History Of Sarasota, Florida
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The earliest known identification of the area known today as
Sarasota, Florida Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sout ...
, was identified on a sheepskin Spanish map from 1763 with the word "Zarazote" written over the location of present-day Sarasota and
Bradenton Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698. History Late 18th and early 19th centuries A settlement established by Maroons or escaped sl ...
. The municipal government of Sarasota was established when it was incorporated as a town in 1902. Incorporation under the city form of government followed in the next decade. In 1921, Sarasota County was formed out of Manatee County, with Sarasota city serving as the county seat.


Early history


Prehistory

Fifteen thousand years ago, when humans first settled in Florida, the shoreline of the
Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...
was one hundred miles farther to the west. In this era,
hunting and gathering A traditional hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living an ancestrally derived lifestyle in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local sources, especially edible wild plants but also insects, fungi, ...
was the primary means of subsistence. This was only possible in areas where water sources existed for hunter and prey alike. Deep springs and
catchment basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, the ...
s, such as Warm Mineral Springs, were close enough to the Sarasota area to provide campsites, but too far away for permanent settlements. As the
Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...
glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its Ablation#Glaciology, ablation over many years, often Century, centuries. It acquires dis ...
s slowly melted, a more
temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...
climate began to advance northward. Sea levels began rising; they ultimately rose another , resulting in the Florida shoreline of today, which provided attractive locations for human settlements.
Archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
research in Sarasota documents more than ten thousand years of seasonal occupation by native peoples. For five thousand years while the current sea level existed, fishing in
Sarasota Bay Sarasota Bay is a lagoon located off the central west coast of Florida in the United States. Though no significant single stream of freshwater enters the bay, with a drainage basin limited to 150 square miles in Manatee and Sarasota Counties, it ...
was the primary source of
protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respo ...
and large mounds of discarded shells and fish bones attest to the prehistoric human settlements that existed in Sarasota and were sustained by the bounty of its bay. People living in the area of the present boundaries of Sarasota were part of the
Manasota culture The Manasota culture was an archaeological culture that was practiced on the central Gulf coast of the Florida peninsula from about 500 BCE until about 900, when it developed into the Safety Harbor culture. From about 300 to 700 the Manasota cult ...
, an archaeological culture that existed in the area from Pasco County to Sarasota County from about 500 B.C. until about 900. The
Safety Harbor culture The Safety Harbor culture was an archaeological culture practiced by Native Americans living on the central Gulf coast of the Florida peninsula, from about 900 CE until after 1700. The Safety Harbor culture is defined by the presence of Safety H ...
, which developed out of the Manasota culture around 900, covered much of the same area. Safety Harbor sites continued to be occupied after the Spanish reached Florida, as European artifacts have been found in the sites. Safety Harbor people built temple mounds in the primary towns of their chiefdoms. About twenty temple mound sites are known, including the Whitaker Mound that used to stand near Sarasota Bay in what is now downtown Sarasota, "Mound Street" being named for it. The Whitaker Mound, and a number of other mounds in what is now Sarasota, were destroyed in the twentieth century to make room for development. Others were convenient sources of shell used in road paving.


Early historical records


Spanish exploration

Europeans Europeans are the focus of European ethnology, the field of anthropology related to the various ethnic groups that reside in the states of Europe. Groups may be defined by common genetic ancestry, common language, or both. Pan and Pfeil (2004) ...
first explored the area in the early sixteenth century. The first recorded contact was in 1513, when a Spanish expedition landed at Charlotte Harbor, just to the south. Spanish was used by the natives during some of the initial encounters, however, providing evidence of earlier contacts. In 1539, Spanish Conquistador
Hernando de Soto Hernando de Soto (; ; 1500 – 21 May, 1542) was a Spanish explorer and '' conquistador'' who was involved in expeditions in Nicaragua and the Yucatan Peninsula. He played an important role in Francisco Pizarro's conquest of the Inca Empire ...
sailed into South Tampa Bay and made landing at
Little Manatee River The Little Manatee River flows , from east of Fort Lonesome, Florida South of Hwy 674 and Earl Reynolds Rd In Hillsborough County through southern Hillsborough County, Florida including towns such as Sun City, Florida, and Gulf City, Florida ...
. On early maps, the smaller bay along the coast to the south and the areas of contemporary Bradenton and Sarasota were identified as ''Zara Zota'', ''Zara Sota'', ''Sarazota'', or ''Sarasota'' on maps.


Earliest European settlement

The sheltered bay and its harbor attracted fish and marine traders. Soon there were fishing camps, called ''ranchos'', along the bay that were established by both Americans and Cubans who traded fish and turtles with merchants in Havana. Florida changed hands between the Spanish, the English, and then the Spanish again. There were three claimants to Spanish land grants in and around Sarasota Bay, which were not confirmed by the United States. Following the
Battle of New Orleans The Battle of New Orleans was fought on January 8, 1815 between the British Army under Major General Sir Edward Pakenham and the United States Army under Brevet Major General Andrew Jackson, roughly 5 miles (8 km) southeast of the French ...
in 1815, some of the black and Seminole allies of the defeated British retreated to south Florida. At least some of them established a farming community on Sarasota Bay. With the
Treaty of Moultrie Creek The Treaty of Moultrie Creek was an agreement signed in 1823 between the government of the United States and the chiefs of several groups and bands of Indians living in the present-day state of Florida. The treaty established a reservation in t ...
in 1823, most of the remaining Native Americans who had lived in the area were pushed to a reservation in the interior of Florida.


