Historic Designation

Sarasota Herald Building

The one-story, rectangular-plan Mediterranean Revival (with Mission Style overtones) building, located at 539 South Orange Avenue was built as a newspaper office and plant of the Sarasota Herald and began publication with a 72-page first edition on October 4, 1925. The new Sarasota Herald building was constructed of steel, concrete, and hollow tile with a rough-cast stucco exterior. The western or entrance with a frontage on South Orange Avenue was consciously designed in the “Spanish Mission style” to fit in with the prevailing style of architecture which has been found so suitable for this section of Florida. The building, while erected for the most efficient production of a modern newspaper, did not lose sight of the fact that beauty is a thing that does not need to be discarded, even in the industrial world.

The private office of the manager of the Sarasota Herald, George D. Lindsay, was located at the southwestern corner of the building. The layout exemplified the logic of paper production beginning with the executive offices at the western end of the building, with subscription, the classified department, the large newsroom with Associated Press wire service telegraph operators, the composing room and the press room arranged in sequence of production. The mail room was located at the eastern-most section of the plant. The first issue of the paper appeared Sunday, October 4, 1925 and in fact was a 72-page edition. The paper existed as the Sarasota Herald until it was consolidated with the Herald Tribune in 1938, at which time it became the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

The Sarasota Herald became an increasingly important publication after the Sarasota Times went into receivership on December 9, 1929. The Sarasota Herald continues to be published as the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, an arm of the New York Times publication network; however the new location is currently at 1741 Main Street. Prior to that, the newspaper was located for many years at the corner of U.S. 41 and Wood Street.

George D. Lindsay

The Sarasota Herald was founded by George D. Lindsay of Marion, Indiana in 1925. Lindsay was a Presbyterian minister, attorney and newspaper publisher prior to “retiring” in Florida. George’s son, David B., was an Air Force lieutenant who first visited Sarasota in 1918 when ordered by the commanding officer in Arcadia to set up an auxiliary landing strip in Sarasota. After the war, young David, not content to work on his father’s newspapers, organized an aerial circus with other World War I flyers. Lindsay and his daredevils barnstormed for two seasons at Midwestern fairs and shows. In 1921, with the circus profits, David purchased and operated the Fayetteville Observer in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Two years later he purchased equity in the St. Petersburg Times and with a partner, purchased the Clearwater Sun.

In 1925, David purchased the property on Orange Avenue from A.B. Edwards. His father, George moved to Sarasota and built the Sarasota Herald building and served as editor of the new paper. The first editorial of October 4, 1925, pledged the newspaper’s number one policy of service to the community in bringing the morning news of the day to, “contribute in every way possible to the civic, social and commercial development in the territory in which it circulates.” The philosophy of the paper was considered by old-time Sarasotans to be very conservative, but it was concerned with keeping phosphate mining out of Sarasota; that industry does not operate in Sarasota County to this day.

When the Florida Land Boom collapsed in 1926, the Lindsays remained in Sarasota and continued publishing in spite of the significant drop in population. Things picked up with the return of the tourist trade and in 1932 the Tribune was launched. The Lindsays purchased that paper in 1938 and the Sarasota Herald became the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. The paper’s other competition, the Sarasota Times, went out of business in 1928. In 1952, the Journal was started by the Lindsays, an afternoon paper designed to be “bright, provocative, and often at variance with the editorial policies expressed in the morning Sarasota Herald-Tribune. With increased production, more space was needed and plans were made to construct a modern newspaper building. On March 23, 1957, the entire operation moved to its location on U.S. 41 and Wood Street, without a break in publication.

George D. Lindsay died in 1946, leaving David, Sr. the title of Editor and Publisher. His son, David, Jr. became an editor and general manager. David, Jr. had served in the Pacific Theatre I World War II and worked on a northern newspaper. David, Sr. retired in 1955 to run the Sarasota Jungle Gardens, a major tourist attraction, which was also his home office site. Jungle Gardens are still in operation today. David, Jr. assumed full responsibility as Editor and Publisher and his son, “young Davey” worked as a copy boy.

It is almost impossible to measure the contributions the Lindsay newspaper dynasty has made to the shape of development in Sarasota. The paper was sold to the New York Times, and remains the single-most important publication in the City and County of Sarasota.

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