Even before Sarasota was incorporated as a town, community spirit was strong. People helped their neighbors without being asked to do so and donated money, property and/or manpower for the common good.
This issue of “Settling” is devoted to biographies of a few persons who have contributed to the growth of early Sarasota but whose names have not been included in the narrative thus far.
JOHN BLACKBURN
John and Belinda Blackburn came to the Horse and Chase Area (now known as Nokomis) in 1881 with their 15-year-old son George. John was a farmer and cattle broker from Iowa. Jack Webb, the youngest son of the Spanish Point Webbs helped them build their first house.
John grew potatoes, sugar came and bananas and built a large sloop that carried heavy loads of hogs, chickens, fish, produce and syrup to Tampa area markets and brought back, tourists, lumber and hardware. George was elected to the Town Council in 1902.
LEWIS COLSON
Lewis Colson and his wife came to Sarasota in 1884 with Richard Paulsons’ team to survey 50,000 acres for the Florida Mortgage and Investment Company and plotted the town of Sarasota. Lewis drove the stake in the ground at Five Points to mark the center of the town.
Lewis and Irene were among the early members of Sarasota’s black community, then called Overtown. Irene was the community midwife. Lewis donated property that they had bought to the Bethlehem Baptist Church. Lewis, a lay preacher, was the first minister. The church at the corner of Central and Seventh Streets was the community center for education, cultural and recreation activities.
JOSEPH HALTON, M.D.
Joseph Halton was born in England in 1881, arrived in the United States with his parents and grew up in Ohio and Indiana. As a boy, he worked for 12 ½ cents per hour, saved $130, and enrolled in the medical school at the University of Cincinnati.
Immediately after graduation in January 1907, he came to Sarasota, a city of 1400 people. He was met at the depot by a citizen who said that his mother was bleeding to death. Dr. Halton jumped into a boat with the man, went to Siesta Key, and saved the woman’s life. that act established his reputation in Sarasota.
A year later, with the help of Sir John Gillespie, Joseph and his brother Dr. Jack Halton founded the Sanitarium at 300 North Gulfstream Avenue, Sarasota’s first hospital.
Dr. Joe made regular calls as far away as Bradenton and Venice with horse and buggy. When the call was for childbirth, he went by horseback because it was faster. He said, “I’d make a call to one house in the country and before I could get away from there, a messenger would meet me and tell me to stop somewhere else.”
During his years as a physician in Sarasota, Dr. Halton performed over 1600 operations for needy children and secured free hospitalization and nursing for them.
Copyright © Leland G. Desmon. The information on this page may not be reproduced or republished on another webpage, website, or other printed material. Please LINK TO US instead at www.simplysarasota.blogspot.com
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
THE SETTLING OF SARASOTA (16th in a series)
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)..
(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.
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)..
(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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