Anna Maria Island
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Manatee County, Florida |
| Coordinates | 27°30′47″N 82°43′08″W / 27.513°N 82.719°WCoordinates: 27°30′47″N 82°43′08″W / 27.513°N 82.719°W |
| Length | 7 mi (11 km) |
| Width | 2 mi (3 km) |
| Highest elevation | 5 ft (1.5 m) |
| Administration | |
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United States
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Anna Maria Island, sometimes called Anna Maria Key, is a barrier island on the coast of Manatee County, Florida, in the United States. The island is named after Anna Maria Ceravolo. It is bounded on the west by the Gulf of Mexico, on the south by Longboat Pass (which separates it from Longboat Key), on the east by Anna Maria Sound, and on the north by Tampa Bay. Anna Maria Island is approximately seven miles long north to south. Anna Maria Island is at latitude 27.513N, longitude -82.719W.
Anna Maria Island was discovered by the local Timucan and Caloosan Native American tribes and, later, by Spanish explorers (including Hernando de Soto) in the name of the Spanish Crown. Hernando de Soto and his crew entered the mouth of Tampa Bay, north of Anna Maria Island, in May 1539, passing the island by to make their landfall on the mainland.
Anna Maria Island was first settled in the beginning of the twentieth century by Tampa Mayor Madison Post who then named the island for his wife Maria and his sister-in-law Anna. As Cuban fishermen were the first visitors to the island at the southern mouth of Tampa Bay, the settlement was very soon dominated by nautical types.
In 1892, George Emerson Bean became the first permanent resident on the Island, homesteading much of what is now the City of Anna Maria. After Bean's death in 1898, the land's ownership transferred to his son, George Wilhelm Bean, who partnered with Charles Roser, a wealthy real estate developer from St. Petersburg, to form the Anna Maria Beach Company in order to develop the area. The company laid out streets, built sidewalks and houses, and installed a water system.
The first bridge that was built to connect Anna Maria Island to mainland Florida began construction in the summer of 1921. A heavy storm wiped out half the bridge, but construction was able to continue. The bridge was finished as scheduled in 1922. It crossed the bay to what now is Bridge Street in Bradenton Beach to the fishing town of Cortez. More people then began to visit the island, which caught the interest of several businessmen.
Nearly a century later, Anna Maria Island has become one of the most popular locations in Florida, visited by both locals and tourists. Its wildlife and nature has attracted many scholars of different sciences such as biology, and marine biology.
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