Early islanders relied on small boats for supplies and visitors, but as more people discovered the island, developers built a 776-foot-long pier in 1911 to accommodate larger boats and attract tourists and investors to buy lots and build homes and businesses. In 1913, Col. John Tice, a prominent Tampa banker, built a luxurious four-bedroom summer cottage called Lotus Cottage on the end of the City Pier. An icehouse was added in the 1920s and later converted into a fish and tropical fruit canning plant; when the cannery failed, the building was remodeled into a rental cottage named Belle Haven. A large storm in 1926 battered the pier, and pilings weakened by generations of wood-boring marine worms collapsed, washing the homes into the bay. Lotus Cottage broke up, but Belle Haven was found intact and, while still floating, was purchased for $125 and barged around the north end of the island, where it served as a home for more than 75 years. According to local lore, when Belle Haven slid into the bay, a man staying in the cottage jumped out a window and swam to shore.