This Week Newsletter - December 31, 2008
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This Week
Have you noticed that it really doesn't seem like 'winter' outside? In fact a lot of people I know have headed out to the beach recently; and they are not tourists! Well, it's time to revist our Lido Beach history video and enjoy that special place that many of us remember as a place for swimming, dining, dancing, radio broadcasts, live music, gymnastics, fashion shows, the huge 'high dive', and much, much more. Step back in time for a few minutes and see where all the fun took place everyday of the year, rain or shine. After watching this video, you can email it to a friend by simply clicking on the "Email" link above the video player. Tales of Sarasota
Have you ever been to a 'Comfort Station' that had free orange juice and 200 huge clam shells to welcome you? I doubt you'd see that along I-75 very often these days. Pete tells us about Sarasota's Point Welcome that many of us remember. Check out his blog to learn more about it. Good times... Click here to get to his blog. The Warner Guptill HomeThe Warner Guptil Home located at 558 S. Osprey Avenue was built circa 1916 and as such is an "early" Sarasota structure. The structure is notable for its fine Craftsman Style construction, and its association with the early Sarasota pioneer family of Captain Frank Guptill. The integrity of the site contributes to our understanding of early Sarasota subdivisions.
In 1910 he sold lots ten and twelve. In 1912 Alderman sold off the remainder of his property on Osprey Avenue and it was reported in the Sarasota Times of July 4, 1912 that: "Mr. Louis Alderman has purchased the Bill Edwards' place on the Miakka, where he will move his family this week. He will improve the grove, and engage in stock and poultry raising". On the 26th of February, Mr. & Mrs. William Steer-Saxby purchased lots ten and twelve from Alderman. The Steer-Saxby's were from Cincinnati, Ohio and they planned on building on the property soon. By 1911, William Steer-Saxby was cultivating rare fruits and vegetables and the property was known as the "Saxby Holme". The word holm (e) means a low flat tract of rich land on the banks of a river. This title was appropriate for the land with the creek which ran the full length of the property along the western side and Hudson Bayou at the south end of the property. The creek today runs through a covered culvert from Oak Street north, but is still an open creek as it flows south of Oak Street into Hudson Bayou. William Steer-Saxby was apparently from a well established family in Ohio. Speaking of his younger brother the Sarasota Times reported on the 23rd of May 1912 that: "Mr. Howard Saxby, is being prominently spoken of for Governor of Ohio. One of his state papers in favor of his nomination says: "Why shouldn't a man of letters be recognized politically?" "Howard Saxby is known and he is recognized as Ohio's greatest writer and one of the state's best citizens. As a lecturer he is known where Bryan as a lecturer, is not". On the 20th of May, 1913 the Steer-Saxbys sold their land to Philip C. Bacon, and it is not known at this point where the Steer-Saxby family moved after the sale. P. C. Bacon was the father of Everett J. Bacon, both formerly from Ohio. E. J. Bacon, moved to Sarasota in May of 1910 and shortly afterwards bought a partnership in the "Land Broker Baxter Company" from J. W. Baxter. It was the "Land Broker Baxter Company" that handled the sale of the land. The property was divided, with a plat filed on May 26, 1913 for the "Osprey Avenue subdivision" and advertised in the May 29th 1913 Sarasota Times. The ad said "we offer for immediate sale, cut into city lots, the Saxby home place" and promoted the sub-division as being "Nearer - Cheaper - Better - Drier" and went on to say the lots were $100.00 to $200.00 less than other lots much further out. The ad also claimed that the subdivision was comprised of high and dry 50 x 120 feet lots with good streets and alleys and that every lot was cleared. Some lots were advertised as having fruit trees (some Mango trees still survive on the back of the property. Lots were considered to be in the growing part of the City and were available for "Easy payments". Read more...
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The Worcester Mansion on Bird KeyThe Worcesters had visited Sarasota from Cincinnati, Ohio, several winters before deciding to build a home on Bird Key. Davie Worcester designed much of the building and named it New Edzell after his wife's ancestral home in Scotland. She died in 1912, and her husband completed the construction. The Sarasota Times gave front-page coverage to the opening social event in February 1914. "Combining the useful with the beautiful, as was the order of her life, stands a monument made with hands, set in one of nature's fairest temples, to the memory of a gifted and good woman." Thus did the writer introduce the home as a labor of love. Davie's paintings, one of which portrayed the ruins of the original Edzell Castle, hung on the walls.