Fort Armistead

In May 1840, Brigadier Gen.
Walker Keith Armistead Walker Keith Armistead (March 25, 1783 – October 13, 1845) was a military officer who served as Chief of Engineers of the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Armistead was born in Upperville, Virginia, Upperville, Fauquier County, Virginia, ...
established Fort Armistead in Sarasota along the bay. Fort Armistead was established because Armistead wanted to move against Native American settlements to the south of
Fort Brooke Fort Brooke was a historical military post established at the mouth of the Hillsborough River in present-day Tampa, Florida in 1824. Its original purpose was to serve as a check on and trading post for the native Seminoles who had been confined ...
. This was due to the fact that Native Americans were raiding because of the lack of resources in areas to which they were being restricted. It even became the southern headquarters for Fort Brooke. The fort is thought to have been located in the Indian Beach area. It was short-lived and only existed for seven months. The army established the fort at a ''rancho'' operated by
Louis Pacheco Louis (Luis) Fatio Pacheco (December 26, 1800 – ?) was an Afro-Spanish enslaved person who became known in 19th century Spanish Florida for his connection to the Black Seminole community. Biography Early life and career Pacheco was born Dec ...
, an African slave working for his Cuban-American owner. Shortly before the fort was abandoned because of severe epidemics, the chiefs of the
Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, an ...
tribe gathered to discuss their impending removal to the
Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United St ...
. These were Native Americans who had moved into Florida during the Spanish occupation. They mostly had maintained permanent settlements that were used from late fall through spring, moving to settlements farther north during the summer. Most of the indigenous natives of Florida, such as the
Tocobaga Tocobaga (occasionally Tocopaca) was the name of a chiefdom, its chief, and its principal town during the 16th century. The chiefdom was centered around the northern end of Old Tampa Bay, the arm of Tampa Bay that extends between the present-day ...
and the
Caloosa The Calusa ( ) were a Native American people of Florida's southwest coast. Calusa society developed from that of archaic peoples of the Everglades region. Previous indigenous cultures had lived in the area for thousands of years. At the time of ...
, had perished from epidemics carried by the Spanish.


