Editing Longboat Key, Florida (section)

=== Early history ===

Longboat Key was originally inhabited by [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]]. The area of what is now Longboat Key was scouted by [[Juan de Añasco]] who was the first known European to explore the key and [[Hernando de Soto|Hernando De Soto's]] as his scout. He spent about two months attempting to find a landing site, and he was also most likely the first European man to see and explore [[Sarasota Bay]], [[Boca Ciega Bay]] and the [[Manatee River]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=The History of Longboat Key|url=https://www.longboatkeyhistory.com/the-history-of-longboat-key.html|access-date=2021-05-11|website=Longboat Key History|language=en}}</ref> According to local legend, he believed the Indians were hostile. When the party reached land on the island, the Indians fled leaving their [[Longboat]] in a bayou. Pirate [[Jean Lafitte]] was said to have been shipwrecked near or on Longboat Key.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Longboat Key - History and Place to Visit|url = http://www.longboatkeychamber.com/community/longboat-key/|website = Longboat Key Chamber|access-date = December 14, 2015|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151222164410/http://www.longboatkeychamber.com/community/longboat-key/|archive-date = December 22, 2015}}</ref>

Prior to 1842, Cuban and Spanish fishermen along with some squatters resided on the island. A fishing camp and a trading post for Native Americans existed in the northern part of the key located in what is presently the Longboat Village. At the time, the area was referred to on maps as "Saraxola" and "Zarazote". An 1839 map compiled by order of General [[Zachary Taylor]] during the [[Second Seminole War]] called the island Palm Island.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hunter |first1=Ralph |title=From Calusas to Condominiums: A Pictorial History of Longboat Key |date=2002 |publisher=Royal Palm Publishing Co., Inc. |location=Longboat Key, FL |isbn=0615122388 |page=17}}</ref>

There is little known about the island after 1848 and until the 1880s, because a hurricane hit the area and destroyed most of Longboat Key. The only thing known is that Charles Abbe had a plantation at an unknown location on the island where citrus and pineapples were grown.<ref name=":0" />