During the war years of the 1940s, the Army Air Corps set up bombing targets near here, and pilots in training from many bases in Florida took turns firing at targets near the beach. Later, they practiced skip bombing techniques and unfortunately lost many pilots in the Gulf of Mexico when planes failed to pull up in time. Shopping became a problem for families at the north end of the Key because the road on Longboat Key was blocked during target practice, and there was no bridge at the north end until 1958. Beachcombers occasionally find 50-calibre shell casings, and in 1985 a World War II P-40 airplane canopy washed ashore.