Armed Occupation Act, Early Development, and the American Civil War

Soon the remaining Seminoles were forced south into the
Big Cypress Swamp Big Cypress National Preserve is a United States National Preserve located in South Florida, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) west of Miami on the Atlantic coastal plain. The Big Cypress, along with Big Thicket National Preserve in Texas, becam ...
and, in 1842, the lands in Sarasota, which then were held by the federal government, were among those opened to private ownership by those of European descent via the ''
Armed Occupation Act The Florida Armed Occupation Act of 1842 () was passed as an incentive to populate Florida. The Act granted of unsettled land south of the line separating townships 9 and 10 South (an east–west line about three miles (5 km) north of P ...
'' passed by the Congress of the United States. There were several individuals and families who helped develop Sarasota, including the following. Whitaker - William Whitaker was the first documented pioneer of European descent to settle permanently in what became the village of Sarasota.Burnett Gene M. (1986) ''Florida's Past: People and Events that Shaped the State''. Pineapple Press Inc., Sarasota, FL After time spent along the
Manatee River The Manatee River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 18, 2011 river in Manatee County, Florida. The river forms in the northeastern corner of Manatee County an ...
at the village of ''Manatee'', Whitaker built upon Yellow Bluffs, just north of present-day Eleventh Street. He sold dried fish and roe to Cuban traders working the coast and in 1847, he began a cattle business. In 1851, Whitaker married Mary Jane Wyatt, a member of a pioneer family who had settled the village of Manatee, that was about to the northeast along the river of the same name. Their homestead site was not preserved, being razed in the 1990s, however, their family cemetery remains. In the 1930s, the Whitaker family gave the cemetery to the
Daughters of the American Revolution The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a person involved in the United States' efforts towards independence. A non-profit group, they promote ...
on the understanding that any lineal descendants of William and Mary Whitaker and their spouses could be buried there as long as space remained. Edwards - In 1874, Arthur Britton Edwards, better known as A. B. Edwards, was born in what now is The Uplands neighborhood on bay front land homesteaded earlier by his parents through the federal armed occupation act of the 1842. His parents died when he was fourteen and he became the sole support of his siblings. Eventually, he became a major contributor to the attraction of migrants to and developers of Sarasota and, when the community changed its form of government to that of a "city", he was elected its first mayor and began to serve on January 1, 1914. Webb - In 1867, John G. Webb and his family moved from
Utica, New York Utica () is a Administrative divisions of New York, city in the Mohawk Valley and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The List of cities in New York, tenth-most-populous city in New York State, its population was 65,283 ...
to Florida, looking for a place to settle. After arriving in Key West, the pioneer family met a Spanish trader. He told them about a high bluff of land on Sarasota Bay that would make a good location for a homestead. When the Webbs arrived in Sarasota looking for the bluff, they described it to Bill Whitaker. He led them right to it because of the description. The site was several miles south of the settlement of the Whitakers. According to the nonprofit organization bearing its name and maintaining the property today, after settling, the Webbs named their homestead ''Spanish Point'', in honor of the trader. The Webb family planted citrus, sugar cane, and many vegetables. They also built a packing house to prepare produce for market. To transport the produce, John's sons Jack and Will, along with son-in-law, Frank Guptill, built a ten-ton schooner called, "Vision". To encourage winter boarders to come stay at the property, the family established what is likely the first tourist resort in the area by building a dormitory for guests. The building, built in 1885 by son Jack Webb, is now known as White Cottage. In 1884, John Webb petitioned for a separate postal address for Spanish Point. They chose
Osprey The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...
as their postal address, since changed federal regulations required the use of only one word for the new address. A separate town eventually grew around that postal address. Although there is no similar documentation regarding the name of Sarasota, that federal one-word rule for postal designations may be the reason that Zara Zota or Sara Sota became Sarasota. Lewis Colson - Born in 1844, Lewis Colson came to Sarasota as a surveyor with the Florida Mortgage and Investment Company in 1894. Colson was a former slave, a fisherman, a landowner, and a Reverend in early Sarasota. He and his wife Irene, a midwife, settled in the neighborhood then known as Black Bottom (later known as Overtown). During his early years, Colson worked for engineer Richard E. Paulson. He later donated property to build the city's first African American Church, Bethlehem Baptist Church. Colson was its reverend from 1899 to 1915. Historian Annie M. McElroy describes Colson as "one of the most respected black men in Sarasota during his lifetime". In the early years of Overtown, black residents developed a thriving community with businesses, shops, churches, and social centers. The Colson Hotel, constructed in 1926, was named in Lewis Colson's honor, and catered to African American tourists up until the 1950s when it was renamed the Palm Hotel. Colson Avenue is also named in his honor. A historical marker at Five Points Park in downtown Sarasota, credits Colson as the "former slave ndrespected community leader... who drove the stake that marked the center of Five Points." Colson, who died in 1922, and his wife Irene, are the only African Americans buried in Rosemary Cemetery. Browning and Gillespie - In 1885 a Scots colony was established in Sarasota, which at the time was portrayed as a tropical paradise that had been built into a thriving town. A town had been platted and surveyed before the parcels were sold by the Florida Mortgage and Investment Company. When the investors in the "Ormiston Colony" arrived by ship in December, they found that their primitive settlement lacked the homes, stores, and streets promised. Only a few Scots, such as the Browning family, remained in Sarasota along with a determined member of the developer's family,
John Hamilton Gillespie Colonel John Hamilton Gillespie (14 October 1852 – 7 September 1923) was a Scottish-American soldier, land developer, businessman and politician, who settled in Sarasota, Florida, becoming Sarasota's first mayor. Biography Gillespie was born ...
. He was a manager for Florida Mortgage & Investment Company and began to develop Sarasota following the plan for the failed colony. In 1887, he built the De Sota Hotel that opened on February 25 hosting a large social event and celebration. Eventually, tourists arrived at a dock built on the bay. In May 1886 he completed a two-hole golf course. By 1905, he had completed a nine-hole course. Owen Burns - Owen Burns had come to Sarasota for its famed
fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...
and remained for the rest of his life. He became the largest landowner in the city, founded a bank, promoted the development of other businesses, and built its bridges, landmark buildings, and mansions. He dredged the harbor and created new bay front points with reclaimed soils. He created novel developments such as Burns Court (located in what now is referred to as Burns Square) to attract tourists and he built commercial establishments to generate additional impetus to the growing community. He also went into a business partnership with
John Ringling John Nicholas Ringling (May 31, 1866 – December 2, 1936) was an American entrepreneur who is the best known of the seven Ringling brothers, five of whom merged the Barnum & Bailey Circus with their own Ringling Bros World's Greatest Shows ...
to develop the barrier islands, a fateful decision that bankrupted him when his partner failed to live up to commitments on development agreements. In 1925, Burns built the El Vernona Hotel, naming it after his wife, Vernona Hill Freeman Burns. Shortly after the opening of the hotel, the land boom crash in Florida struck a fatal blow to his finances because of the unfulfilled partnership agreement. Ironically, it was the same former partner, John Ringling, who took advantage of the situation and purchased the hotel for a portion of its value, although several years later, with the crash of the stock market, Ringling met the same financial fate. Beside the landmarks, bridges, and developments he built, Burns contributed to the attraction of many around the country to Sarasota. Among his five children, he also raised the most important historian for the community, his daughter, Lillian G. Burns. Bertha Palmer-
Bertha Palmer Bertha Matilde Palmer (; May 22, 1849 – May 5, 1918) was an American businesswoman, socialite, and philanthropist. Early life Born as Bertha Matilde Honoré in Louisville, Kentucky, her father was businessman Henry Hamilton Honoré. Known wit ...
(Bertha Honoré Palmer) was the region's largest landholder, rancher, and developer around the start of the twentieth century, where she purchased more than of property. She was attracted to Sarasota by an advertisement placed in a Chicago newspaper by A. B. Edwards. They maintained a business relationship for the rest of her life. The Palmer National Bank, established on Main Street at Five Points, remained a strong bank led by her sons through the depression and merged with Southeast Bank in 1976. Bertha Palmer also owned a large tract of land that now is Myakka State Park. During this period this land was operated as a ranch. She developed and promoted many innovative practices that enabled the raising of cattle to become a large-scale reality in Florida. At her "Meadowsweet Farms", Palmer also pioneered large-scale farming and dairy in the area, making significant contributions to practices that enabled the development of crops that could be shipped to markets in other parts of the country. The contemporary "Celery Fields" now developed into an internationally recognized birding destination, is located on an area she developed to raise celery for shipment to those markets she envisioned. Her experimentation was coordinated with the state department of agriculture. As war in Europe threatened, Bertha Palmer touted the beauty of Sarasota and its advantages to replace the typical foreign destinations of her social peers. Palmer made her winter residence on the land that the Webb family had homesteaded. She built a resort intended to appeal to these new visitors to the area. She quickly established Sarasota as a fashionable location for winter retreats of the wealthy and as a vacation destination for tourists, which endured beyond the war years and blossomed for the new wealth that developed more broadly in the United States during the 1920s and, after the Second World War as well. In her early publicity, Palmer compared the beauty of Sarasota Bay to the Bay of Naples, and also touted its sports fishing. As the century advanced, the bounty of the bay continued to attract visitors, until
overfishing Overfishing is the removal of a species of fish (i.e. fishing) from a body of water at a rate greater than that the species can replenish its population naturally (i.e. the overexploitation of the fishery's existing fish stock), resulting in th ...
depleted its marine life. Palmer retained most of the original Webb Family structures and greatly expanded the settlement. The pioneer site has been listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
as Historic Spanish Point and is open to the public for a fee. Her tourist accommodations at The Oaks have not been preserved, however. Also arriving in 1910, Owen Burns closely followed Bertha Palmer to Sarasota and, with two purchases, he quickly became the largest landholder within what now is the city, therefore many of the huge Sarasota properties she owned are in what now is Sarasota County (which did not exist during her lifetime). Many of its roads bear the names she put on the trails she established. She did participate, however, in speculation in the city along with others, purchasing undeveloped land in great quantities, and many parcels bear her name or that of her sons among those in abstracts. Her sons continued her enterprises and remained as investors and donors in Sarasota after the death of Bertha Palmer in 1918. Aside from drawing worldwide attention to the city as a vacation destination and a chic location for winter residences, as well as being renowned for the ranching and agricultural reforms she introduced, two state parks are located on properties she held, portions of the
Oscar Scherer State Park Oscar Scherer State Park is a Florida State Park located between Sarasota and Venice, near Osprey. The address is 1843 South Tamiami Trail. There are more than 250,000 visitors a year. History The park's genesis was in 1955, when Elsa Scherer Bu ...
and the enormous
Myakka River State Park Myakka River State Park is a Florida State Park, that is located east of Interstate 75 in Sarasota County and a portion of southeastern Manatee County on the Atlantic coastal plain. This state park consists of , making it one of the state's ...
, that may be counted as her greatest tangible legacy to Sarasotans.


