24/7 Trauma and Biohazard Cleanup in Longboat Key, FL

Longboat Key is a town in Florida that is coterminous with the barrier island of the same name off the Sarasota-Manatee coast, and it is split between Manatee County and Sarasota County.

Longboat Key was incorporated in November 1955, when voters approved incorporation 186 to 13 at a meeting in a fire station; only about 215 people lived on the island at the time, and its name was changed from Longbeach to Longboat Key.

Longboat Key's population was 7,505 at the 2020 census, up from 6,888 in 2010.

The island of Longboat Key is 10.8 miles long but contains only about 4.26 square miles of land.

Early settler Thomas Mann took a 144.5-acre homestead on the north end of Longboat Key in 1884, and the island remained a small farming community until 1921, the year it was split between Manatee and Sarasota counties and a hurricane destroyed most of its farm land and buildings.

Circus magnate John Ringling bought large land holdings on Longboat Key starting in 1923 and began developing a Ritz-Carlton hotel project on the island in 1926.

The first bridge connecting Longboat Key to the mainland was built in 1929.

During World War II, Longboat Key was used as a bombing and target practice range, and the island was closed to traffic from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for military training.

In 1959, the Arvida Corporation bought 2,000 acres, including the island's southern half, for $13.5 million and developed Longboat Key into an upscale resort and residential community.

President George W. Bush was staying on Longboat Key on the morning of September 11, 2001, when he learned of the terrorist attacks.