This Week Newsletter - July 8, 2009
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This Week
Even when mired in the Great Depression, he pulled himself up and started over with a business that he had always wanted to try. You can't hold a good man down! Click here to watch the video.
Tales of Sarasota
Does anyone out there remember going to the same service station on a regular basis? For those of you too young to recall what that notion entails, there are a few family owned stations here that still exist. It's a place where you not only purchase gasoline, but you get personalized "service" where an attendant checks your oil level, radiator, tire pressure and even cleans your windshield for good measure. Tipping was unheard of, and the price of the gas was the same with this added benefit. Anyhow, Diane is going to tell you about her favorite spot, back in the day when it existed at the corner of South Pineapple Avenue and Strawberry Avenue (now called Ringling Boulevard). Fill 'er Up! Click here to read Diane's blog.
Granada's Bonita Park Fountain
Granada's Bonita Park Fountain is located within a small circular park at the intersection of Camino Real and Fortuna Street, in the Granada Subdivision close to the southern boundaries of the City of Sarasota. The small park is landscaped with flowers and foliage which makes for a very peaceful setting for the fountain. Original sidewalks from the street approach the fountain from two sides. Although the park was maintained for many years by the City of Sarasota, it is now cared for by Sarasota County Parks and Recreation, since the consolidation of services in 1991. This unique fountain is the centerpiece and focal point of not only the park, but for the entire neighborhood. The main construction material is brick although portions of the structure have a rough stucco exterior finish. A masonry cap tops the fountain with a decorative finial in the center of the cap. Identical lion masks adorn two of the four sides. The mouths of these masks house the tubing for streaming water circulated by the fountain pump, when operational. Below each mask are elaborately decorated semi-circle masonry bowls attached to the wall that serve to catch the flowing water and allow for re-circulation. Historical Information Granada Subdivision was platted in 1924 within Sarasota County. Single family dwellings with various styles of architecture including, Spanish and wood frame bungalows suited the subdivision's name, as well as the street names of the neighborhood; Flores, Fortuna, Jacinto, Bonita and Camino Real. The entire plan was all part of the romantic Spanish Revival theme that was popular throughout Florida and California during the boom era of the 1920s. The subdivision was founded and developed by Charles "Charley" Tyson. Tyson came to Sarasota from Tennessee in 1924 and bought acreage amid the cabbage scrub palmetto along Siesta Boulevard, between Osprey Avenue and the Siesta Key bridge, and called it "Granada." Many people doubted the future of the project knowing Tyson had paid a substantial amount of money for property. Ignoring skeptics, "...he kept on sawing wood and developing, until Granada was a bee hive of energy, a picture of artistic merit, with a score or so of beautiful homes and broad boulevards in the making." Read more... The Main Street Reporter
July 6, 1947 (SHT) One chilly day... back in 1907 a young woman traveling south from Saranac Lake, N.Y., asked the station agent at Jacksonville how far the train went. "To Sarasota," answered the man. ‘Is it warm down there?" she asked wistfully. "And do the trains come back?" Assured that yes, the climate was fine and the trains ran both ways, she said she would take two tickets.So Miss D.G. McClellan, accompanied by her mother, entered the little fishing village of Sarasota. Yesterday MSR (Main Street Reporter) visited Miss McClellan at her home in Siesta Key and heard her reminisce of those days. "It surely was the end of the railroad and jumping off place. There was one old ramshackle hotel, one boarding house, and old dock, and a wonderful bay. Accommodations were fierce. We started out to find a place to stay. Just a room, no board, is what we wanted. We were the first persons here ever to rent a furnished room. Inside of a week I felt like myself once more" -Kerosene Lamps On Main- "There was a sidewalk from the city dock to Five Points and up to the Seaboard R.R. station.The village improved slowly. Kerosene lamps brightened Main Street. I sometimes wonder at the great white way here now where folks have to drive several blocks to find a parking space. Reminds me of the Sunday afternoon when a friend of mine and I stood at what is now Five Points and cheered the first automobile that ever came to town. "There were two grocery stores and a butcher shop. The townspeople still ate native beef exclusively. We asked our butcher to try Western beef and he finally consented to order one quarter of the Western beef but he was positive it would be a dead loss! Instead, soon after my father went to market and returned laughing. ‘I have stood in line many times to buy theatre tickets but this is the first time I've ever stood in line to buy beef.' We learned every ounce was sold in two hours and after that we had Western beef twice a week." Read more...
(photo credit: Sarasota County History Center)
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Site at Main and Palm had a Varied Past
After Grantham took over the property, he added a second floor and built nine bedrooms, a living room, dining room, kitchen and veranda. He called it The! Inn, and it operated as a hotel and boarding house, accommodating fishermen and the traveling public. The Land Boom of the mid-1920s brought the need for first class hotels. The Sarasota Hotel, at Main and Palm, was built by W.H. Pipkorn of Milwaukee. It was reported that he was the first man to pay $1,000 a front-foot for land in the business section. After paying an estimated $50,000 for the land, he started construction in 1924. By the time of its completion in early 1925, the seven-story hotel was Sarasota's first skyscraper. According to the 1927-28 Apartment and Hotel Guide, the Sarasota Hotel was "ideally located in the heart of the business district, overlooking Sarasota Bay, one block from band concerts, fishing pier, Caples Park for tennis, children's playgrounds, horseshoes, shuffle board and lawn bowling. Centrally located to all golf courses and bathing beaches. Rates from $2.50 to $6.00 a day with baths. The hotel is modern, fireproof structure with spacious lounge, lobby and dining room. Situated in the center of the business district, the hotel has been popular with both transient and tourist patrons and as a center of much of the social life of the city." Read more... (photo credit: Sarasota County History Center)
Ain't Life Grand?
