria Beach Company, and further developed the Island, building property, laying out streets and constructing a water system.

In the early 1900's Charles Roser, a cookie maker credited with inventing the Fig Newton (fig roll), became an associate of Bean's and used his fortune earned in the baking business to invest in developing Anna Maria Island into becoming the finest resort on the west coast of Florida. The developers built a dock at the end of Pine Avenue and a bathing pavilion where the Sandbar Restaurant sits today.

In 1897, Samuel Cobb and his Wife Annie, after meeting George Emerson Bean and hearing about Anna Maria, moved to the Island and become the parents of the first white child born on Anna Maria. Fittingly, they named her after the Island.

More people, some young entrepreneurs continued to settle on Anna Maria, bringing further development, phone lines, and building a bridge linking to the mainland. And, in 1909, the Island's first resort lodge was built- The Gulf Park Hotel and Anna Maria Island 'Florida's Famous Year-round Resort' began taking shape.

How Anna Maria Island got its name

Anna Maria Island was named and chartered before Florida became part of the United States and there are a number of versions of how the Island got it's name.

The first is that it was named in honour of Mary, the Mother of Christ and her mother Ann.

In another tale, it was said that one of the first Spanish explorers is said to have named it after his mother Anna Maria.

It is also claimed that this Island received its name from government surveyors, who were staying with Madison Post in Tampa (the third mayor of Tampa), while surveying this part of the coast. The granddaughter of Madison Post claims that the surveyors offered to name the Island for him, but he suggested naming it for his wife Maria and she suggested including her sister Anna. Thus Anna Maria was put on their charts. However, both women were Scottish and the name was infact pronounced Anna Mar-eye-ah!

But it was not until 1943 that Washington DC made the name official and when Northerners came to Florida after World War II, they made fun of the way some of the locals pronounced this Island's name. It was in 1948 that the pronunciation from Mar-eye-ah to Ma-ree-a.

Here is an illustration of the difference of opinions of pronunciation between the Island newspaper editor Harry Varley and a long-time realtor Frances Livingston (you need to read them aloud)

Anna Maria Beach - the Greatest Year-round Resort City

In 1911 after a pier was built at the foot of Pine Avenue, The Anna Maria Beach Company, printed a brochure promoting the Island. Illustrated with a Victorian bathing beauty it read 'Island resorts on the coast of Florida are the most beautiful parts of the state and Anna Maria is the most attractive of these. Our development work has hardly begun. Visit the beach and see the place destined to become Florida's Resort City, Anna Maria Beach. The 'greatest year-round resort city'.

But the Big Island resort was not to be at that time. A bank failure in Tampa triggered the collapse of the Anna Maria Beach Company.

Shortly after World War I, the famous Florida boom erupted and as things picked up, residents of Anna Maria Beach decided to incorporate (in 1923), allowing electricity to the islands, and making many other improvements to the island. Following another bust and depression, it wasn't until after World War II that the building boom on the Island started. Residents later outlawed high-rise buildings and duplexes to avoid Anna Maria Island becoming another Miami Beach. This law is still in place today and you will find little over 2 storey's high on Anna Maria.

Anna Maria Island Historic Landmarks

The Gulf Park Hotel

Built in Bradenton Beach by Rurick Cobb in 1906, The Gulf Park Hotel was the first large building on the Island. Shower stalls were on the first floor and a huge dining room on the second. Sleeping rooms were on the third and it had views of the Gulf at both ends. German-Americans would come for the weekends or vacation. They were often businessmen who had plenty of money and time to spend on the Island. After changing hands and business a few times, the Gulf Park Hotel mysteriously burnt to the ground one night in 1979.

The City Pier

To attract rich people from Tampa and St. Petersburg , George 'Will' Wilhelm Bean had a dock constructed at the foot of Pine Avenue in 1911. It ran 776 feet out into the deep waters of Tamp Bay, enabling steamers to make daily stops. He also created a gift shop with shells. The end of the pier was covered with fish every day and you could see hundreds of fish thrashing about in the crystal clear waters. Fishing is still one of the most popular pastimes on the island for both Islanders and visitors.

Pine Avenue

After stepping off the City Pier, the wealthy Victorian visitors would stroll along Pine Avenue which took them through to the other side of the island. Along the way, they would pass Will Bean's cottage, where they could not miss the flock of colourful peacocks strutting around a pond where a fierce alligator lurked. The wonderful, native trees that lined the whole stretch of the avenue eventually disappeared as more development took place. However, Pine Avenue is the focus of much attention on the Island today. The Pine Avenue Restoration Project; developed by a group of 3 private investors, including ourselves, are re-developing Pine Avenue to become the commercial centre for the Island, whilst maintaining the historic setting that made Pine Avenue so wonderful in its day.

