Treasure Island is a city in
Pinellas CountyPinellas County is a county located in the state of Florida. Its county seat is Clearwater, Florida, and its largest city is St. Petersburg. This county is contained entirely within the telephone area code 727, except for some sections of Oldsmar, which have the area code 813...
,
FloridaFlorida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. As of the
2000 censusThe Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...
, the city population was 7,450. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2004 estimates, the city had a population of 7,521.
Geography
According to the
United States Census BureauThe United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the city has a total area of 5.3 square miles (13.8 km²). 1.6 square miles (4.1 km²) of it is land and 3.7 square miles (9.7 km²) of it (70.11%) is water.
Demographics
As of the
censusA census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 7,450 people, 4,128 households, and 2,059 families residing in the city. The
population densityPopulation density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 4,679.0 inhabitants per square mile (1,809.1/km²). There were 5,694 housing units at an average density of 3,576.2 per square mile (1,382.7/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.69% White, 0.28% African American, 0.28% Native American, 0.59% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.43% from
other racesRace and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 0.70% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.23% of the population.
There were 4,128 households out of which 10.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.8% were
married couplesMarriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 4.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 50.1% were non-families. 41.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.80 and the average family size was 2.38.
In the city the population was spread out with 9.2% under the age of 18, 2.7% from 18 to 24, 23.4% from 25 to 44, 38.5% from 45 to 64, and 26.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 52 years. For every 100 females there were 95.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $42,150, and the median income for a family was $64,158. Males had a median income of $38,903 versus $32,586 for females. The
per capita incomePer capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $34,965. About 3.9% of families and 5.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 0.4% of those under age 18 and 6.9% of those age 65 or over.
History
The area of Treasure Island was originally settled in small communities by the
TimucuaThe Timucua were a Native American people who lived in Northeast and North Central Florida and southeast Georgia. They were the largest indigenous group in that area and consisted of about 35 chiefdoms, many leading thousands of people. The various groups of Timucua spoke several dialects of the...
around 300 CE. The Timucua traded with other Indian tribes in the area until the arrival of
Pánfilo de NarváezPánfilo de Narváez was a Spanish conqueror and soldier in the Americas. He is most remembered as the leader of two expeditions, one to Mexico in 1520 to oppose Hernán Cortés, and the disastrous Narváez expedition to Florida in 1527....
in 1528. De Narváez decimated the people and countless numbers of birds before leaving the area in search of gold.
Treasure Island got its name after several property owners attempted to boost sales of the properties being developed on the island by first burying and then pretending to discover a couple of wooden chests on the beach around 1915. After claiming the chests were filled with treasure, the news of the discovery quickly spread and people began calling the island Treasure Island.
With an elevation of only three feet, the
Great Gale of 1848The Great Gale of 1848, also known as the Tampa Bay hurricane of 1848 and originally as the Great Gale of '48, was a tropical cyclone that struck Florida in September 1848. It affected the Tampa Bay Area September 23–25, 1848. It crossed the Florida Peninsula to cause damage on the east coast on or...
carved out John's Pass on the Island's north end and split off two smaller islands which are now the Isle of Palms and Isle of Capri.
Treasure Island saw a surge in residential home and hotel growth following World War II through the 1950s. The real estate used in these ventures often consisted of fill from dredged material.
Legendary Baseball slugger
Babe RuthGeorge Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
had a winter beachfront home on Treasure Island after his retirement.
Treasure Island today has a thriving bar and restaurant scene in its downtown.
External links