Date of Award

5-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Hustwit, William

Area of Concentration

Social Sciences

Abstract

Florida's coastal fishing villages have faced environmental, economic, and developmental threats throughout the twentieth century that led to many communities disappearing or losing their fishing culture. This thesis looks at Cortez Village, a small waterfront fishing village located on Sarasota Bay in Manatee County, Florida. It looks at why Cortez is different from other similar communities that have disappeared. Cortez was founded in the 1880s by a group of fishing families from North Carolina. From the very beginning, Cortez had a strong, tightly knit community that was centered around commercial fishing. Using primary sources such as newspaper articles, archival documents, letters, and booklets, this study examines how residents and kinship networks in Cortez respond to threats such as hurricanes, industrialization, the 1994 net ban, and development along the coast of Florida. This thesis argues that Cortez Village survived because of its strong kinship networks, collective political action, and economic adaptability. The community of Cortez could come together to rebuild after Hurricanes, adapt and change fishing methods, and collectively fight against development. Through these efforts, Cortez preserved both its economic foundation and cultural heritage, allowing it to remain one of the last active fishing villages on Florida’s Gulf Coast.

Rights

The author has granted New College of Florida the nonexclusive right to archive, make accessible, and distribute for educational purposes this work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The copyright of this work remains with the author.

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