Editing Longboat Key, Florida (section)

==Geography==

[[File:Florida white heron Durante Community Park Longboat Key.jpg|thumb|White heron in the Durante Community Park on Longboat Key]]

According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the town has a total area of {{convert|41.4|km2|disp=flip}}, of which {{convert|10.7|km2|1|disp=flip}} is land and {{convert|30.7|km2|1|disp=flip}}, or 74.19%, of which is water.

Longboat Key is located north of [[St. Armands Key, Florida|St. Armands Key]], with its circle of shopping and dining, and [[Lido Key]], and south of [[Bradenton Beach, Florida|Bradenton Beach]], [[Holmes Beach, Florida|Holmes Beach]], and [[Anna Maria, Florida|Anna Maria]], which are located on the adjacent [[Anna Maria Island]]. The nearby cities of [[Sarasota, Florida|Sarasota]] and [[Bradenton, Florida|Bradenton]] and the [[Sarasota–Bradenton International Airport]] rounds out Longboat Key's varied list of geographic amenities. [[Florida State Road 789|State Road 789]] (Gulf of Mexico Drive) runs the length of the island, with ancillary boulevards branching off to residential neighborhoods. From some locations one can see both [[Sarasota Bay]] and the [[Gulf of Mexico]].

At other points the island widens and accommodates various homes owned by both singly and in condominiums, hotels, and sports clubs. Some Longboat Key residents are "[[snowbird (people)|snowbird]]s", who vacation at or own second homes on Longboat Key, and are present only during the winter months. Others are homesteaders, utilizing the various homestead exemptions provided to Florida citizens who own and occupy their principal residences within the state, as set forth under the Florida Constitution.

Most of the Gulf side of Longboat Key consists of beaches. The southernmost area of the key is mostly part of the Longboat Key Club.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Longboat Key Club & Resort – Membership - Longboat Key Club & Resort |url=https://longboatkeyclubmembers.com/ |access-date=2023-07-18 |website=longboatkeyclubmembers.com}}</ref>

<gallery>
File:Longboat Key FL beach bdwk01.jpg|Boardwalk to beach
File:Longboat Key FL beach03.jpg|Beach on Gulf side of key
File:Longboat Key FL beach01.jpg|Beach expanse
</gallery>

=== Jewfish Key ===
'''Jewfish Key''' is an island that covers {{Convert|38|acre|m2}} located within city limits.<ref name=":5">{{Cite news |last=Fottler |first=Marsha |date=June 30, 2019 |title=The Great Escape |work=[[Sarasota Herald-Tribune]] |type=Digital |url=https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/business/real-estate/2019/06/30/great-escape/4795897007/ |access-date=November 16, 2022}}</ref> The island is only accessible via boat and the eastern part of the key is a nature reserve. Electricity is provided via underwater cables and there are no landline phone lines to the key.<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |last=Hartill |first=Robin |date=January 27, 2010 |title=Hidden treasure |work=YourObserver.com |type=Digital |url=https://www.yourobserver.com/article/hidden-treasure |access-date=November 16, 2022}}</ref> Residents of the island get water from wells and use septic tanks.<ref name=":5" />

Until the 1930s, Jewfish Key was two islands: '''Pickett Key''' to the north and '''Fisherman's Key''' located to the south. When the US Army Corps of Engineers dredged the Intracoastal Waterway they needed a place to deposit the spoil; and the two owners (whose last names were Jordan and Zeisse) allowed for the spoil to be placed in order to make a single island in exchange for a deed to this now one island and "a case of whisky". The island's name comes from when local fishermen started calling the island Jewfish Key because they caught large amounts of [[Atlantic goliath grouper|Goliath groupers]] or Jewfish there.<ref name=":4" />

=== Water ===

A perennial problem for Longboaters was water quantity and quality. [[Salinity]] and [[sediment]]ary factors threatened the availability of potable water to island residents, visitors, and businesses. This problem was alleviated sufficiently when the Governing Board of the [[Southwest Florida Water Management District]] approved a connection to Sarasota County's water supply, augmenting the existing connection to that of Manatee County.<ref>[http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/news/viewarticle.php?id=221 http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/news/viewarticle.php?id=221] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20070701154601/http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/news/viewarticle.php?id=221 |date=July 1, 2007 }} ''swfwmd.state.fl.us''</ref>