The previous installment of the The Settling Of Sarasota told of the telephone that Harry Higel had installed in the Post office/Telephone building in 1899. Carrie Abbe, Postmistress, answered every call, "took" the message, and was expected to deliver it ASAP, regardless of the distance from the building and the weather.
It was 1900 and Sarasota was in the doldrums. Ralph Caples was on honeymoon with his wife Eileen and had just arrived in Sarasota after a 4-hour spine jarring horse and buggy trip from Bradingtown. If Sarasota was to grow, a better means of land transportation was needed. Caples first job while attending college was yard work for the Lake Erie and Western Railroad Co. With that as a background, he organized the Florida West Coast Railroad Co. with the objective of building a line from Tampa to Sarasota. Before his company could start, however, members of the governing body of the Seaboard Airline* Railroad got word of Caples’ plan and started laying track south from Turkey Creek (Plant City) to Sarasota, using parts of the Slow and Wobbly right-of-way. The official title of the railroad was the United States and West Indies Railroad and Steamship Company. It later was absorbed by the Seaboard.
With the railroad nearing Sarasota and the depot under construction at the corner of Lemon and First Streets, the economy began to improve. On October 20, 1902, upon the urging of Harry Higel, 53 voters, essentially everyone living within the township, caused the town to be incorporated.
John Gillespie was elected Mayor and Higel was elected Councilman. In their exuberance, the township erected a fountain at five points and, to their chagrin, cattle would wander over for a drink and leave remains of their presence.
On December 10th, the Council gave orders to Marshall Blair to repair a bridge across a slough at the foot of Main Street. The job was completed in three weeks; the bill was $7.99 and payment was approved only after a long argument in council. Blair later resigned his job as Marshall, saying that he could not live on starvation wages.
On March 22, 1903, the railroad reached Sarasota. The Sarasota Ice Fish and Power Co. built an electric power plant that provided electricity to nearby homes and businesses. Harry Higel and partners built the Higelhurst Hotel that had hot and cold running water and electric lights in every room. The rent was $2.50 per day. The dining room could seat 150 people and the kitchen had gas (?) for cooking.
*Before the existence of aircraft that flew commercially, the word airline was defined as the shortest distance between two locations.
(To be continued)..
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