(photo credit: Sarasota County History Center) Yesterday's Sarasota Calendar
For example, this coming Monday in 1970, The Van Wezel first opened with the Broadway show, "Fiddler on the Roof". The building was called by its critics, among other things, the "purple cow" and the "purple people seater". History Locator
This week we are honoring the Venice Train Depot marker located at 303 East Venice Avenue in Venice, Florida. The first successful railroad into what is now Sarasota County came when a the United States and West Indies Railroad and Steamship Company, a subsidiary of the Seaboard Air Line Railway (SAL), brought its first train into Sarasota in 1903. Two years later the tracks were extended to Fruitville. The railroad came to Venice at the request of Mrs. Potter (Bertha) Palmer. She and family members had visited the Sarasota Bay area in 1910 and soon purchased thousands of acres, some of which lay south of Roberts Bay. The SAL extended the line from Fruitville through Bee Ridge, where the Palmers' Sarasota-Venice Company was developing land, to the Palmers' Venice properties. The early depot was located at the junction of (now) Tampa and Nokomis Avenues. In 1918 the Manasota Lumber Compay constructed a four story sawmill and surrounding town of Woodmere south of Venice. The Gulf Coast Railway built a 7.9-mile rail line from Woodmere to Venice, so lumber could be transported to a Tampa shipyard. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE) began work on the new City of Venice in 1925. City Planner John Nolen had the SAL tracks moved eastward to the industrial section. Read reverse side...
On the Streets Where You LiveThis week's "Then" and "Now" shot takes us back to the days when we had our first 'fire proof' buildings. In the early days the stores and buildings on Main Street were mostly made of wood, and hence a constant fire hazard.
Click here to see what stands there today. (photo credit: Sarasota County History Center)
'Scan' We See Your Photos?This is a request from your Editor. We conduct most all of our research at the Sarasota County History Center; looking for photos to accompany the articles and stories we bring to you in our weekly newsletter and website. We find that early pictures, showing people in Sarasota a long time ago, make our stories much more relevant and interesting. A plain photo of a building or place doesn't have the same impact that one does with people next to the structure. When you look through your photo albums, or boxes of pictures, and find historically interesting shots of Sarasota, please consider giving me a call @ 951-7727. I will be happy to meet you and use our portable equipment to scan your photos. The photos are never out of your possesion, and are only used with your permission. Full credit is given to you in the newsletter article or on the website. Your photos will never be sold, or used in any inappropriate way. We do not accept any copyrighted material, unless you personally own the copyright and give us permission to reproduce the photo in conjunction with an artice, or within a history video. Thank you in advance for helping us bring you the most satisfying quality representation of Sarasota's unique and colorful history, whether it be in a weekly e-Newsletter, a website or a short video.
Larry Kelleher, Managing Editor
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New Edzell introduced a degree of comfort and convenience little experienced in Sarasota at the time. Steam heat warmed winter temperatures, and hot and cold water was available throughout the house. With an electrical generating system, there was both electric and gas lighting. At a time when the city of Sarasota had very limited electrical service, a writer for the newspaper was impressed with the sight across the bay. "The spacious grounds and high dwelling flamed with electric lights (and gave the arriving visitor) the sensation of approaching enchantment."
Every day of the year we highlight what took place in Sarasota's history, thanks to Whit Rylee and Tom Payne's extensive research and sense of humor. Frequently check our website's 
You know how it is when you are driving 40 mph and spot one of those green historical markers - you can't read them, and there is no parking to boot! Now, Sarasota History Alive! is going to spotlight them for you in our weekly e-Newsletters so you will finally know what they say.
Townspeople got smart and a multi-purpose structure, including a hotel, was built and housed many much-needed ammenities. Well, don't you know fire consumed this beauty, too! It was on a popular corner that still buzzes with activity today.
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