Markers: Sarasota History

When Tony Jannus landed his airboat on Sarasota Bay near the Sarasota Yacht Club on North Gulfstream Avenue in April 1914, the local newspaper expressed hope that his arrival would spawn the beginning of a scheduled airline connection with Tampa.

The first recorded flight into Venice brought a crate of fresh strawberries for the Hotel Venice. Pioneer pilot Capt. George Haldeman landed his plane on Nassau Street to make his delivery on January 13, 1927.

The first church in Sarasota County was organized by John Hendry July 6, 1875. Charter members of the Friendship Baptist Church were E.R. and Emiline Foster, Rebecca Lowe, Mrs. L.F. Rawls, Martha Reaves, I.A. and Eleanor Redd, John Tatum, Serene Tatum, and J.F.M. Tippett.

The Green Street Church Museum began as Englewood's first church building. Community Methodists began holding Sunday School classes in Josie Quimby Miller's home around 1905. After the church officially organized in 1914, services were held in temporary locations and were led by visiting preachers.

As you gaze over the Gulf of Mexico, you can imagine seeing Spanish ships of the 1500s going north, and the canoes of the Timucan and Calusa Indians scurrying for cover. The explorer, Hernando de Soto, and the pirate, Jean Lafitte, are reported to have landed near here.

In 1923 circus magnate John N. Ringling (1866-1936) purchased St. Armands Key, an uninhabited, 150-acre, oval-shaped island. He planned a community of fine residences with a central circle park surrounded by shops. The park was named in memory of his friend President Warren Harding (1865-1923).

This 30-acre preserve includes prehistoric shell middens and a burial mound dating from 3,000 B.C to 1000 A.D., buildings from the homestead of John Greene Webb, and gardens from the winter estate of Mrs. Potter Palmer.

5,000 years ago, prehistoric Indians seasonally came to these shore, drawn by freshwater springs, bays teeming with fish and shellfish, and woods rich with game. By 1000 A.D. their middens, ceremonial mounds, and a village plaza stood nearby.