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"Old Town Sanibel" at the historic
lighthouse end of Sanibel was the original sight of Sanibel Island's development. From 1833, when early Sanibel settlers first petitioned the US Government for the construction of a lighthouse at Point Ybel, until 1884 when the present lighthouse, Sanibel's oldest standing structure, first lighted San Carlos Bay, this quaint area was the center of island activity.
Drawn to the first fresh water well located where the Seahorse shops stand today, Cuban fisherman built fishing camps in the 1860's to
catch mullet for the roe, considered even then a delicacy. In 1869 William Allen, one of Sanibel Island's first homesteaders built a castor bean plantation nearby and probably shared this well with the fishermen.
During the late 1800's and early 1900's this quaint east end village, anchored by the lighthouse, saw most of Sanibel's early pioneers pass through its center.
While the first ferry service started at the Bailey General Store just
up the road in 1925, the Kinzie brothers constructed more permanent docks at the end of Ferry Road in 1928 and from then until 1963 Ferry Road and "Old Town" became the hub of island guest activity. Part of that historic dock still exists and can be seen from the end of Ferry Road. (The first Post Office is preserved in the historic village, Sanibel's local historical museum).
The island's guest community, fed by the Ferry landing grew quickly from
that point. Island visitors, drawn by Sanibel's stunning beaches, great shelling opportunities and island wildlife such as shore birds, alligators, dolphins and manatees, flocked to "Old Town" in the fifties and sixties, many quaint inns and cottages, all completely renovated, today make up the core of "Old Town Sanibel's" guest accommodations.
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