This Week Newsletter - February 25, 2009
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This Week
When you are heading west on Bee Ridge Road and waiting for the light at U.S. 41, undoubtedly you have noticed the St. John's Cemetery to your right. This week Lee is going to tell you the story of Peter Crocker and the church of his dreams. Up until 1926, it used to stand where the Boston Market stood until recently. The Crocker Memorial Church has been moved several times and now has found a permanent home in Pioneer Park. Mr. Crocker was quite a resourceful man, and he and his wife, Sophie, settled on twenty acres where the Sunset Chevrolet dealership is now located. She had the first Singer sewing machine in Sarasota...lucky gal! Click here to watch the video.
Tales of Sarasota
Have you ever been to Cassadaga? Ever heard of it? At first I thought Pete was going to tell us about a new dish at a Mexican restaurant. Nope...he is gonna enlighten us about the South's oldest Spiritual Community, right here in Florida! His son, Ken, went for the experience and coughed up $20 for a medium's reading that sure impressed him. Click here to read more about this unique place, just east of Orlando.
The Katahdin Apartments (a.k.a. Spanish Oaks)
Gas is provided for cooking, heating and hot water. Gas and electricity are on individual meters. Garage may be secured for small additional charge. Rates for the season from November 1st to May 1st are $50 a month and for shorter periods, slightly higher. Especially low summer rates prevail. Logan and Currin, Agents". The apartment complex was constructed in 1925 as the Katahdin Court Apartments. It was built by the construction firm of Logan, Currin and Pickett. The complex was originally owned by Frank Logan, Russell Currin, Charlie Pickett, Alice Ross, and Clarence Hitchings. They were sold as individual units. The contracting firm of Logan and Currin was formed in 1924 by Frank A. Logan and Russell Currin. Apparently, Pickett was involved with them only for the building of Katahdin Court. The firm of Logan and Currin was responsible for many buildings in Sarasota including the Presbyterian Church (on Oak Street), the first unit of the Sarasota Hospital, Thacker and VanGilders Funeral Home (now Toale Brothers on Orange Avenue), the American Legion Colliseum (demolished), the Bailey High School WSPB Radio Station, as well as private residences, R.C. Caples' and Judge Paul Albritton to name only two. During World War II, Logan and Currin was responsible for many Army Air Corps building projects across the state, including buildings at the Sarasota base. Read more...
A Thought From...Henry James 1843-1916 "The historian, essentially, wants more documents than he can really use. The dramatist only wants more liberties than he can really take." Prefaces. The Aspern Papers
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Dredging Altered Sarasota's Landscape The dredge, in years past, was a major instrument of change. Not hampered by today's regulations, the dredge created islands, opened canals, and altered shorelines past recognition. When Mayor E.A. Smith led the city in acquiring the Civic Center, which was land between 6th and 10th Streets and west of US 41 that was available for back taxes during the Depression, fishermen's net spreads dotted the water just beyond the lawn bowling courts.
Twenty years later, before the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, the first Selby Library (now G. WIZ!), the Hyatt Hotel, 888 Condominium, and the recently demolished Quay could be built, dredges had to create the land on which they sit. When Owen Burns' construction company built the first Ringling Causeway for John Ringling, the causeway left the mainland from a newly created Golden Gate Point. Before Burns' dredge added sand, the original Cedar Point had been smaller, lower and wetter. It had served the fishermen and boat builders well, but was not appropriate for home construction. Ringling also added fill to connect his newly acquired Bird Key to the causeway. When John Ringling Estates, Inc. platted the development of Lido Key in 1926, it was for a new key created out of a collection of smaller islands that for some time had been called the Cerol Isles. Owen Burns' dredging company made the physical transformation. The new name, Lido (Italian for beach), connected the enterprise with the Mediterranean theme that permeated the architecture of the 1920s Boom Period. At the same time, Sarasota city leaders dreamed of a deep water port at Payne Terminal (present boat launching ramp area of Centennial Park). They sold the city's electric plant to Florida Power & Light Company for $1 million and hired United Dredging Company of Tampa to clear a channel through New Pass to the mainland. The result was a 10-foot deep channel and a new 58-acre "City Island" at the northeast end of Lido Key. Read more... (photo credit: Harriet Stieff Collection, Sarasota County History Center)
Yesterday's Sarasota Calendar
Also, be sure and check out Whit's website at: www.ChickenHillNC.com. Today, in 1887, the DeSoto Hotel opened. Colonel Gillespie held the biggest event that Sarasota had ever seen with a Grand Ball that lasted until daybreak. Seems some of the attendees didn't get quite right for two days. (hic) The hotel later became the Belle Haven Inn. (photo credit: Sarasota County History Center)
History Locator
This week we are honoring the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Depot marker at the east end of Main Street in downtown Sarasota. This photo shows the Atlantic Coast Line passenger depot built in 1925. The architect was ACL's Alpheus M. Griffin. The Mission-style white stucco building, with its red pantiled roof and large shell-shaped semi-elliptical planter, visually anchored the eastern end of Main Street. The building had separate waiting rooms for white and "colored" patrons (similar to many railroad passenger depots built in the South before the 1964 Civil Rights Act.)The Tampa Southern Railroad, an ACL subsidiary, entered Sarasota in May 1924. The first passenger train arrived in December 1924 at the freight and temporary passenger station north of Fruitville Road. Tracks were placed to serve the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Winter Quarters in 1927 and Payne Terminal on Sarasota Bay in 1928. A 41-mile Tampa Southern line, "The Fort Ogden Extension," was constructed in 1925-1926 from Sarasota south-easterly to a junction at Southfort on the Lakeland-Naples line of the Atlantic Coast Line. A pair of daily passenger trains operated between Tampa-Sarasota-Fort Myers-Naples. The cars on these trains consisted of a dining car, coaches, Chicago-Fort Myers Pullman sleeper off The Dixie Limited, and New York-Naples Pullman sleeper off The Palmetto. Read reverse side...
Where Am I?
Well, let's see how well you know your Sarasota History. I am attached to Sarasota's first skyscraper, which opened in 1925. I am a very popular spot today, though I don't look like I did in the past. I heard a rumor that my owners may restore me to my former good looks - that would be so grand. Click here to find my location if you haven't figured it out yet.
You're Invited!On Saturday, March 14th, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., the Historical Society of Sarasota County cordially invites you to the Grand Opening of the historic Bidwell-Wood House, and the Crocker Church. They are both located in Pioneer Park at 1260 12th Street just off of U.S. 41. The dedication to the two buildings will commence at 11:30 a.m. Please stop by with your familiy to welcome this long-awaited addition to our community. There will be music, food, trolley tours, artists, authors, craftsmen, face-painting, children's portraits, historic collections and demonstrations. RSVP to jane@jaskdesigns.com (366-1323), or Arnoldatstudio41@yahoo.com (924-5224) |
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 
Sarasota History Alive! is spotlighting our county's historical markers for you in our weekly e-Newsletters. No sense in trying to read them as you drive by at 40 miles per hour any longer.
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