Sarasota in the American Civil War

In 1860, Sarasota was still a part of Manatee county. While the county results of the vote to secede have been lost, or otherwise yet undiscovered, some scholars have deduced that the residents of Manatee were not overly enthusiastic about disunion. There were only 20 slave owners in Manatee county in 1860. All the same, the county did begin raising a militia unit in that same year, in anticipation of secession. Over a hundred men from the county would end up serving, with some recruited to the 7th Florida Infantry Regiment, which fought as part of the
Army of Tennessee The Army of Tennessee was the principal Confederate army operating between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River during the American Civil War. It was formed in late 1862 and fought until the end of the war in 1865, participating i ...
. News of battles farther north filtered southward and fed anxiety for the safety of loved ones, and a
Union blockade The Union blockade in the American Civil War was a naval strategy by the United States to prevent the Confederacy from trading. The blockade was proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln in April 1861, and required the monitoring of of Atlantic ...
caused shortages of basic supplies and potential hostilities from occasional navel raiding parties. Plentiful fish and game prevented starvation, but other necessities were hard to obtain if they could not be homemade. Boats were subject to destruction to prevent them from being used as blockade runners in the shallow waters of the “inside route,” which included
Sarasota Bay Sarasota Bay is a lagoon located off the central west coast of Florida in the United States. Though no significant single stream of freshwater enters the bay, with a drainage basin limited to 150 square miles in Manatee and Sarasota Counties, it ...
. Homes were burned. Occasionally, Union crews came ashore for water and food. Whitaker kept most of his cattle in the eastern part of the county, out of reach. Ripe citrus, chickens and garden crops, however, were more vulnerable. If someone spotted a raiding party soon enough, any cows and chickens would be chased into the woods. During one encounter in 1863, when William was away, a landing party threatened to burn the family home. During the Union occupation in Florida, a woman called Mary is reputed to have handed the Union soldier a block of matches saying, “Sir, I want to look into the eyes of a man who can stoop so low as to burn the home of a helpless woman and her family.” The house was not burned. Others in the Manatee region were not so fortunate. During the blockade, salt was in short supply and Florida residents resorted to making it from salt water. Union raiders destroyed many salt works along the coast, but the Whitaker's operation survived. According to A.K. Whitaker, natural evaporation of bay water in the low flats of nearby Hog Creek left a concentration of salt in the sand. The salt was dissolved in fresh water, the sand removed, and the water boiled off to leave a residue of salt that was scraped from the kettle. After the war, two citizens of Sarasota, William Whitaker and Captain Frederick Tresca, helped
Judah P. Benjamin Judah Philip Benjamin, QC (August 6, 1811 – May 6, 1884) was a United States senator from Louisiana, a Cabinet officer of the Confederate States and, after his escape to the United Kingdom at the end of the American Civil War, an English ba ...
for his escape to Sarasota Bay. Benjamin was Secretary of State for the Confederacy, and with the war coming to an end, he and others of
Jefferson Davis Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives as a ...
' cabinet sought safe passage to neutral territory. After more than three weeks of dodging Union patrols and others of unknown sympathies, outwitting a Union boarding party, and surviving rough weather, the small crew arrived in
Nassau Nassau may refer to: Places Bahamas *Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence Canada *Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792 *Nassau Street (Winnipeg), ...
, from which Benjamin sailed to
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.


