After centuries of storm activity Sanibel and Captiva Islands were formed as one island about six thousand years ago from sediment that rose from the sea.  Featuring a history rich in intrigue and adventure, native Indians, to Spanish explorers, brave pioneers, and infamous pirates, the island have a fascinating tale to tell.

The native Calusa Indians were the first known residents of island dating back at least 2,500 years.  The Calusa were skilled at building.  Their expert artisans perched their huts high on top of shell mounds, providing protection from the storm tides.  Some of their shell mounds used in ceremonial, ritual and burial sites still remain today.  In addition the Calusa abundant foods were caught from the waterways around the island   Whelks, conchs, oysters, clams and other seafood were used not only for food, but their empty shells were artfully crafted into tools.  

While searching for the “Fountain of Youth,” Juan Ponce de Leon is believed to have discovered Sanibel Island, which he named “Santa Isybella” after Queen Isabella in 1513.  He and his Spanish mariners battled the hostile Calusa Indians for years. In 1523 Ponce de Leon suffered a fatal arrow attack.  After retreating to Cuba, he died.

The Spanish were unsuccessful in establishing any kind of permanent settlement.  But their infiltration did introduce European disease, and slavery to Sanibel.  By the late 1700s the Calusa all but became extinct because of the yellow fever, tuberculosis, and measles.

In the 1800s, legend has it that the barrier islands became a haven for pirates.  The infamous Jose Gaspar is rumored to have buried his stolen treasure on Sanibel.  There on “The Buccaneer Coast,” the notorious Gaspar built a prison, “isle de Los Captivas” or Captiva Island, where he held for ransom captive female prisoners.  In 1821 Gaspar was captured, but rather than face imprisonment, he wrapped himself in chains and jumped overboard.

Settlers and fisherman were kept at bay by the Indian raids during the Seminole Wars.  No settlements were built on Sanibel for several decades.  Florida was admitted to the Union as the 27th state in 1845.  Only after the country’s Civil war, with increased military activity was the island secured and deemed safe for civilians.  Sanibel was deemed a lighthouse reservation in 1870 by the government.  And on August 20, 1884, the Sanibel Lighthouse was first lit and remains a working lighthouse to this day.

“Old Town Sanibel” or Point Ybel, an area near the lighthouse was once the island’s center of activity.  Most of Sanibel’s early pioneers passed through here.  By 1889, there were 40 families and 21 houses on Sanibel.  In 1892, Sanibel built its first schoolhouse for a population of 100.  Visit the schoolhouse at the Sanibel Historical Village.

Wealthy industrialists began to visit from the North, and among them Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, who soon discovered the balmy climate and fishing paradise of Fort Myers.  In the 1880s, the beautiful Casa Ybel Resor originally known as “The Sisters”  began their tradition of gracious hospitality to travelers seeking sun, sand and sea.
In 1928, the Kinzie brothers constructed docks at the East end of Sanibel, and ferry service that provided transport to the island for 35 years.  Near “old Town,” a village developed at Wulfert (near today’s “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge) settlers planted grapefruit, watermelon and vegetable farms. Inventor Clarence Chadwick developed in most of Captiva a 330 acre key lime plantation known as the South Seas Resort.  In 1921 agriculture was hard hit.  A hurricane split the island in two.  In 1926, a 14-foot storm surge completely flooded all low lying areas. Island agriculture never recovered, but hospitality took its place as a new revenue source.

Charles Lindbergh and his wife, Anne Morrow Lindbergh frequently visited.  Anne wrote her famous “Gifts from the Sea” while vacationing on Captiva.  Other famous Americans such as Teddy Roosevelt and poet Edna St. Vincent Millay also came to visit.

The year 1935, brought the Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist and noted conservationist Jay Norwood “Ding.”  For years to come, as he wintered in Captiva “Ding” actively campaigned for federal protection of the island’s ecosystem.  The J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge, of more than 6,300 acres of mangrove, bay, and estuary became home to over 300 species of birds, 50 species of reptiles and amphibians, and more than 30 types of mammals.

In 1950s and 60’s Sanibel and Captiva’s reputation as sanctuary islands attracted increasingly visitors.  Beaches, shelling, fishing, and wildlife, visitors arrived by way of a half-hour ferry ride from Fort Myers.  Bailey’s General store, which is the mainstay of the island today stocks up many a visitor.

In 1963, the Sanibel Causeway was completed.  Eleven years later, Sanibel formed its own city government, allowing residents to control of their island’s growth and development and to preserve the land’s natural heritage and charm.  Today, the island still has that special ambience and quiet harmony.