in 1888, becoming the first known permanent residents on the key. His home was located somewhere on the north end of the key. Mann was a carpenter by trade who was originally from Indiana and later moved to Minnesota. During the American Civil War he served for the Union under the 7th Minnesota Infantry Regiment. Mann and his family moved to what is today Bradenton in 1872. He left because of either a local yellow fever epidemic or prejudice against him from being from the Northern United States. Mann died in 1908 in nearby Cortez. His son, James, claimed south of his father's land in 1891. With a passage being dug in 1895 from Sarasota Bay to Tampa Bay, steamships and paddle boats could access the island. Soon, a mail service was established that brought residents mail from Cortez. Thomas Mann sold his land in 1898 to May and June Pointevesant of Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Longboat Key's first post office was established in 1907 at Byron Corey's pier at the southern end of the island, where he owned of land beginning in 1903. Corey also served as Longboat Key's first postmaster. The post office on the sound end lasted until 1921, when it was destroyed by a hurricane. During the 1910s, the key saw a surge in development and changes to it. The Pointevesants sold their land to Rufus Perry Jordan and Annie Jordan in May 1911. Rufus laid out a community named Longbeach, filling the plat in November 1911. During 1913, another subdivision named Shore Acres that covered 170 acres of land would began to be developed at the "narrowest" part of the island, and would be finished by the next year. Another community was also started at about the same time, named Island Beach, located south of it. Longbeach gained its own post office in 1914. During the early 1900s and prior to the 1921 hurricane, Longboat Key had a significant farming presence, with local residents growing a variety of products. A 1912 Sarasota Times headline read: "From a lonely Key, it is now a center of trucking and fruit growing." 1920s In 1921, the key lost most of its agricultural land and buildings during a hurricane. That same year, the island was split between two counties, Sarasota and Manatee. Starting in 1923, John Ringling purchased a large amount of land on Longboat Key. In February 1926, Ringling