20th and 21st centuries


1900s

Sarasota was incorporated as a town on the night of October 14, 1902 having a population of 53 residents with
John Hamilton Gillespie Colonel John Hamilton Gillespie (14 October 1852 – 7 September 1923) was a Scottish-American soldier, land developer, businessman and politician, who settled in Sarasota, Florida, becoming Sarasota's first mayor. Biography Gillespie was born ...
being sworn in as mayor and a municipal charter being created. It was later re-platted in 1912 and then incorporated as a city in 1913, with A. B. Edwards being the first mayor for her new city government. Other communities in the area were incorporated or began to grow into towns that were quite distinct from the bay front community whose plat ended at what is now Tenth Street. They were later absorbed as Sarasota grew, but some have retained their names and are recognized today as neighborhoods. Some communities, such as Overtown, Bay Haven, Indian Beach, Shell Beach, Bee Ridge, and Fruitville have all but faded from the memory of most living there now. Overtown expanded to include what now is designated as the historic Rosemary District and the boundaries of Newtown now merge with that. The Ringling College of Art and Design includes for its administration building, a hotel developed for the community of Bay Haven when Old Bradenton Road was the main thoroughfare north to the Manatee River.
Tamiami Trail The Tamiami Trail () is the southernmost of U.S. Highway 41 (US 41) from State Road 60 (SR 60) in Tampa to US 1 in Miami. A portion of the road also has the hidden designation of State Road 90 (SR 90). The north ...
was developed in the mid-1920s and a bridge built across Bowlees Creek eliminated it as a natural barrier limiting development. Shell Beach, where the Sapphire Shores and The Uplands developments are today on the highest land along the bay, became the location where grand estates were built. Another major factor that helped this area grow was the railroad. In 1902, a railroad bridge was built across the
Manatee River The Manatee River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 18, 2011 river in Manatee County, Florida. The river forms in the northeastern corner of Manatee County an ...
that is about 11 miles north of Sarasota. The bridge was built by the West Indies Railroad. Ten years after this in 1912, the first bridge leading south across the river to
Bradenton Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698. History Late 18th and early 19th centuries A settlement established by Maroons or escaped sl ...
was built.


1910s


Introduction of the Ringling family

Mary Louise and Charles N. Thompson platted Shell Beach in 1895 on land that had been homesteaded by the Edwards family. The Thompsons built their residence on the property near what now is Bay Shore Road. Their property extended from what now is Sun Circle almost to Bowlees Creek. From 1911 onward, Mable and John Ringling spent their winter stays in that house and eventually, they purchased it and a large parcel of Thompson property for their permanent winter quarters in Sarasota. Along with being a land developer, Thompson was a manager with another
circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...
. He attracted several members of the Ringling family to Sarasota as a winter retreat as well as for investments in land. Although wealthy, the Ringling brothers did not have their immense circus wealth at the time they initially came to Sarasota, as the
Ringling Brothers Circus Ringling Bros. World's Greatest Shows is a circus founded in Baraboo, Wisconsin, United States in 1884 by five of the seven Ringling brothers: Albert, August, Otto, Alfred T., Charles, John, and Henry. The Ringling brothers were sons of a Germa ...
had not yet been consolidated as a single entity, however that changed quickly once it was consolidated. The Alf T. Ringling family was the first of the extended family to settle in the area and they settled in the Whitfield Estates area with extensive land holdings. The families of Charles and John Ringling followed, living farther to the south. Soon, children and members of the extended family increased the presence of the Ringling family in Sarasota. Following the death of Alf T. in 1919, Charles Ringling assumed many of his duties.
Charles Ringling Charles Edward Ringling (December 2, 1863 – December 3, 1926) was one of the Ringling brothers, who owned the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He was in charge of production and greatly admired by the employees, who called him ...
invested in land, developed property, and founded a bank. He participated actively in Sarasota's civic life and gave advice to other entrepreneurs starting new businesses in Sarasota. From his bank, he loaned money to fledgling businesses. He encouraged the establishment of a county government separated from Manatee and donated land to the newly formed county—upon which he also built its government offices and courthouse as a gift to the community. Ringling Boulevard was named for Charles Ringling. Ringling Boulevard is a winding road leading east from the bay front at what now is
Tamiami Trail The Tamiami Trail () is the southernmost of U.S. Highway 41 (US 41) from State Road 60 (SR 60) in Tampa to US 1 in Miami. A portion of the road also has the hidden designation of State Road 90 (SR 90). The north ...
toward the winter circus headquarters. It crosses Washington Boulevard where Charles Ringling built the
Sarasota Terrace Hotel Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sout ...
, a high-rise in the Chicago style of architecture, opposite the site that Ringling later donated for the county seat. The hotel was readily accessible by train at the time. Charles Ringling and his wife, Edith, began building their bay front winter retreat in the early 1920s. Charles Ringling died in 1926, just after it was completed. For decades Edith Ringling remained there and continued her role in the administration of the circus, assuming many duties of her husband, and her cultural activities in the community. Her daughter, Hester, and her sons were active in Sarasota's theatrical and musical venues. What came to be known internationally as the Edith Ringling Estate is now the center of the campus of
New College of Florida New College of Florida is a public liberal arts college in Sarasota, Florida. It was founded in 1960 as a private institution known simply as New College, spent several years merged into the University of South Florida, and in 2001 became an aut ...
.


