The year was 1938, Franklin D. Roosevelt had been reelected President of the United States and Sarasota was the beneficiary of WPA projects for much of its employment.
Potter and Honore Palmer donated 2,000 acres of Bertha Palmers ‘Meadow Sweet Pastures’ ranch for a state park, a gift which became the core of the Myakka State Park. Hundreds of persons were employed constructing roads, building cabins and more. Improvements to the Osprey Avenue bridge, the construction of city sidewalks, and the development of Luke Wood Park were all WPA projects.
Construction of the Lido Beach casino as a WPA project was approved by the government on June 13, 1938 with the proviso that the city contribute $40,000 in cash and donate the land. Thirteen hundred feet of beach frontage was obtained from the Ringling Estate in a tax debt settlement; a $40,000 bond issue was floated and sold out within days. The casino formally opened on December 27, 1940. Nobody knows the total cost of the facility, but it was referred to as “The Quarter Million Dollar Casino.” Thousands of servicemen from the Sarasota and Venice air bases visited it often.
The Sarasota-Manatee airport was another WPA project that benefitted Sarasota significantly. In July 1940 the War Department approved the airport as a part of the National Defense Plan and additional grants came rapidly during 1940.
In March 1942, Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses belonging to the 97th Bomb Group arrived for six weeks of final training. There were no barracks, tents were erected for sleeping and eating. Kerosene lanterns were used for much of the illumination. The 97th Bomb Group log read, “Three days of steady rain necessitated the use of palmettos for the construction of corduroy roads to permit entry to dispersal points.”
At the peak of the field’s operation, more than 3,000 men were stationed here. Captain Paul Tibbets, the pilot of the Enola Gay that delivered the first atomic bomb to Hiroshima was one of the first flight instructors at the airport.
On December 7, 1941, a total of 353 Japanese bombers, launched from six aircraft carriers, attacked the U.S. Naval Base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, sinking 10 warships, destroying 188 aircraft and killing 2400 personnel. President Roosevelt called it, “A date which will live in infamy,” and the United States declared war on Japan on December 8, 1941.
This surprise attack changed the U.S. public opinion from isolationist to participant. Before the war ended, 6300 Sarasota County men and women had registered for the draft. The population of Sarasota County in 1940 was only 16,106.
(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.
Showing posts with label Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Show all posts
Monday, March 16, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
THE SETTLING OF SARASOTA (28th in a series)
The year 1929 saw Sarasota in a deep depression. The population of the county was 12,200. Telephone subscribers dropped from 2662 to 1689. Pure pork sausage sold for 10 cents a pound, sirloin steak for 15 cents per pound.
The Ringling Causeway was in such a state of disrepair that it was closed until the city found sufficient funds to pay the labor cost for 50 men who worked on it for a month. The materials were donated.
Powell Crosley Jr. bought a 63-acre bay front property in Sarasota for $35,000 at auction. It had sold for $365,000 to a developer in 1925. He built an 11,000 square foot estate residence with 10 bedrooms and 10 bathrooms and called it Seagate.
Mr. Crosley owned an Automotive Accessories Company, a mail order auto parts company whose sales consisted mostly of thousands of five American flags in a holder that attached to the radiator cap. He also started the Crosley Radio Company in 1920 when his son wanted a radio, a new gadget that cost $130. Crosley bought a book on radios, learned how to make a crystal set and sold thousands at $9.00 each. They were called Harkos, and Crosley was called the Henry Ford of radio. In 1923 he built the 28th radio station in the U.S. with call letters WLW. It had a 500,000 watt transmitter and it was said that it could be heard anywhere on earth.
Crosley marketed the Shelvador electric refrigerator in 1932, the first with shelves in the door. The inscription on front of it read: Crosley/Shelvador/made in USA.
The Cincinnati Reds baseball team was struggling to survive in 1934. Powell Crosley bought the team, installed lights on the playing field, and the Reds played seven games “under the lights.” Attendance was ten times that for a normal day game.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was inaugurated as the 32ND President of the United States in March 1933 and instituted a special session of Congress to pass a make-work program called the “New Deal”. On Saturday, December 2, 1933, the Conservation Corps (CCC) one of 21 New Deal programs, distributed 641 checks in Sarasota totaling $4,775, an average of just over $7.00 per worker.
(To Be Continued)..
(C) Copyright, 2008 - 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 Ringling Causeway was in such a state of disrepair that it was closed until the city found sufficient funds to pay the labor cost for 50 men who worked on it for a month. The materials were donated.
Powell Crosley Jr. bought a 63-acre bay front property in Sarasota for $35,000 at auction. It had sold for $365,000 to a developer in 1925. He built an 11,000 square foot estate residence with 10 bedrooms and 10 bathrooms and called it Seagate.
Mr. Crosley owned an Automotive Accessories Company, a mail order auto parts company whose sales consisted mostly of thousands of five American flags in a holder that attached to the radiator cap. He also started the Crosley Radio Company in 1920 when his son wanted a radio, a new gadget that cost $130. Crosley bought a book on radios, learned how to make a crystal set and sold thousands at $9.00 each. They were called Harkos, and Crosley was called the Henry Ford of radio. In 1923 he built the 28th radio station in the U.S. with call letters WLW. It had a 500,000 watt transmitter and it was said that it could be heard anywhere on earth.
Crosley marketed the Shelvador electric refrigerator in 1932, the first with shelves in the door. The inscription on front of it read: Crosley/Shelvador/made in USA.
The Cincinnati Reds baseball team was struggling to survive in 1934. Powell Crosley bought the team, installed lights on the playing field, and the Reds played seven games “under the lights.” Attendance was ten times that for a normal day game.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was inaugurated as the 32ND President of the United States in March 1933 and instituted a special session of Congress to pass a make-work program called the “New Deal”. On Saturday, December 2, 1933, the Conservation Corps (CCC) one of 21 New Deal programs, distributed 641 checks in Sarasota totaling $4,775, an average of just over $7.00 per worker.
(To Be Continued)..
(C) Copyright, 2008 - 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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