SETTLING SARASOTA (21st in a series)

In the fall of 1911, John Ringling spent a few days in the Sarasota area during which he visited with Ralph Caples who had just purchased a large home with acreage from C. H. Thompson. Early in 1912, John and his wife Mable returned to Sarasota in their private railroad car ‘JOMAR’. (Jo for John, Ma for Mable, and R for Ringling). It was during Sarasota’s coldest winter. John remarked that it was warmer up north; Caples told him that it wouldn’t last more than a few days and that land prices were going up.

John: “Tell you what Ralph, if you sell me the Thompson place cheap, just like it stands, I’ll buy it tonight.”

Caples: “Mr. Ringling, you’ve bought yourself a home.”

The transaction was recorded at the county seat in Bradenton on January 31, 1912. John and Mable moved into the Thompson house, and Charles Ringling, his wife Edith and their two children came down to visit and bought property adjacent to John’s.

Everyone knew the name Ringling and when it was learned that John and Charles had purchased property on Shell Beach, Sarasota rejoiced! Ringlings and circus were synonymous. It brought visions of elephants, clowns, acrobats and more.

One afternoon John and Owen Burns went to uninhibited St. Armand’s Key in Burns’ boat. John remarked that a causeway to the mainland would make the key the best residential section in the state. Through Burns, John bought St. Armand’s Key, acreage on the south end of Longboat Key, and Bird Key.

During the 1913-14 winter, the United States began to go into an economical tailspin when – boom- a Serb assassinated Archduke Francis of Austria and his wife. Russian troops invaded Germany, German troops invaded France. World War I had started. Orders for munitions, clothing, food and more poured into the United States. All of the country prospered including Sarasota.

In the fall of 1919 thousands of “tin-can” tourists invaded Florida. The Belle Haven Inn which had been purchased by C. T. Whittle from Ralph Caples for $35,000 in 1914 was rumored to have been sold to an anonymous buyer for $500,000.

(To be continued)..

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