Town of Longboat Key

• Located In: Equally divided between Manatee and Sarasota counties
• Population: 7,603 (Source: U.S. Census 2000)
• Community Type: Beach residential and tourist
• Size: 17 square miles
• Government: Town manager and seven commissioners elected to two-year staggered terms.
• Zip Codes: 34228

Before Longboat Key became a favorite destination of tourists, the Timucuan and Caloosa Indians also vacationed on the island, enjoying fish fries and playing in the surf.

It is believed that Spanish explorer Hernado DeSoto visited the island in 1539. Thomas Mann, a Civil War veteran, settled on the island in 1891 and homesteaded 144 acres. Several homes were built on the north end of the island in the early 1900s, and in the 1920s John Ringling purchased hundreds of acres on the south end of the island.

The town of Longboat Key was incorporated on Nov. 14, 1955.

The island is home to a wide variety of wildlife, including manatee and dolphins. White pelicans, osprey and other shorebirds find sanctuary here. Opportunities to observe wildlife are abundant as the town maintains a number of parks, such as the Joan M. Durante Community Park, 5550 Gulf of Mexico Drive; as well as the Quick Point Nature Preserve, 100 Gulf of Mexico Drive.

The Longboat Key Center for the Arts houses a permanent collection and changing exhibits of juried and invitational shows. The center offers art classes and workshops and facilitates many cultural events on the island.

• Blue Dolphin Café, 5370 Gulf of Mexico Drive Suite 101
• Chart House Restaurant, 201 Gulf of Mexico Drive, No. 12
• Euphemia Haye, 5540 Gulf of Mexico Drive
• Maison Blanche, 2605 Gulf of Mexico Drive
• MarVista Restaurant, 760 Broadway St.
• Moore’s Stone Crab Restaurant, 800 Broadway St.
• Pattigeorge's Restaurantý, 4120 Gulf of Mexico Drive

Longboat Key is particularly popular among retirees and seasonal residents as well as tourists. While the island residents number less than 8,000, Longboat Key’s enticing beaches lure enough visitors annually that the population grows to approximately 20,000 during peak tourist season.

The beautiful beaches, the crystal clear water and the tropical setting combine to make Longboat Key a unique destination. Zoning restrictions and thoughtful planning have resulted in something of a rarity along the Gulf Coast: Though development has exhausted almost every acre of land on the island, Longboat Key feels neither overcrowded nor urbanized. Traveling along Gulf of Mexico Drive, one finds plenty of green space, towering Australian pines and one stretch of unobstructed gulf views.

Appreciably missing are obtrusive neon motel signs, wall-to-wall paved parking lots and kitschy tourist traps.

To the north, across Longboat Pass Bridge, is Anna Maria Island, home of the cities of Bradenton Beach, Holmes Beach and Anna Maria. To the south, across the New Pass Bridge, is Lido Key, home of St. Armands.