The Old City Jail

When visiting Anna Maria, you must take a photo of yourself in The Old City Jail. Built in 1927 the need for the jail arose because there was a tavern-dance hall where the Sandbar Restaurant now stands. Drunks who caused such a disturbance were thrown in too cool off. And it seemed to work. With only bars at the window and doors and a night in the open air being bitten by hundreds of mosquitoes, seemed sure to deter them again. The City Clerk and Commissioner Harry Ditmas once begged to be locked up in the jail. 'My wife is after me with an ice pick' he claimed. He stayed 3 nights until things at home cooled down! After the Jail's roof burnt completely off (the rest was made of thick concrete), the burnt out jail became a tourist attraction. Reproductions of the jail have appeared in Ripley's Believe it or Not columns and many newspaper and magazines.

The Bradenton Beach Pavilion

In the 1920's, with plans to build a bathhouse, a group of men bought a number of beach front lots only to see them sucked out to sea in during the hurricane of 1921. Buying more lots, they were able to start construction, eventually in 1992 and in April of that year, the Bradenton Beach Pavilion, which cost about $30,000 was open for business. A terrific success, it would take as much as $1500 per day. It had 100 lockers either side where bathers could change from their street clothes to their bathing costumes, which in those days were made of wool! In the centre of the building was a dance floor, dining facilities and a porch fronting onto the Gulf. A day at the seaside was a real treat when you went to the pavilion. Unfortunately, no longer there, the pavilion burnt down in 1929.

Notable Anna Maria Island Residents

Jack Holmes - Developer Extraordinaire

The MD of a construction firm in New Jersey, Jack Holmes fell in love with Anna Maria Island and eventually moved to the Island with his second wife in 1934, moving into a cottage on Magnolia Avenue. The Island was at that time a ghost town; most of the cottages were deserted and needed repair. Jack saw an opportunity and began offering to fix the properties for them, for the rent money from them until he got his money back. He managed most of the rental properties in Anna Maria. After the war when Jack returned to Anna Maria, he bought 350 acres in the middle of the Island and began the transformation of developing it into home sites. A few years later, local s held a meeting a voted to incorporate the area and name it in his honour - Holmes Beach.

'Mitch' Davis - the first Mayor of Anna Maria

The first mayor of Anna Maria was the builder of many of the first homes on the Island. He built Roser Church, the houses on the end of the pier, the ice house on Pine Avenue and the City Jail. As well as the mayor and a builder he was also a gardener and fisherman, bringing sailing and fishing parties to the Island since before the turn of the century. All Islanders are proud of Mitch. He earned their admiration and affection during the many years he served the city.

'Salty Sol' - A Radio and TV Legend

Salty Sol Fleishman first came to Anna Maria in 1923 as a Boy Scout. In 1930 he was playing drums in an old pavilion on the island, and then went on to play with the Florida Symphony. But his real love was broadcasting and he began his career in 1928 at the age of 18 with WDAE, Tampa's first radio station. In his time he broadcast University of Florida to over fifty stations, and a natural for television, he became sports director of WTVT, weaving fishing tales (his other great passion) into the sports segments. Sol dominated the area TV and found his way in the public's minds and hearts. He was never without a smile or a fishing hat and lived on the corner of North Shore Drive and Fern Avenue during the 70's.

The Anna Maria Island Historical Society

The Anna Maria Island Historical Society was formed in 1990 by residents Pat Copeland and Carolyne Norwood, both originally reporters for the Islander Newspaper. Set up to preserve Island history, the organisation collect, research, preserve and exhibit materials relating to the early days of Anna Maria Island. One of the main activities is education and volunteering members visit schools, churches and civic organisations to make the history of the Island come alive, and each year the Society awards a scholarship to a graduating high school senior who plans to pursue a college education.

The Historical Society Museum can be found on Pine Avenue, next to the open-roof Jail, and the delightful cottage, one of the oldest properties on the island that was donated to the Society. The Museum building itself even has a colourful history. Built in 1920, the building was developed as an icehouse, but also used as City offices, an automotive garage, fire department and Turtle House.

Artefacts, records, newspaper clippings and an array of photographs that have been collected and donated over the years are fascinating to see. Please take a visit and support our Island's History.