This is the story of Cortez: a place where families carved out a livelihood from the Gulf of Mexico, where storms and change tested resilience, and where traditions continue to bind community even in the face of modernization.
Before Cortez: Native Peoples and Early Explorers
The region that would become Cortez was once home to the Calusa, a powerful Indigenous people who dominated much of southwest Florida. The Calusa were expert fisherfolk and sailors, relying heavily on nets, canoes, and traps to harvest the bounty of coastal waters. They built shell mounds and villages along bays and estuaries, developing a sophisticated society that thrived for centuries.
Spanish explorers arrived in the 1500s, forever altering Florida’s Native cultures. The Calusa resisted conversion and colonization but were ultimately undone by disease, conflict, and displacement. By the 18th century, most of their presence had disappeared, leaving the coastline open for new waves of settlers.
During the 19th century, the area around Sarasota Bay saw pioneers arrive from various parts of the American South. They were drawn by fertile soil, rich fisheries, and the promise of homesteads under federal land acts. For decades, though, the bayfront west of Bradenton remained sparsely settled—until a group of families from North Carolina decided to make it their home. shutdown123