Island Story
Five centuries on Longboat Key
Our name comes from the “turtle crawl” — the track a nesting sea turtle leaves in the sand.
Before 1500 — First islanders
Long before bridges and beach chairs, native peoples of the Florida Gulf coast fished these passes and left shell mounds along Sarasota Bay.
1539 — The longboat lands
Island legend holds that scouts from the Spanish expeditions came ashore here by longboat — and the name “Longboat Key” stuck for good.
1885 — Longbeach Village
Homesteaders settled the island’s north end, growing guavas and tomatoes and shipping them across the bay. “The Village” still keeps its old-Florida soul today.
1920s — The Ringling era
Circus magnate John Ringling bought up the south end, planted Australian pines along Gulf of Mexico Drive, built a golf course, and dreamed of a grand Ritz-Carlton that the 1929 crash left unfinished.
1955 — A town of two counties
Longboat Key incorporated as a town — one island, ten miles of beach, straddling Sarasota and Manatee counties, with a firm rule that quiet beats flashy.
Today — Turtle country
From May to October, loggerhead sea turtles climb the beach at night to nest — leaving the “crawls” in the sand that gave our resort its name.