Sunday Favorites: The Fishing Community of Cortez

You probably know that Cortez is a small fishing community located just before the Cortez Bridge to Anna Maria Island. The community was settled in the 1880s by fishing families from the Carolinas. Here's how it all started.

For more than a century, the people of Cortez have made a living harvesting seafood from Sarasota Bay. In the 1880s, the area was settled by five fisherman from Carteret County North Carolina – Charlie Jones, Jim Guthrie and three brothers, Billy, Nate and Sanford Fulford. Back then, Cortez was known as Hunter’s Point, according to Dr. Mary Fulford Green in a 1987 address to the Manatee Historical Society.

The men had a vision, one where they would live off the sea and sell their catch at market. When their plan worked, a slew of relatives, all from Carteret County, followed them down to the Manatee County section hoping for a better life. They took the train t Tampa, then chartered a ship the rest of the way down.

The original crew had built two-story clapboard houses along the bay. The homes were big enough to house the many children born to the families, and serve as temporary accommodations for the many relatives arriving from North Carolina, according to Mary Fulford.

At the time, there was no way for the folks of Cortez to get to any nearby villages, like Braidentown (present-day Bradenton) except by boat. The thick underbrush of saw palmetto that populated the area was almost impenetrable and made it difficult to clear roads for any distance. However, large sailboats arrived several times a week from Cedar Key and Tampa. They delivered supplies and collected loads of fish, mostly mullet, for the northern markets.

The life of the fisherman was not one easy. The men used ”skipjacks,“ or small sailing vessels. Back then, nets were made of cotton and had to be dried. Fishing during the prime seasons required long hours. The men built stilt houses off the coast where they could dock their boats, get a few hours of sleep, and dry their nets on apparatuses called Ônet spreads’ so they could be ready to go as soon as the sun came up. Back then, mullet only brought in about one cent per pound. When the fishing trip was over, nets were soaked in a lime solution to prevent rot, then hung out to dry, according to the speech.

In the 1890s Mr. and Mrs. L.J. Bratton moved to Cortez from Peoria, Illinois and constructed one of the most famous inns in all of Manatee County, the Albion Inn. In its prime, the hotel featured 24 rooms and accommodated an eclectic mix of winter guests from professors, to sportsmen and businessmen. It also was a beloved meeting place and hangout for locals. The Albion Inn survived a lot in its 70-year history including the hurricane of 1921, which devastated Cortez. (It was eventually purchased by the U.S. Coast Guard and converted into a station)

In 1895, the first steamship to operate in Sarasota Bay, the Mistletoe, began making regular stops at Cortez with passengers and cargo. That same year, timber was brought over from Ellenton and the first schoolhouse constructed, according to Fulford.

In 1912, the community got a brick schoolhouse that was built by the county. It served the community for more nearly 50 years, serving as meeting house for fish fries and a refuge for hurricanes. The school was in operation until 1961, when it closed. It now serves as the Florida Maritime Museum.

Tune in next week and we will explore more of the fishing village’s rich history.