Sarasota was a city with small town ambiance.
(To Be Continued)..
(C) Copyright, 2009 - Leland Desmon.
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Wednesday, May 6, 2009
THE SETTLING OF SARASOTA (32nd in a series)
Sarasota in the nifty fifties was a busy place.
The Asolo Theater was brought from Italy and installed in the Ringling Museum of Art. US Route 41 was rerouted to follow the downtown bay front, adding a new island park and marina. Riverview High School and Brookside Middle School were built. The Herald Tribune returned to being a morning newspaper and moved into its new building on US 41. The Asolo Theater opened with a presentation of the New York City Center Opera Company. The Ringling Shopping Center, Sarasota’s first, opened in 1955 and Publix was the key occupant. Sarasota was the first city in Florida to have a Golden Arches (McDonald’s) restaurant. The first Miss Florida Pageant was held in Sarasota in 1956. The Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus gave its last performance under the big top in Pittsburgh on July 16, 1956. It required 90 railroad cars to move the circus around the country. A red tide outbreak of catastrophic proportion in 1957 killed thousands of marine animals in the Gulf between Clearwater and Naples. Prisoners were used to clean up the dead fish. A hard freeze (20 degrees F.) hit Sarasota on the 12th and 13th of December 1957 and did millions of dollars of damage to vegetable crops and livestock. The Arvida Corporation, founded by Arthur Vining Davis purchased the southern half of Longboat Key, all of Bird Key, and most of Lido Key from the Ringling Estate for 13.5 million dollars. The Sailor Circus, a part of the Sarasota High School gymnastics program, erected tents on the high school football field and performed aerial acts in the open. A 30 minute short subject was filmed by Warner Brothers and shown in theaters world-wide. Negro golfers played the Bobbie Jones Golf Course for the first time.
(To Be Continued)..
(C) Copyright, 2009 - Leland Desmon.
The information on this page may not be reproduced or republished on any other webpage, website, or publication. Please LINK TO US instead.
(To Be Continued)..
(C) Copyright, 2009 - Leland Desmon.
The information on this page may not be reproduced or republished on any other webpage, website, or publication. Please LINK TO US instead.
THE SETTLING OF SARASOTA (31st in a series)
Did you know that there was a naval attack transport, the U.S.S. Sarasota, that was built in California in 1944? It served in the southwest Pacific during WWII. The U.S.S. Sarasota transported troops, defended itself against air attacks, came to the aid of wounded ships, and took part in assaults and landings on Okinawa and the Philippines.
President Roosevelt died in Warm Springs, Georgia, on April 12, 1945, and Vice President Harry Truman became President. Germany surrendered to the Allied Command on May 7, 1945, and Sarasota celebrated. Japan surrendered unconditionally on August 15, 1945, after atom bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
During the winter of 1945-46, 40,000 winter visitors came to Sarasota, more than ever before. The housing shortage became acute because many of the servicemen were still here despite the ending of hostilities. The boom had begun.
The Trail Drive-in Theater, one of the first in Florida, opened in 1949 across from the Sarasota/Bradenton Airport. It held 780 cars; the projector was 245 feet from the 65’x47’ screen. It was family entertainment. First run movies were shown and the snack bar served chicken and shrimp dinners.
In 1949-1950, 500 houses, five churches, thirty-five stores, ten apartment houses, seven motels, two fire stations and a new radio station were built. Paver Park Homes were advertised for $2,500 down, $50/month.
Sarasota started its effort to become a center for the arts when the Circus Museum opened and the West Coast Symphony was established in 1949. There was an arcade on the pier at the end of Main Street with a pool full of tropical fish. You could buy fresh caught kingfish from Captain Anderson at $1 a pop when he docked to bring a group of deep-sea fisherman back on land.
The two blocks at the end of Main Street were known as “down town” and had several restaurants and lounges with entertainment. Famous artists and writers lived in Sarasota. St. Armand’s Key was alive with elite stores. You could swim, play volley ball on the beach and dance to the music of Rudy Bundy at the Lido Casino, often featuring Lenny Dee.
There were circus shows at the Ringling Hotel on U. S. 41, and Hollywood was here filming “The Greatest Show on Earth.” In fact, there were 15 circus companies with headquarters in Sarasota and more circus people were living here than in any other place in the world.
A group of architects who later became famous came to Sarasota in the early 1950’s led by Ralph Twitchell and including Paul Rudolph, Victor Lundy, Tim Siebert, Jack West and the developer, Philip Hiss.
John D. MacDonald, author and environmentalist, moved to Siesta Key in 1950. He wrote 75 novels, a number of which were the very popular ”Travis McGee” mystery series.
Sarasota was a bustling slice of Paradise in 1951.
(To Be Continued)..
(C) Copyright, 2009 - Leland Desmon.
The information on this page may not be reproduced or republished on any other webpage, website, or publication. Please LINK TO US instead.
President Roosevelt died in Warm Springs, Georgia, on April 12, 1945, and Vice President Harry Truman became President. Germany surrendered to the Allied Command on May 7, 1945, and Sarasota celebrated. Japan surrendered unconditionally on August 15, 1945, after atom bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
During the winter of 1945-46, 40,000 winter visitors came to Sarasota, more than ever before. The housing shortage became acute because many of the servicemen were still here despite the ending of hostilities. The boom had begun.
The Trail Drive-in Theater, one of the first in Florida, opened in 1949 across from the Sarasota/Bradenton Airport. It held 780 cars; the projector was 245 feet from the 65’x47’ screen. It was family entertainment. First run movies were shown and the snack bar served chicken and shrimp dinners.
In 1949-1950, 500 houses, five churches, thirty-five stores, ten apartment houses, seven motels, two fire stations and a new radio station were built. Paver Park Homes were advertised for $2,500 down, $50/month.
Sarasota started its effort to become a center for the arts when the Circus Museum opened and the West Coast Symphony was established in 1949. There was an arcade on the pier at the end of Main Street with a pool full of tropical fish. You could buy fresh caught kingfish from Captain Anderson at $1 a pop when he docked to bring a group of deep-sea fisherman back on land.
The two blocks at the end of Main Street were known as “down town” and had several restaurants and lounges with entertainment. Famous artists and writers lived in Sarasota. St. Armand’s Key was alive with elite stores. You could swim, play volley ball on the beach and dance to the music of Rudy Bundy at the Lido Casino, often featuring Lenny Dee.
There were circus shows at the Ringling Hotel on U. S. 41, and Hollywood was here filming “The Greatest Show on Earth.” In fact, there were 15 circus companies with headquarters in Sarasota and more circus people were living here than in any other place in the world.
A group of architects who later became famous came to Sarasota in the early 1950’s led by Ralph Twitchell and including Paul Rudolph, Victor Lundy, Tim Siebert, Jack West and the developer, Philip Hiss.
John D. MacDonald, author and environmentalist, moved to Siesta Key in 1950. He wrote 75 novels, a number of which were the very popular ”Travis McGee” mystery series.
Sarasota was a bustling slice of Paradise in 1951.
(To Be Continued)..
(C) Copyright, 2009 - Leland Desmon.
The information on this page may not be reproduced or republished on any other webpage, website, or publication. Please LINK TO US instead.
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