Marco Island is a small sea island, or barrier island, on the Gulf Coast of the United States. Located 20 miles south of Naples in Collier County, Florida. It is the largest of the Ten Thousand Islands. Marco Island is an affluent beach and boating resort island with a small-town character. It is home to several resorts, a golf club, a yacht club, a country club, several parks, and nature areas. The six-mile crescent beach on Marco Island is among the widest in Florida and features bright white, sugar sand, and bountiful shelling opportunities. There are two public access locations with parking and amenities (Tigertail and South Beach) Access to offshore island beaches, such as Keewaydin, are conveniently accessed by boat or tour. Marco is also close to the shopping and restaurants of Naples.
Marco Island is the largest barrier island within Southwest Florida’s Ten Thousand Islands area extending southerly to Cape Sable. Parts of the island have some scenic, high elevations relative to the generally flat south Florida landscape. Like the city of Naples to the north, Marco Island has a tropical climate; specifically a tropical wet and dry or savanna type. It is known for its distinct wet and dry seasons, with most of the rainfall falling between the months of June and October.
The history of Marco Island can be traced as far back as 500 CE when the Calusa people inhabited the island as well as the rest of southwest Florida. When Spanish explorers came to the island in the mid-1500s, they gave the island the name La Isla de San Marcos after Gospel writer St. Mark.
Early development of the island began in the late 1800s after the arrival of William Thomas Collier and his family. Collier founded the village of Marco on the island in 1870, and in 1896 Collier’s son, William D. “Capt. Bill” Collier, opened a hotel on the island, known today as the Olde Marco Inn.
Barron G. Collier (whom Collier County is named after, and of no relation to William T. Collier) purchased a large amount of land on Marco Island in 1922, and in 1927 the island incorporated as Collier City.
The first vehicle bridge to the island was a small wooden swing bridge built in 1938 near Goodland on the southeast side of the island. Remnants of this bridge can be seen today next to the current Goodland Bridge (built in 1975).
Significant development of Marco Island took place in the 1960s that made it into the tourist destination it is known as today. The Mackle brothers of the Deltona Corporation led the development of the island after purchasing large amounts of land there for $7 million. As a result of development, the S.S. Jolley Bridge opened for traffic in 1969, which is how you enter the beautiful island today.
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