John’s Pass: History of this Florida Boardwalk

When  staying at the luxury Eiko’s Beach House in Treasure Island our guests find it to delightful to walk not drive to John’s Pass Village across the bridge to Madeira Beach roughly 5 minutes away.

This “village” is packed with restaurants, bars, ice cream  souvenir stores, fish markets, jewelry establishments along with fishing, jet skiing, scuba diving outlets. Johns Pass offers something for everyone in terms of food, drink and fun entertainment. The question we keep hearing, however, is:

What’s the history of John’s Pass?

Native American Founders

This area of Florida was settled by the Tocobaga and Timucua tribes of Native Americas until the Spanish explorer Panifilo de Narvaez arrived in Boca Ciega Bay in 1528.

In his search for gold,  most of these tribes were eradicated due illnesses brought by the Europeans where natives had no immunity to these diseases.

The Spanish then left ,without settling the area, although they did settle in St. Augustine on the East Coast of Florida shortly thereafter. For the next two hundred years Spanish fisherman and pirates hunted, fished but always left the area after a short period of time.

American Settlers in John’s Pass

Two of the first settlers in the John’s Pass area  were Joseph Silva and John Levique. Both individuals claimed 160 acres of land from the US government and in return they had to live in and “settle” in the area around what is currently John’s Pass.

This is where history and legend merge. One well know story is that these individuals, especially John Levique were pirates and were part of a crew that successfully plundered ships sailing around West Florida. It seems, however, that they really made a living capturing, not sailing ships , but sea turtles and selling them  in New Orleans!

The Great Hurricane

Legend also states that after a number of successful trips to New Orleans, John Levique buried his accumulated gold on the beach which is now part of Treasure Island. Allegedly during a successful trip to New Orleans in the fall of 1848, the two men were returning to Florida when a category 4 or 5 hurricane hit the Tampa Bay Area which significantly altered the coastline and created what is now known as John’s Pass.  

John Levique “discovered it” so he named it after himself..  However, unfortunately for John, the new pass created by the recent  hurricane was exactly where his treasure was buried.

This led to legends of gold coins being found on Treasure Island and Madeira Beach in the 1920’s.  However, this was more than likely a rumor caused by real estate speculators to drive up land prices.

After the epic hurricane and the Civil War, the area was sparsely populated. However, greedy individuals came called “plume hunters” looking for attractive birds to kill for fashionable  hats which used feathers to enhance the desirability and therefore price of the hat.  

John’s Pass Today

By 1900 more residents arrived and by the 1920 and 1930 the area not only supported a strong local fishing community, but plenty of tourism as well.

After World War 2, former military personnel based at air bases and barracks in the area , wanted to return to this area for retirement.

By 1980 Wilson Hubbard convinced the City of Madeira Beach to build a board walk at John’s Pass which was expanded regularly and is now 1100 feet long, chock full of the wonderful shops, bars restaurants and water sport facilities which  we enjoy today.

Back to the Present with the Eiko’s Beach House

So when you are vacationing at the luxury Eiko’s Beach House in Treasure Island and wanted to enjoy the excitement of John’s Pass, a short five minute walk will get you to the heart of the action.

Should your children ask who John was, you can tell them he was a sailor, farmer, fisherman or as legend states, a pirate who sailed the seven seas.

Regardless, every May/June for the last 15 year there has been a food festival at John’s Pass which honors John Levique and makes a great excuse for a party!

After having your fill of this festival, enjoy your short stroll back to your quiet, secluded ,  private paradise, Eiko’s Beach House and continue your relaxing vacation without the pirates!