We asked Nelson Roberts, director of the Anna Maria Island Museum of History, to give us the storied background of this Old Florida treasure.

It’s said that the island was first discovered by American Indian tribes – the Timucan and Calusa. And then by Spanish explorers, led by Juan Ponce De Leon nearly 500 years ago. The Timucans prevented him from colonizing the area so he returned to Puerto Rico.

Then, in 1539 Hernando de Soto arrived, but quickly passed it by to make his landfall on the mainland at Shaw’s Point. When King Phillip II of Spain announced a few years later that they wouldn’t pursue expeditions in Florida, the island went silent for hundreds of years. The island’s name has several stories, one being that Juan Ponce De Leon found and named the island Ana-Maria-Cay, in honor of the Virgin Mary and her mother, St. Anne.

Another, that government surveyors named the land as the first official U.S. map on file with the National Archives was in 1848 based on 1842 surveys. And still a third opinion is that the third Mayor of Tampa suggested naming the land for his wife, “Maria”, and her sister, “Anna”.

Either way, in 1892, George Emerson Bean, a traveler from Connecticut, homesteaded the northern 160 acres of the island and became its first permanent resident. Today you can visit Bean Point in the City of Anna Maria and witness amazing sunsets near his former home.

Bean’s son became partners with Charles Roser, inventor of the Fig Newton, and they formed the Anna Maria Beach Company to begin development. In 1911, they built the pier that stands at the end of Pine Avenue today, allowing arrival by boat for the first time.

And then in 1921, the Original Cortez Bridge was constructed connecting the Island to the fishing village of Cortez. Model T’s were able to roll onto the island utilizing the wooden expanse. Today, the Museum is home to the much-photographed City Jail and restored Belle Haven Cottage. And we work diligently alongside the Anna Maria Island Historical Society to preserve this "Island in the Sun."

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