Built in 1901 as a one-room schoolhouse by the Lee County Board of Public Instruction on land donated by William Binder, the first settler to establish a homestead on Captiva, this building was the first school on Captiva and served students from the island, nearby Sanibel, and Buck Key while also functioning as the primary house of worship for area families. A new schoolhouse was erected in 1918, and the Captiva School closed. In 1921, the Methodist Church purchased the building for use as a mission church. A separate minister's study was built in 1926 to replace a structure destroyed by the Great Miami Hurricane. By agreement with the Methodist Church, the Captiva Civic Association took over operation of the building in 1947. In 1954, the Methodist Church deeded the property to Captiva Chapel-by-the-Sea, which manages and operates it as an interdenominational church. The parsonage building was designed by noted architect Leon R. Levy and built in 1965. The 1901 building remains the oldest school house in Lee County on its original site and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.