Anna Maria Island

Anna Maria Island is a barrier island on the coast of Manatee County, Florida, in the United States. 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 7 miles (11 km) long north to south.

Anna Maria Island was part of the Safety Harbor culture area for many centuries before the arrival of Europeans in Florida. Both the Narvaez expedition, in 1527, and the Hernando de Soto expedition, in 1539, entered the mouth of Tampa Bay, north of Anna Maria Island, passing the island to make landfall on the mainland.

Anna Maria Island was first settled in the mid-nineteenth century by Confederate Deputy Marshall and 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.

In 1921, actor Paul Gilmore purchased 40 acres (16 ha) of land where present day Coquina Beach is, with the intent to build a film colony, Paul Gilmore's Oriental Film City, later renamed Gil-Mor Isle. Only one movie, The Isle of Destiny, was filmed there, with Gilmore appearing in the movie which was by Character Picture Corporation. However, the movie was unsuccessful, never getting national distribution. Gilmore was unable to get other movies filmed there, and later the Florida land boom crashed.

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.

Holmes Beach is a planned community that was started by John E. Holmes Sr. after World War II and was named after him. Holmes Beach was incorporated March 13, 1950. Other potential names that were proposed for Holmes Beach were: Palm City, Mid-Island Beach, Coquina Beach and Tarpon Beach. Bradenton Beach was incorporated the following year on December 21, 1951.

Legend states that "a Spanish explorer" named the place "Ana Maria Cay" in honor of the Virgin Mary and her mother, Ann.