I found a jewel!

[rfomd129]

Right here on 41 in Osprey! It's the Osprey Library and it just might be the tiniest library I've ever been in but it truly is a gem. The people who work there are so helpful and they also have several activities or speakers during the month.

I'm in two book clubs but I also do a lot of reading and listening on my own. Since the library is so small there isn't a large selection but if you live in the area and want to select it as your "home" library, you can have books transferred there from other libraries within the county library system.

[beach43ofus]

It used to be an old school house that was converted into a Library.

Bertha Palmer owned Palmer Ranch originally, (via her deceased retail magnate husband Potter Palmer) until much of the land was sold to Hugh Culverhouse (former owner of the Tampa Bay Bucs NFL team) decades later.

Bertha Honore Palmer has a very interesting history you can read about in a book called The Jewel of the Suncoast, and a few other books about her. There's a youtube video on her too. I highly recommend reading them to anyone living in that area. Many streets in the area are named after family members, & friends.

Bertha Palmer was the 1st to bring the Brahma Bull Cattle breed to Florida from Texas because they could handle the heat here. Today, you'll still see Brahma Bulls with their long horns on fields along Honore Blvd, and throughout Florida. Bertha tried to grow all kinds of tropical crops here like Indigo, Pineapples, Bananas, Celery, Citrus, Palms for Palm oil, & feed for her Cattle stock. Bertha was a wealthy Chicago socialite, turned horticulturalist, turned cattle rancher, turned real estate mogul.

Just a few years ago, the Palmer family sold the last 2 parcels they owned in Florida's Palmer Ranch community in "The Oaks" Golf & Country Club community along 41, both on the golf course.

Near the Library is Spanish Point, a cultural heritage site donated to Sarasota County by the Palmer family. It still has One of the original Palmer family homes, 2 visitor cabins, and related out buildings, on it....like a smokehouse & horse shoe'ing shed.

That is much more than just a Library you stumbled into....you stumbled into the history of Southern Sarasota County.

[rfomd129]

Historic Spanish Point is a place we've taken visitors to several times. It's a lovely easy stroll with lots of history and beautiful scenery. I just never noticed that there was a county library attached to the place! That was the surprising part to me : )

Bertha Palmer was an amazing force in the settlement and expansion of the area and she wasn't a youngster when she did her trail blazing. Since we're talking about libraries, Erik Larson's The Devil in the White City, touches on the roles she played both in Chicago and the Gulf Coast.