Anna Maria is a city in Manatee County, Florida, United States. The population was 968 at the 2020 census, down from 1,503 in 2010. The city occupies the northern part of Anna Maria Island and is one of three municipalities on the island. The others are Holmes Beach in the center and Bradenton Beach in the south. Anna Maria is part of the Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. Etymology Former Tampa Mayor Madison Post (1818-1867) named the island for his wife Maria and his sister-in-law Anna. A popular legend, however, states that Ponce de Leon named the island for Maria Anna von der Pfalz-Neuburg, the queen of Charles II of Spain, the sponsor of his expedition. In the past, pronunciation of the name differed: old timers said "Anna Mar-EYE-a," but most people today say "Anna Mar-EE-a." History In 1893, George Emerson Bean built a home near the present day Rod & Real Pier. Two years later in 1895 he filed a homesteaded claim of on the north part of Anna Maria Island. Prior to Bean's homestead claim, Andrew Gowanlack would reside in the area where Bean would file his homestead at. However, Andrew never filed for a homestead claim but did receive three acres of land after Bean filed his homestead claim out of squatting rights. After George Bean's death in 1898, the land went to his son, George Wilhelm Bean, who partnered with Charles Roser, a wealthy real estate developer from St. Petersburg, to form the Anna Maria Beach Company to develop the area. In 1911, the Anna Maria City Pier would be built by the Anna Maria Beach Company to accommodate steamships carrying residents and visitors to the island. The pier would have several buildings attached to it. An extension of the pier containing a home would be built in 1913 before the area the house was on in the pier was destroyed in September 1927. Sometime during 1927, a jail would be built as a form of containment for bar patrons who were rowdy and was used until 1940 when a fire would burn down its roof and cells. Compiled in the late 1930s and first published in 1939, the Florida Guide listed Anna Maria's population as 77 describing it as: Bradenton would attempt to annex the City of Anna Maria in 1963. Anna Maria would hold a special election that was described as being "non-official" on