History of Marco Island, Florida

The history of Marco Island, Florida, has always been one of discovery. Calusa Native Americans inhabited the island some 2000 years ago. Since its low elevation, the Calusa built mounds of shells, some still seen today. Ponce De Leon discovered Marco Island for the western world in the 1500s. Calusa warred with the Spaniards and one of their poison arrows is recorded to have killed Ponce De Leon. In 1896, archeologist Dr. Frank Cushing found evidence of ancient Calusa life, with a six inch cat figurine. This significant artifact is now in the Smithsonian. After the Calusa were wiped out by western explorers' diseases and war, it was not until around the 1870s did signs of life and industry emerge on Marco Island. Pioneers W. T. Collier and his son Bill Collier rediscovered Marco Island, Florida, and started a thriving clamming industry. By the 1920s, a man related to the Colliers only by name, Barron Collier bought one million acres of real estate in Southwestern Florida, including Marco Island. The Great Depression cut growth short. In 1962, the three Mackie brothers, whose Deltona Corporation had its hands in many Florida developments, discovered the potential of Marco Island. They dug canals, built housing along the water, and unveiled the Marco Island vacationers and locals alike have come to know and love. Near Naples, Marco Island is the largest of the 10,000 Southwestern Florida Islands. Its size is twenty four square miles. Its population, as of 2004, is 15,828. Marco Island, Florida, has slow-paced island time and idyllic life, waiting for you to discover.