History of Lido Key, Florida

On the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, near Sarasota, Florida, St. Armands island, and Longboat Key, the barrier island of Lido Key has had a quiet history, with little interruption, leaving the island an exclusive air for its visitors. Paleo and Calusa natives lived on the shores of Lido Key for approximately 4,000 years. Evidence suggests they worshipped the sun. They all but disappeared with the arrival, in the 1500s, of Ponce de Leon, Hernado de Soto, and Panfilo Narvaez, who sought, but didn't discover, gold and silver. The Spanish Explorers left. There would be hardly any permanent residents on Lido Key, Florida, for the following centuries. Sarasota, Longboat Key, and St. Armands grew in wealth and population when businesses, such as a Scottish group, the Florida Mortgage and Investment Company, and single developers, such as Bertha Potter Palmer and John and Mabel Ringling, bought land. It is said that the first golf course was developed in Sarasota by the Scottish group. John Ringling of the Ringling Bros, saw in Lido Key and St. Armands prime land for an international shopping mall and a mansion as a second white house for President Warren G.Harding. He constructed bridges and named each street on Lido Key after a president. As of 2004, Longboat Key has a population of 7,622. Lido Key, Florida, is unicorporated.