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DHistory
History · Longboat Key

Longboat Key dates to 1955, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 14% of U.S. towns · #291 of 638 in Florida. What drives it

Most of Longboat Key was built recently: 0.2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Its Register listing is the Rufus P. Jordan House. Its Register listing is the Rufus P. Jordan House. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1944 on, and the census since 1960.

1955founded
1on the National Register
0.2%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Longboat Key’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Longboat Key began

When was Longboat Key founded?

1955

Longboat Key dates its founding to 1955 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1960.

First census: 1,000 in 19602020 census: 7,50571 years

How historic is Longboat Key?

D

More historic than 14% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1914.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Longboat Key’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Longboat Key is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns, #291 of 638 in Florida. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Longboat Key’s overall grade.
Founding era1955, from Wikipedia: founded 1945 or later, an older era than 2% of U.S. townsD−Homes built before 19400.2% of homes (±0.2) · typical FL town 0.6% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register1 listing, 1.3 per 10,000 residents · typical FL town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 14%
NewerOlder
Florida towns of 2,500+ (638)Ahead of 54%

Few Florida towns list much on the Register (a typical Florida town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Longboat Key’s 1.3 sits above most of its state (74% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to C. The pre-1940 share (±0.2 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1955.

Founding year: Wikipedia (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Longboat Key’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Longboat Key’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Longboat Key’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewAn air-to-air left-side view of an F-16…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Longboat Key came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Longboat Key.

Read it all →

Longboat Key was originally inhabited by Native Americans. The area of what is now Longboat Key was scouted by Juan de Añasco, the first known European to explore the key and 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. 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.

Chapters19th century20th century21st century

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Longboat Key, 1914 to 1983

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1914Post officeThe Longbeach post office opens
  3. 1934Born hereReb Wickersham is born here
  4. 1944On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1955
    FoundingLongboat Key is established
  6. 1958Post officeThe Longbeach post office closes
  7. 1958Post officeThe Longboat Key post office opens
  8. 1983In the archiveAn air-to-air left-side view of an F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft over MacDill Air Force B…
By decade

Longboat Key, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1980s1 item
An air-to-air left-side view of an F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft over MacDill Air Force Base, Florida1983An air-to-air left-side view of an F-16 Fighting Falc…
1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today7 recent
037 DiCarlo SSA-DTI2020037 DiCarlo SSA-DTIFlorida Millar Bay from2017Florida Millar Bay fromLongboat-Key Beach2016Longboat-Key BeachLongboat Key FL first home marker012011Longboat Key FL first home marker01Whitney Beach 40 year anniversary2008Whitney Beach 40 year anniversaryFLMap-doton-LongboatKey2004FLMap-doton-LongboatKeySand Cay Beach Resort II2000Sand Cay Beach Resort II
On the map

Longboat Key on the map, 1944 to 1981

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Longboat Key. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Longboat Key on the 1944 USGS mapLongboat Key on the 1964 USGS mapLongboat Key on the 1981 USGS map1944Bradenton Beach sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Longboat Key.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

An air-to-air left-side view of an F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft over MacDill Air Force Base, Florida
Retake this viewAn air-to-air left-side view of an F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft over MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, 1983

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Longboat Key’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Longboat Key

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2005
Rufus P. Jordan House
Rufus P. Jordan House
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Masonry Vernacular1
Rufus P. Jordan HouseMasonry Vernacular

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Longboat Key, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,0001960198020002020Peak: 7,603

Between 1,000 and 7,603 people in every census since 1960.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Longboat Key’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Longboat Key’s post office has been open since 1958. Another post office, Longbeach, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Longbeach
1914–1958
Longboat Key
1958–today
19101970today
Hamlets and corners on the map
LongbeachWhitney Beach

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Bradenton Beach1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Longboat Key’s history

What year was Longboat Key founded?

In 1955, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Longboat Key’s post office opened in 1914, and the census of 1960 counted 1,000 people here.

How does Longboat Key rank for history?

Longboat Key is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns, #291 of 638 in Florida. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Longboat Key?

One place: the Rufus P. Jordan House (listed 2005).

How old are the homes in Longboat Key?

0.2% of Longboat Key’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1980.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (8), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.