About

Treasure Island is located on the Gulf of Mexico approximately halfway down the West Coast of the Florida peninsula. The Island is 3.8 miles long with an average width of 3,500 feet and has 4 miles of beaches.

The Treasure Island Historical Society (TIHS) has spent years archiving thousands of photographs and memorabilia and documenting our City’s past history.

In 1528, Spanish Conquistadors came ashore on the Pinellas Peninsula. Previously, the Tocobaga built a burial mound on Key Capri, at the end of the Isle of Capri.

The Florida Occupation Act of 1842 promised ownership of land to settlers who would live on the Island for five years. Thomas F. Pierce would become the first white landowner in the area when he purchased Island acreage from the State in 1908 for $1.25 an acre.

In 1915, Whiteford (“Whitey”) Smith Harrell and his wife Addie built the Island’s first hotel. They named the three-story frame structure, which offered 25 guest rooms, Coney Island. The hotel was located on 100th Avenue on the Boca Ciega Bay. On the Gulf side of Surf Avenue (now Gulf Blvd) directly across from the hotel, Harrell built a bathhouse for hotel guests. Two other cottages were built around the same time just south of the hotel on the Bay side.

Among the many stories of gold treasure was the tale of John LeVisque, a colorful island fisherman. It was said that, before sailing to New Orleans one year to sell his catch of shrimp and fish, he buried his gold on the beach. The year was 1848, and the greatest hurricane to ever hit Florida’s west coast was about to strike. When John returned to the Island, not even the beach under which he buried his gold remained. But a greater memorial to LeVique was created; this hurricane dug a deep water pass from the Gulf of Mexico to Boca Ciega Bay which became known as John’s Pass.

In 1918, a group of investors acquired an option to purchase the Island. Short of funds but long on imagination, the promoters buried an old, weathered oak chest (filled with lead) on the beach. In the morning, with much fanfare, they dug it up and, to encourage rumors of pirate treasure, paraded the chest down the City’s main street. The ruse worked, the land was sold, and the name stuck: