20 Facts About the Suncoast Communities We Love – See How Many You Know?

We all know about the beaches, attractions, and many of the well-publicized finer points of the communities of the Suncoast. The amazing weather, botanical gardens, and even amazing artist destinations along with highly recognized museums. Still, there are a lot of amazing facts about the communities we all cherish that you might not be aware of. Here is a trivia game of 25 facts about the communities up and down the Suncoast of Florida – how many of them can you get correct?

1. Which community is home to the world’s longest continuous sidewalk? ANSWER: Downtown Tampa’s Bayshore Blvd, at 4.5 miles long, earns the title of “the world’s longest continuous sidewalk.” 
2. Which city holds the Guinness Book of World Records for the most consecutive days of sunshine? ANSWER: Clearwater, 768 days
3. Where is Florida’s largest live-work art community? ANSWER: Village of the Arts in Bradenton
4. Which city here on the Suncoast was the location of the first commercial flight? ANSWER: St. Petersburg, Florida – Ten years after the Wright Brothers launched the world’s first ‘flying machines’ north of Florida at S. Carolina’s Outer Banks, down in St Pete, the enterprising Mr. Fansler concocted the idea of running a passenger service by airplane between St Petersburg and Tampa by flying over Tampa Bay. On January 1, 1914, pilot Tony Janus flew an open-cockpit Benoist XIV Flying Boat across broad Tampa Bay to Tampa City for the first time in history, establishing the world’s first commercial flight.
5. What city is known as the Shark Tooth Capital of the World? ANSWER: Venice, for millions of years, various species of shark (including the prehistoric Megalodon) have made the coastal waters of Venice their home.
6. Which city has the “Greenest Little Mainstreet in America? ANSWER: Anna Maria Island’s Pine Avenue is “The Greenest Little Mainstreet in America” and Florida’s first LEED Platinum and net zero energy retail park.
7. What city was the 1938 film Tarzan’s Revenge filmed in? ANSWER: On the bank of the Myakka River sits the Snook Haven restaurant. Surrounded by nature, including stunning oak trees covered in Spanish moss, this restaurant has been the site of several major events, including the 1938 film Tarzan’s Revenge was filmed there.
8. Why did Henry Ford buy a home in Fort Myers? ANSWER: To be next door to his close friend Thomas Edison.
9. Which famous American author of suspense novels died in Naples, Florida, on January 31, 2020? ANSWER: Mary Higgins Clark
10. Which city is named after someplace that means a place of dancing? ANSWER: Sarasota is derived from the 1700s map name of Zara Zota, which means “a place of dancing.”
11. Na
12. Babe Ruth hit his longest home run during an exhibition game in Tampa – how far did it go? ANSWER: 587 feet
13. What city boasts Florida’s sole naturally occurring warm mineral spring? ANSWER: North Port’s Warm Mineral Springs is a sinkhole believed by archeologists to have opened to the surface as much as 30,000 years ago. Some 10,000 years ago, the spring was used as an Indian burial ground. The mineral water preserved the fossils of saber-tooth tigers, sloths, ancient humans, and their primitive tools.
14. What city is considered one of the most haunted places in the world? ANSWER: The Travel Channel voted Ybor’s Cuban Club “One of the Top 10 Most Haunted Places in the U.S.” A tour is a must anytime of the year, and of course, even more fun around Halloween!
15. What town was named among the “10 Best Places to Retire” in the United States for the year 2012 by U.S. News & World Report? ANSWER: Port Charlotte
16. Which city can you find Bean Point Beach? ANSWER: Anna Maria Island
17. Which city received electric light in 1898 due to a famous resident? ANSWER: Fort Myers received electric light in 1898, courtesy of winter resident – Thomas Edison.
18. Which famous tennis player that lived in Bradenton? ANSWER: Maria Sharapova
19. Actress Carla Gugino was born in which Suncoast city? ANSWER: Sarasota
20. What city boasts the only museum in the world dedicated entirely to the study of shells and mollusks? ANSWER: The Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum in the city of Sanibel
21. What is the number one export for Tampa? ANSWER: Phosphate, which is an invaluable export for fertilizer production

So, how many of the facts did you know without checking with Google? So many amazing things make up our wonderful communities here on the Suncoast. From weird historical facts to unique structures you just couldn’t imagine – we live in a diverse part of the country. Did you maybe find another community or attraction you maybe didn’t know about and need to add to your adventures in the future?

Happy discovering all our Suncoast communities!

Featured photo courtesy of Deposit Photos