A Young Sarasota Couple, as pictured here, are about to embark on their life together in beautiful Sarasota. What better a place for their energy, creativity, and enthusiasm to be recognized and cherished. We wish them well and hope their 'engagement' results in a happy life together. P.S. Hey, if you two are still around, we'd love to hear from you. (photo credit: Sarasota County History Center)
Yesterday's Sarasota CalendarEvery 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 homepage to find out what occured today. Also, be sure and check out Whit's website at: www.ChickenHillNC.com.
Dr. Wilson becme the first native-born physician to establish a long term practice in the area. He worked here from 1907 until 1941. Among his other accomplishments, he was President of the First Bank and Trust Company. He also owned the first automobile in Sarasota (pictured here). (photo credit: Sarasota County History Center)
History Locator
To our delight, a viewer emailed our editor with an interesting anecdote about that same airfield. It came from Thomas Casey and is reprinted with his permission: "Really nice to see the editorial on the old LOWE FIELD. In August of 1957, I was on my first cross country solo flight from St. Pete. to Ft. Myers and back to St Pete with an unscheduled stop at Venice for some touch and goes. We had no radios back then to call anyone. I was at 3,000 feet over east Sarasota County when my engine began to fall apart. I was too far from the Sarasota Airport and stared looking for pasture. I found one, as it turned out was Lowe's Field; had no idea it was even an airport. I almost killed two cows and expected to crash into a row of pine trees. Much too my surprise when the plane stopped, I was short of the tress and close to a small funny building, a pagoda-type surrounded by little people.
He took me to the pagoda, where there was a phone. I called call my flight school in St Pete. He also gave me a coke bottle of what I thought was water...it was white lightning and it almost killed me. It was then I first noticed the long tracks loaded with railroad cars, and realized I was in Ringling's Winter Quarters, and the little people were all circus people. My instructor flew down later and picked me up and took me home. Thee days later I was back flying my little tail dragger back into the blue.
What was/is My Name?
Finally! We now have a winner for last week's contest. The winner is Ben Turoff, who was quick to submit the first correct answer. Congratulations, Mr. Turoff. Click here to review the photo, question and the correct answer of last week's challenge.
I've been an institution since the early 1950s, and many Sarasotan's graced my interior as a place to remember for the rest of their lives. Today, though I have a different mission, I remain a place for Sarasotan's to remember, after they leave, for the rest of their lives. What was my building's original name, and what is my name now? Please submit the form that allows you to guess the answer. Click here to fill it out, and next week we will announce the winner, and give the solution to the question. Answer early, since the first person with the correct answer, claims the prize. Contestants may win only once per month. If you would like to be a sponsor of our "Where Am I?" quiz, please call us at (941) 951-7727. It only cost $25 per week for us to set up your ad, and then you only have to provide a prize for the winner. What could be easier?
Florida History, LLC, www.floridahistoryllc.com is our sponsor this week. Be the first to answer the mystery question, and they will send you the following prizes:
You're Invited!
The Sarasota County Historical Commission invites you to attend the dedication of the St. Martha Mission Church Historical Marker, on July 17th at 9:00 a.m. The marker will be placed adjacent to St. Martha's Catholic Church, which is located at the southeast corner of Orange Avenue and Fruitville Road. Following the dedication, refreshments provided by St. Martha's Catholic Church, will be served at the Geenen Friendship Hall in the Parish Center. The Historical Commission wishes to thank Ted Cover for all his invaluable assistance in making the St. Martha Mission Church marker a reality. Members of the Commission are as follows: Norman "Kirk" Bagley, Sue Blue, Oliver Cole (Star Student), Betty Dailey-Nugent, Jack Dean, Betty Intagliata, Thomas Jones, Andrea Kaine, Aviva Feller LaGasse, Chris Sterner, Deborah Walk and Ruthmary Williams. Thank ALL of you for keeping our history and heritage alive! |
We would like to extend our thanks to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune for permitting Sarasota History Alive! to reprint excerpts of Helen Griffith's Main Street Reporter column from the 1940s and beyond. Please visit them online at, 
The corner of Main Street and Palm Avenue has been a hotel site of some sorts since the 1890s. Elijah Grantham bought the site, which was a former livery stable, fish-house and pool hall, from Hamlin Whitaker in the 1890s.
Your editor spends a great deal of time at the History Center finding interesting information for you to ponder. While there, he also comes across many photos that depict life at an earlier time in history. With that in mind, we are now going to show you some of those photos that all of us can relate to in one way or another. Enjoy!
This Saturday in 1878, Dr. Cullen Bryant Wilson was born in the eastern part of what is today Sarasota County. His father, Augustus Wilson, was the first postmaster of Miakka (now spelled Myakka). 
Last week we honored the Municipal Airport - Lowe's Field historical marker. 
This Week's Clues: 
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