Native Americans settled on Marco Island as early as 4000 B.C. These people were shellfish eaters and used the remains of their meals to build huge shell mounds. The mounds were used as foundations for temples and as burial sites and also served as protection against coastal storms and hurricanes. Visitors can find examples of these mounds on the southernmost portion of the island.
By 1500, the Calusa Indians had occupied and expanded the old shell mounds on Marco Island. But European diseases and conflict with other tribes to the north gradually took their toll. In 1763, the last remnants of the Calusa were removed to Cuba by the Spanish.
The Seminole and Miccosukee peoples occupied Southwest Florida during the late 18th century, but they did not occupy the old Calusa coastal sites, like Marco Island. Throughout the 18th and early 19th centuries, the island was largely vacant. Modern settlement began with the arrival of the Collier Family in 1870, and Captain Bill Collier built the current Olde Marco Inn in 1896.
In 1962, brothers Elliot, Robert and Frank Mackle Jr. purchased the undeveloped portions of the island for $7 million and began the modern development of Marco Island. During the 1980s, large portions of Marco were deeded to the State of Florida and the US Government as preserve areas. In 1997, the island became incorporated as the City of Marco Island, with a permanent population of about 15,000 residents and a winter population of about 35,000.
