Palmer Ranch is a
census-designated place and
planned community in
Sarasota County
Sarasota County is a county located in Southwest Florida. At the 2020 US census, the population was 434,006. Its county seat is Sarasota and its largest city is North Port. Sarasota County is part of the North Port–Sarasota–Bradenton, FL m ...
,
Florida between the cities of
Sarasota and
Osprey. Palmer Ranch encompasses approximately , bounded by
Clark Road to the north,
U.S. Route 41 to the west,
Interstate 75 to the east, and approximately where
State Road 681 and the
Legacy Trail meet to the south. The area was part of the original of Florida land purchased by
Bertha Palmer, wife of
Chicago businessman
Potter Palmer.
History
Bertha Palmer, known as Mrs. Potter Palmer, came to Sarasota in 1910, and resided on Little Sarasota Bay for her winter home. She improved
agricultural methods
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peop ...
to the land, added lavish gardens, and buildings which the land is now the
Historic Spanish Point garden and historic site. While the house The Oaks is gone, outbuildings and landscape remain, including remnants of designs by Achilles Duchene, after whom the Duchene Garden is named.
Other former Palmer family holdings now open to the public include the
Myakka River State Park and an expansion of
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 ...
. After her death, Bertha Palmer gave the land to her sons Potter Jr. and Honore, who continued developing the property as a ranch.
Hugh Culverhouse, founder of the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers, bought of the remaining land in 1972.
Palmer Ranch was established in December 1984 as a Development of Regional Impact (DRI) under Section 380.06 of the ''
Florida Statutes''.
References
External links
Bertha Palmer in Sarasota History*
ttp://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050227/NEWS/60215014/-1/SPECIAL06 Timeline of Myakka River from Sarasota Herald-Tribune
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Sarasota, Florida
Planned communities in Florida
Census-designated places in Sarasota County, Florida