New developments

During the 1910s, many modern improvements such as: the city sewer and water system was expanded to cover the entire city by the early 1910s and the first paved road leading to
Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400  ...
was be built. In 1913, two sisters Katherine McClellan and Daisietta McClellan became real estate developers creating the McClellan Park subdivision. In their plat filed from that year, the design was unique in the way that it deviated from the typical grid system used for large developments. It provided a yacht basin, tennis courts, and other recreational sport facilities. City Island is an artificial island that was created during this period. Starting in 1914, an deep channel was dredged with the intent of creating a port at Payne Terminal, located at Centennial Park, and with warehouses on the island. The port venture was not successful, being used by only a few ships. Most of the docks later burned. On November 10, 1915, a group of local leaders formed a committee to work on and develop the local roads and bridges. They planned to "create thirty-four miles of well-paved roads" and bridges to help facilitate travel, especially between Sarasota and northern Manatee County (Sarasota being part of Manatee County at the time), as well as south to Venice, east to Miakka, and south east to Bee Ridge (all nearby communities). Construction continued until World War I, when cutbacks in labor and materials limited what could be accomplished. The work that was completed proved to be shoddily done. For example, the bridge to
Siesta Key A ''siesta'' (from Spanish, pronounced and meaning "nap") is a short nap taken in the early afternoon, often after the midday meal. Such a period of sleep is a common tradition in some countries, particularly those in warm-weather zones. The ...
began deteriorating almost as soon as it was built, with large pieces of cement falling off into the bay, and the road north to
Bradenton Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698. History Late 18th and early 19th centuries A settlement established by Maroons or escaped sl ...
was filled with potholes. Frustration with the building project and the Manatee County commissioners gave Sarasota citizens further incentive to form their own county. On April 14, 1913, the Woman's Club of Sarasota was founded with sixty-three charter members. The organization would promote civic works and "social improvements," such as helping to support local schools and libraries. The organization is still active as of 2022.


Post World War I expansion wave

Following the end of World War I, an economic boom began in Sarasota. The city was flooded with new people seeking jobs, investment, and the chic social milieu that had been created by earlier developers. During the 1920s, Sarasota built upon progress made in the prior decade. Electricity became reliable with the building of an FPL power station in June 1920. During the early 1920s a bond issue was approved to pay for improving the existing plant, extending power lines and constructing two new power stations. However, only one new power station was built. Thanks to increasing dissatisfaction with leadership of Manatee County, in 1921 several influential Sarasotans pushed for the creation of a new county and on May 12, 1921, Governor
Cary Hardee Cary Augustus Hardee (November 13, 1876 – November 21, 1957) was an American educator, lawyer, legislator, and banker who served as the 23rd Governor of Florida. Biography Early life and career Born in Taylor County, Florida, he spent mo ...
signed a bill creating Sarasota County, with Sarasota serving as the county seat. In September 1923, the citizens of Sarasota built a baseball diamond and grandstand on land sold to the city at a discounted rate by Calvin and Martha Payne. The facility would eventually be called
Payne Park Payne Park is a former baseball field from 1924 to 1990 in Sarasota, Florida. The stadium and field were built on a portion of of land donated by Calvin Payne and his wife, Martha in 1923. Payne Park today is a public park used for recreationa ...
. After several unsuccessful attempts to get a professional baseball team to use the facilities for spring training, in 1924, the city was able to secure the
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
to start traveling down to Sarasota. It has been reported that John Ringling helped convince the Giant's management in this decision. The Giants would use Payne Park for three years, ending in 1927. Sarasota saw extensive development during the
Florida Land Boom The Florida land boom of the 1920s was Florida's first real estate bubble. This pioneering era of Florida land speculation lasted from 1924 to 1926 and attracted investors from all over the nation. The land boom left behind entirely new, planned ...
. The population of the area around Sarasota grew from 3,000 in 1920 to over 15,000 by 1926. By the late 1920s, Sarasota was the largest city on the Gulf Coast south of
St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
and Sarasota County was one of the wealthiest counties in the United States. John Ringling was the most prominent real estate developers. Ringling wanted to reshape the city into a resort town to rival those along the East Coast of Florida and also planned out: casinos, bayside homes, yacht basins, resorts along the water and eventually even inland oil wells. A master plan for the city was developed by city planner
John Nolen John Nolen (June 14, 1869 – February 18, 1937) was an American landscape architect, planning consultant, founding member of the American City Planning Institute and a writer. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Nolen was orphaned as a child ...
but was never implemented.


Florida land boom crash, Great Depression, and World War II

The
Roaring Twenties The Roaring Twenties, sometimes stylized as Roaring '20s, refers to the 1920s decade in music and fashion, as it happened in Western society and Western culture. It was a period of economic prosperity with a distinctive cultural edge in the U ...
ended early for Sarasota. Florida was the first area in the United States to be affected by the financial problems that led to the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
. In 1926, development speculation began to collapse with bank failures on the eastern coast of Florida, much earlier than most parts of the country. The financial difficulties spread throughout Florida. John Ringling initially profited from the economic crash. Ringling put his partner, Owen Burns, into bankruptcy by defaulting on his obligations to him and using money from the treasury of their corporation for use on another Ringling project that was failing. Ringling then purchased the landmark El Vernona Hotel from Burns at a fraction of its worth. Soon however, John Ringling, too, lost most of his fortune. Shortly after the June 1929 death of his wife, Mable, his reversal began because stock investments were affected by the stock market crash. Just before the market crashed, Ringling had purchased several other circuses with hopes of combining them with the existing circus and he intended to sell shares on the stock exchange. The crash ended that plan. While Ringling continued to invest in expensive artwork, he left grand projects unfinished, such as a Ritz hotel on one of the barrier islands. He abandoned his plans for an art school as an adjunct to the museum. Ringling did lend his name to an art school established by others in Sarasota, however reluctantly. The board of the circus, which included Edith Ringling and other members of the family, removed John Ringling and placed another director in charge of the corporation. By the time of his death in 1936, John Ringling was close to bankruptcy. His estate was saved only because he had willed it, together with his art collection, to the state and he died shortly before he would have become bankrupt.


