Anna Maria is the northern most city on Anna Maria Island supporting a very special ecology and an Old Florida philosophy of laid-back living. The city is rich with an historical past that blends with the present in a tropical sanctuary established in the early 1900s. Charles Roser, father of the Fig Newton cookie, founded Anna Maria; he reportedly made his fortune when he sold the recipe to Nabisco. Roser was a member of the visionary Anna Maria Beach Company, which laid out the streets, built sidewalks, houses and installed a water system for this vacation paradise.