FLORIDA CHARM
ANNA MARIA ISLAND, AN OLD FLORIDA FEEL ARTEMIS ON STANDBY, A GETAWAY TO SOOTHE THE SOUL Written by: Kathleen Walls
You are surrounded instead by charming shops, general stores, boutiques and cafes.
Anna Maria Island is on Florida’s west coast, sandwiched between St. Petersburg/Tampa and Sarasota on the Gulf of Mexico. The island’s main street, Pine Avenue, is known as the “Greenest Little Main Street in America.” It’s an island that soothes your soul. It escaped the worst of Hurricane Ian and is waiting for you to visit.
THINGS TO DO AND SEE Anna Maria Island Historical Society Museum Complex
If there’s time, start here. Learn how the island it got its name. One version is that in the 1840s a U.S. chart survey team stayed with the Madison Post family in Tampa and
named the island for the then-mayor’s wife, Maria, and her sister, Anna. The other version is that a 19th century Spanish map shows it as Ana Maria Cay. Maria is the Spanish for Mary, and Mary’s mother is Anna, spelled with just one “n” in Spanish. The museum houses over 120 years of photos and documents, artifacts donated by islanders. The original city jail built in 1927 is on the property. There were bars on the windows but no glass. Locals dealing with Florida mosquitoes after a night in the clink were careful not to repeat the same mistake, it was said. Belle Haven, also on the museum property, was built on a pier in 1920, along with a larger home called Lotus Cottage. Belle Haven functioned as a fish packing plant, rental cottage and bait shop. A storm destroyed the pilings in 1926 and tossed the homes into Tampa Bay. Lotus Cottage was gone but Belle Haven was intact and floating, functioning later as an island home. It was rescued in 2001. It’s furnished today with a feel for early island living.
Pictured left to right: Anna Maria Island Historical Society Museum Complex, Florida’s Maritime Museum, Paradise Boat Tour
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F L O R I DAC O U N T RY Fe b r u a r y | M a r c h 2 0 2 3
BOTTOM PHOTOS BY KATHLEEN WALLS
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here’s a strip of a state barrier island that has preserved its real Florida authenticity. No theme parks, highrises or chain stores.