Financial crisis

During the Great Depression the city was in a financial crisis too as it was $6 million in debt because of unpaid bonds, taxes and property assessments. Sarasota, like many other cities during the Florida Land Boom would issue bonds to pay for new infrastructure which later led to debt in these cities. City limits which had been aggressively expanded during the land boom from under to in 1925 after a new charter for the city was signed by the Governor which ended up being reduced to in December 1926 as a way to save money.


Circus and federal relief helped the economy

Starting in 1927, the circus began to be headquartered in Sarasota between December and March of every year, which continued until the headquarters was moved to Venice in 1959. That helped to mitigate the effects of the Great Depression in Sarasota, as it provided tourists to the area and seasonal jobs. A variety of federal relief projects undertaken in the city would also help provide jobs. Despite the bad economic situation, the population of Sarasota increased by close to fifty per cent. Those who lived in Sarasota got through the Great Depression by growing their own food and doing bartering as there was close to no money in circulation. A committee on the unemployment situation created by the Chamber of Commerce in 1931 found that jobs that already were rare, were going to non residents. As a result, it distributed pledge cards in June to employers asking them to hire as many employees as possible for the last two weeks of June and the first week of July. Transient workers were another issue in the city as well as the state. Transient workers cut wood in exchange for a cup of coffee or for food and afterward, they were asked to leave the city with a police escort to city lines. Throughout the Great Depression the city relied on tourism as one of its primary economic drivers. Sarasota would start to recover starting in 1935 mirroring a pattern seen in other resort cities in Florida like St. Petersburg. During 1936 the city would see the most building permits given since 1927. With federal
WPA WPA may refer to: Computing *Wi-Fi Protected Access, a wireless encryption standard *Windows Product Activation, in Microsoft software licensing * Wireless Public Alerting (Alert Ready), emergency alerts over LTE in Canada * Windows Performance An ...
and
CCC CCC may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canada's Capital Cappies, the Critics and Awards Program in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada * ''Capcom Classics Collection'', a 2005 compilation of arcade games for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox * CCC, the pro ...
funding several notable projects were completed during this period, such as: the Municipal Auditorium,
Bayfront Park Bayfront Park is a public, urban park in Downtown Miami, Florida on Biscayne Bay. The Chairman to the trust is Ary Shaeban. Located in the park is a bronze statue of Christopher Columbus sculpted by Count Vittorio di Colbertaldo of Verona, one ...
, the Sarasota-Bradenton Airport terminal, and the Lido Casino. In 1942, with the U.S. having joined in
WWII World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the Sarasota-Bradenton airport was leased to the U.S. Army Air Corps. The 97th Bombardment Group was the first to be stationed at Sarasota but the B-17 Bombers were too heavy for the runway so the airfield switched over to a training ground for fighters.


1950s - 1990s


1950s and 1960s

Sarasota experienced a surge of growth during the 1950s as part of the post-World War II economic boom. New subdivisions were created in areas surrounding Sarasota, such as Kensington Park that contained 1,400 lots located to the northeast of Sarasota and Southgate to Sarasota's south that covered 1,240 acres. Downtown Sarasota would start to become less of the city' center in the 1950s as other developments started to emerge and the city became more decentralized. Less of the county's total population would start to be from within Sarasota's city limits and the city's population itself would also increase as also seen at the county level too between 1950 and 1970. Tamiami Trail was rerouted during this time period as well, in an attempt to make traffic flow more efficiently. This resulted in the creation of the Bayfront Drive area between what now is Bayfront Drive and Gulfstream Avenue that was created with fill gathered from dredging Sarasota Bay. Those who owned property on Gulfstream Avenue objected to the changes, but the project ultimately prevailed. In 1951, Cecil B. DeMille shot his film The Greatest Show on Earth in Sarasota. The filming brought in money for local businesses and citizens as well as helped bring more notability to the city. Bayfront areas in the city would witness changes to them during the 1960s. Hoover Arcade at the end of Main Street which housed the Sarasota City Hall would be demolished in 1967 as it was looking for a more modern city hall. Hoover Arcade was built in 1913 and was located alongside Sarasota Bay but had become landlocked after the rerouting of Tamiami Trail and its subsequent filling project.


