February 2, 2007
Cortez Fishing Village: A Scenic Walk In The Past
When you need to slow your life down a bit and want to get away from the chaos of the city for a brief time, put Cortez, Florida, on the top of your getaway list. You can take a stroll through the entire village in less than an hour. However, you will probably want to take longer as you ponder history and find yourself flashing back in time to Florida’s early days.
Cortez, originally known as Hunter's Point, is located on the northern edge of Sarasota Bay adjacent to Anna Maria Island and its three cities, Anna Maria, Holmes Beach and Bradenton Beach. Cortez has one of the few remaining active commercial fishing waterfronts in Florida. In fact, this historic village would probably not even exist today if not for the development of commercial fishing and its pursuit of the Florida mullet that was abundant in the Gulf of Mexico.
Three family names -- Fulford, Guthrie and Jones -- are deeply rooted in the history of Cortez. In the 1880s, fishermen came from North Carolina to earn their living from the Gulf and settle in what was then called Hunters Point. The men that came looking for mullet were William "Captain Billy" Fulford, Nathan Fulford, James Guthrie and Charles Jones. Native Americans fished the area long before the U.S. Fish Commission in 1879 declared the "Hunter's Point Fishery" to be one of the most important suppliers of seafood on the west coast of Florida. Before 1857, due to lack of refrigeration, most of the mullet caught from the area was salted and shipped to Cuba. Fourth and fifth generations of these fisher-folk still work and live in the village.
Although the fishing history of the community dates back to the 1800s, the seafood industry faced decades of boom and bust due to hurricanes, war, fishermen strikes and changing harvest equipment and regulations. In spite of the challenges, the commercial fishing industry survived in the area and the abundance of fresh seafood soon brought fish houses and restaurants which, in turn, brought tourists.
One of these early operations continues to serve the Cortez natives as well as the many visiting vacationers to the area. The Star Fish Company, located right next to A.P. Bell on 46th Avenue, dates back to the early 1920s as a seafood wholesale company. It expanded to a retail market operation in the 1960s. In the mid-90s, Karen Bell, a member of another family with deep roots in the community, and owner of the A.P. Bell commercial fishing and wholesale operation, purchased the Star Fish Company. Over time she upgraded the services to include a small dockside outdoor restaurant that still serves Florida seafood. It is known for its nostalgic seaside dining on picnic tables where visitors enjoy watching fishing boats as they pass by the seagulls and pelicans perched on the pylons. The menu features a variety of Florida fish and shellfish dishes, including the famous “Cortez Fish Chowder.” Since simplicity is the goal at this rustic restaurant setting, side dishes continue to be the traditional coleslaw, cheese grits and French fries.
Although commercial fishing is definitely not as dominant today in Cortez, the nearly 5,000 residents continue to try to preserve the maritime and cultural history and attraction of the little village. In the early 1990s, large-scale waterfront real estate development began threatening their way of life. To be proactive, they combined a cultural organization, the Cortez Village Historical Society, with the Organized Fisherman of Florida group to form the not-for-profit Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage (FISH). Although the real estate development could not be totally halted, the efforts of this group, with the support of the community, have made great strides in preserving history. Some of its major preservation accomplishments include preserving the 1912 Cortez School house which is now occupied by the Florida Maritime Museum. The group also purchased 100 acres of environmentally sensitive land immediately east of Cortez which was an important fisheries habitat for this section of Sarasota Bay. This is an area that provided the locals with a bounty of seafood in its heyday.
February is a good time to plan a trip to Cortez. An annual fund raiser for FISH is the Cortez Commercial Fishing Festival which will be held February 17 and 18 this year. This gala event brings an estimated 10,000 visitors to the community to enjoy an abundance of Florida seafood, crafts and music. This will be a great time to meet some of the locals, visit the museum and just take a serene scenic walk into the past. Be sure and stop by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services booth to pick up Florida seafood information and recipes.
For additional information about the history of Cortez, visit the Bureau of Seafood and Aquaculture Marketing web site at www.FL-Seafood.com/cortez.htm and the Cortez Historical Society web site at www.cortezvillage.org.
For more information:
Phyllis McCranie
(850) 488-0163
mccranp@doacs.state.fl.us
