Editing Anna Maria, Florida (section)

==History==

In 1893, George Emerson Bean built a home near the present day Rod & Reel Pier.<ref name=":0">[http://www.cityofannamaria.com/321648.html City of Anna Maria] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151120073941/http://www.cityofannamaria.com/321648.html |date=2015-11-20 }}</ref> Two years later in 1895 he filed a homesteaded claim of {{convert|160|acre|km2}} on the north part of Anna Maria Island. Prior to Bean's homestead claim, Andrew Gowanlack would reside in the area where Bean would file his homestead at. However, Andrew never filed for a homestead claim but did receive three acres of land after Bean filed his homestead claim out of squatting rights.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Riles|first=Anna|date=February 19, 1969|title=Speech by Anna Maria Riles "Island Homestead"|url=https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll2/id/5403|access-date=2021-05-05|website=Manatee County Public Library System: Digital Collection|language=en}}</ref> After George Bean's death in 1898, the land went to his son, George Wilhelm Bean, who partnered with [[Charles Roser]], a wealthy real estate developer from [[St. Petersburg, Florida|St. Petersburg]], to form the Anna Maria Beach Company to develop the area.<ref name=":0" />

In 1911, the Anna Maria City Pier would be built by the Anna Maria Beach Company to accommodate steamships carrying residents and visitors to the island. The pier would have several buildings attached to it. An extension of the pier containing a home would be built in 1913 before the area the house was on in the pier was destroyed in September 1927.<ref name=":1" /> 

The '''City of Anna Maria''' was officially incorporated as a municipality in 1923.<ref name=AnnMarInc/>

[[Image:Anna_Maria_Island.jpg|thumb|right|240px|An erosion prevention pier in the city]]

Sometime during 1927, a jail would be built as a form of containment for bar patrons who were rowdy and was used until 1940 when a fire would burn down its roof and cells.<ref>{{Cite web|first=|date=1960|title=Anna Maria City Jail|url=https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll4/id/32|url-status=live|access-date=2021-08-02|website=Manatee County Public Library System: Digital Collection|language=en|type=Postcard|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210802172025/https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll4/id/32 |archive-date=2021-08-02 }}</ref>
 
Compiled in the late 1930s and first published in 1939, the [[American Guide Series|Florida Guide]] listed Anna Maria's population as 77 describing it as:{{Blockquote
|text=a resort at the northern extremity of Anna Maria Key, consists of many cottages in a jungle setting.<ref name="auto">{{cite book |last=Federal Writers' Project |date=1947 |edition= 5th |title=Florida: A Guide to the Southernmost State |url=https://archive.org/details/floridaguidetoso00fede/page/394/mode/2up?q=Anna+Maria |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=395}}</ref>
|author=Federal Writers' Project|title="Part III: The Florida Loop" |source=''Florida; a guide to the southernmost state'' (1947)
}}

Bradenton would attempt to annex the City of Anna Maria in 1963. Anna Maria would hold a special election that was described as being "non-official" on April 2, 1963, to confirm Bradenton's decision. However, it would not be approved as 297 voted against it while 9 voted in favor of it.<ref>{{Cite news|date=July 9, 1964|title='Big City' Resolution|work=The Islander|url=https://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00079899/00232/2j?search=islander|access-date=August 20, 2021|via=}}</ref>

During [[Hurricane Irma]] in 2017, the city pier was damaged significantly. It was demolished the following year with plans to rebuild it. The historic city pier was rebuilt and opened in April 2020.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Anna Maria Beach Company|date=1913|title=Pier and Unique Home of Mr. John Trice, Anna Maria Beach|url=https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll4/id/782|url-status=live|access-date=2021-05-17|website=Manatee County Public Library System: Digital Collection|language=en|format=Postcard|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210517174459/https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll4/id/782 |archive-date=2021-05-17 }}</ref> The new pier, however, was also damaged significantly by [[Hurricane Milton]] in 2024.