= Civil Rights movement

= Like many other cities in the United States, Sarasota experienced social changes during the
Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...
of the 1950s and 1960s. The community was similar to many other places in the United States having racial segregation in it. Any African-American resident going outside of Overtown and Newtown had to receive a work permit or permission from their employer. The Sarasota NAACP chapter organized a wade-in protest on October 2, 1955, after several years of requests by Black residents for a beach they could use. After the protest occurred, a majority of local residents and the city and county commissions voiced a preference for creating a beach for African Americans. However, neither the city commission nor the county commission could identify a location for it on Longboat Key, Siesta Key along Big Pass, or an artificial beach on the Siesta Key side of Midnight Pass. Both Siesta Key locations were determined unsuitable as a beach site because of either the fast currents or a need for dredging. At the Longboat Key and Siesta Key sites significant opposition from local residents in those areas was expected. Longboat Key residents held meetings as a way to protest a Black beach location there and they decided to incorporate into a municipality as a way of avoiding the placement of the designated beach there. Protests occurred in Sarasota on a weekly basis until all of the beaches were desegregated. The city government was strongly against integration of the beaches, however. A city ordinance was passed on September 4, 1956, that allowed the
Sarasota Police Department The Sarasota Police Department is a full-service law enforcement agency for Sarasota, Florida. It provides police services to 59,000 residents. The Sarasota Police Department operates on a budget of $26,902,601 (2011–2012) with approximately ...
to remove all people at a public beach in city limits if there were two racial groups present at the same time. After failing to designate a Black beach, the city commission proposed creating a pool in Newtown instead. The pool opened in November 1957. During construction of the pool the protests paused, but resumed because African American residents wanted to be able to go to the beach. Also during 1957, the NAACP asked the Sarasota County school board to desegregate the public schools, but it did not do so. In 1961, the NAACP filed a lawsuit against the school board for failing to desegregate its schools. The same year, the federal government threatened to withhold its anti-beach erosion funding if the municipal government of Sarasota continued to segregate its beaches. During 1962, the county school board integrated its first school in the city, Bay Haven Elementary School located in Indian Beach Sapphire Shores, allowing Black students to enroll. It is unclear exactly when beaches in the city were desegregated as it was never formally enacted, but it is presumed to have happened when the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 () is a landmark civil rights and United States labor law, labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on Race (human categorization), race, Person of color, color, religion, sex, and nationa ...
was passed. With the passing of the Civil Rights Act, all schools were ordered to integrate by 1967. To accommodate for this, the Sarasota County school board closed the African American schools, Booker Junior High School in 1967 and Booker High School the following year. Black students were bused to existing all-white schools. In 1967, the city passed the aforementioned ordinance against interracial beaches. Protests occurred against it until enforcement of the ordinance ended, at point undocumented in official records. Booker Elementary and Amaryllis Park Primary School closed in 1969. The local NAACP sent a resolution to the county school board asking for busing of white students to the Booker schools, but the board rejected the plan. Many local Black residents supported integration, but felt a sense of pride in their own local schools. Much tension resulted from Black students going to predominantly white schools. A local meeting held at the Newtown Community Center on May 3, 1969, to take action against the school district's integration plan. By the end of the meeting attendees agreed to attend local "Freedom Schools" established outside of the school district in order to protest. It began the next day and lasted for another five days. On May 9, the school district decided to keep both Booker Elementary School and Amaryllis Park Primary School open and to take action against the students who missed class and their parents. Booker Elementary School became a magnet school in order to encourage white students to enroll voluntarily. Booker High School and Booker Junior High School made the same change in 1970.


21st century

On
September 11, 2001 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...
, President
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
was reading ''
The Pet Goat "The Pet Goat" (often erroneously called "My Pet Goat") is a grade-school level reading exercise composed by American educationalist Siegfried "Zig" Engelmann. It achieved notoriety for being read by US President George W. Bush with a class of ...
'' in Emma E. Booker Elementary School when he was informed of the attacks on the
World Trade Center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...
in
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
.
Mohamed Atta Mohamed Mohamed el-Amir Awad el-Sayed Atta ( ; ar, محمد محمد الأمير عوض السيد عطا ; September 1, 1968 – September 11, 2001) was an Egyptian hijacker and the ringleader of the September 11 attacks in 2001 in which fo ...
and co-conspirator
Marwan al-Shehhi Marwan Yousef Mohamed Rashid Lekrab al-Shehhi ( ar, مروان يوسف محمد رشيد لكراب الشحي, , also transliterated as Alshehhi; 9 May 1978 – 11 September 2001) was an Emirati al-Qaeda affiliated terrorist who served as ...
, who piloted the hijacked jets, undertook part of their pilot training during 2000 at the Sarasota-Bradenton Airport through the former Jones Aviation facility that was located in Manatee County. Sarasota became identified as an epicenter of the 2008 real estate crash. It followed financial credit problems that began with pedatory lending practices that resulted in mortgages failing during massive real estate speculation that began in the late 1990s and the situation escalating dramatically during the early 2000s. Once the values of the properties began to fall the mortgages purchased with consideration of "equity value" derived from the rapid speculative increases in property values, became problematic. The properties were no longer worth the value of the mortgages, some by great differences. This occurred nationwide and in other countries as well.


2010s

In 2010, an island in Sarasota was renamed temporarily to "Google Island" in an attempt to get
Google Fiber Google Fiber is part of the Access division of Alphabet Inc. It provides fiber-to-the-premises service in the United States, providing broadband Internet and IPTV to a small and slowly increasing number of locations. In mid-2016, Google Fiber ...
installed in the city. In January 2017, an estimated 10,000 protesters marched across the
John Ringling Causeway John Ringling Causeway (also known as Ringling Bridge or Gil Waters Bridge) is a bridge that extends past the Sarasota Bay, from Sarasota to St. Armands Key and Lido Key. The bridge, built in 2003, is a segmental box girder bridge named after J ...
in solidarity with woman's organizations around the world. The protest was one of the largest in Sarasota's history.


References

{{Florida year nav Sarasota, Florida
sarasota Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sout ...