Siesta Key

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Siesta Key
Sarasota County Florida Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Siesta Key Highlighted.svg
County and state location
Basic data
State : United States
State : Florida
County : Sarasota County
Coordinates : 27 ° 17 ′  N , 82 ° 33 ′  W Coordinates: 27 ° 17 ′  N , 82 ° 33 ′  W
Time zone : Eastern ( UTC − 5 / −4 )
Residents : 6,565 (as of 2010)
Population density : 1,076.2 inhabitants per km 2
Area : 9.0 km 2  (approx. 3 mi 2 ) of
which 6.1 km 2  (approx. 2 mi 2 ) is land
Height : 1 m
Postal code : 34242
Area code : +1 941
FIPS : 12-66000
GNIS ID : 1802950

Siesta Key is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sarasota County in the US state of Florida with 6565 inhabitants (as of 2010).

geography

The CDP Siesta Key is located on the island of the same name, Siesta Key . It represents an upstream barrier island off the Gulf coast of Florida. There are road links to the mainland via two bridges over the Intracoastal Waterway ( SR 72 and 758 ). In the north, Siesta Key borders directly on Sarasota , the urban area of ​​which extends slightly to the island. The CDP is about 90 km south of Tampa .

history

The island was originally known as Sarasota Key, given by European cartographers after exploring the area from 1513. The island was largely undeveloped until the beginning of the 20th century. The main occupation of the few inhabitants was fishing and growing oranges.

Tourism began to flourish in 1906 when the Roberts couple converted their guesthouse into a large hotel. In the course of the tourist development of the island, it was renamed Siesta Key a year later. For better development of the island the Siesta Land Company was founded, the most famous member of which was Harry Higel, the then mayor of the city of Sarasota. In 1912, a second hotel, the Bay Island Hotel , opened, but it was closed again in the mid-1940s. In 1914 Harry Higel opened his own hotel, which he called Higelhurst . Since the lack of land connection further impaired the development of the island, Nigel asked the help of the US Army Corps of Engineers , which should build a bridge to Sarasota in the north. This first bridge was finally completed in 1917, a second bridge connection in the south of the island followed in 1927.

American professor and author Stephen Leatherman ( Dr. Beach ) voted Siesta Key Beach the most beautiful sandy beach in America in 2011 and 2017 . Siesta Key was named a recipient of the World's Finest, Whitest Sand Award from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in 1987 . The prize was given in particular for the 99% quartz sand beach.

Siesta Key is home to the historic campus of the Out-of-Door Academy , a well-known private Cum-Laude College Preparatory School founded in 1924.

Demographic data

According to the 2010 census, the 6565 inhabitants at that time were distributed over 8138 households, most of which are holiday homes used as second homes. The population density was 1076.2 inh / km². 97.5% of the population identified themselves as whites , 0.3% as African American , 0.2% as Indians and 0.7% as Asian Americans . 0.2% said they belonged to another ethnic group and 1.0% to several ethnic groups. 2.7% of the population was made up of Hispanics or Latinos .

In 2010 children under the age of 18 and 57.1% of all households lived in 10.7% of all households with persons at least 65 years of age. 57.1% of households were family households (consisting of married couples with or without offspring or one parent with offspring). The average household size was 1.88 people and the average family size was 2.38 people.

10.1% of the population were younger than 20 years, 8.9% were 20 to 39 years old, 23.8% were 40 to 59 years old, and 55.1% were at least 60 years old. The mean age was 63 years. 48.1% of the population were male and 51.9% were female.

The median annual income was $ 72,685, with 8.4% of the population living below the poverty line.

In 2000, English was the mother tongue of 95.05% of the population, 2.40% spoke French and 2.55% had another mother tongue.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ A bit about Siesta's past. Florida Vacations, accessed August 16, 2015 .
  2. ↑ Siesta Key. Gabriele & Bruce Charity, accessed August 16, 2015 .
  3. ↑ Out-of-Door Academy. The Out-of-Door Academy, accessed August 16, 2015 .
  4. ↑ Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010. United States Census Bureau , accessed August 16, 2015 .
  5. ^ Language distribution 2000. Modern Language Association , accessed August 16, 2015 .