Construction on the Cortez Bridge connecting Anna Maria Island to Cortez began for the first time in 1921. Anna Maria Island was not connected to the mainland prior to this and so could only be accessed by boat. Construction on the bridge came to a screeching halt after the hurricane of 1921 hit destroying any progress that had been made on the bridge. In 1922, construction began again and the wooden bridge was completed. The wooden bridge connected Cortez Road to Bradenton Beach's Bridge Street. In the 1950s, the wooden Cortez Bridge was replaced with the current concrete bridge. To prove how stable the new bridge was, elephants from Ringling Circus were even brought over and paraded across the bridge for all to see.