Some old pictures of the Sarasota area... (Bradenton, University: sales, credit)

[SoFLGal]

Here's a picture my father took of old man Frank Mayers, who is the father of well known local Broker Michael Saunders. I remember my father telling me that it took him about 3 hours to get this shot. He was lying in the bottom of a little row boat and he'd have Frank throw the cast net over him. This picture has been used in countless ads, etc around the Sarasota area and is one of the more famous pictures of Longboat Key area. You can also still find it on the Longboat Key Historical Society. Longboat Key Historical Society (http://longboatkeyhistory.com/online.htm - broken link)

[Skunk Workz]

Originally Posted by gypsychic

Did the Golden Buddha give way to where the Jo-To is now?

Barnacle Bills is in the old Golden Buddha. The tower is a light house now.

[coastal chic]

Great pics! I remember Creature Feature!

[SoFLGal]

Here's a cool time line of pics. Anyone else have any old pics lying around?


1941 Sarasota Public Library is opened.


1943 Venice Army Air Base begins training pilots.


1944 Miss Charlie Hagerman is the first woman elected to county office (tax collector) and holds that office until 1975.


1944 Ringling students take watercolor classes on the beach.


1947 Sarasota County sprays for mosquitoes.


1948 Florida Power and Light builds power plant at Payne Terminal at 10th St. at Route 41.


1949 The Art Association Bldg. opens.


1950 Chamber of Commerce launches drive to increase city's population to 20,000.


1951 The old, 18th century, Asolo Theater is moved to Sarasota in crates from Asolo, Italy and installed in the Ringling Museum of Art.


1955 Sunshine Springs


1955 Sunshine Springs and Gardens opens on Proctor Rd.(east of where I 75 is now) with the water skiing Aquabelles


1955 The first store in new Ringling Shopping Center opens, a Publix Market. This is Sarasota's first shopping center.


1956 The Circus Hall of Fame opens across from the Sarasota Bradenton Airport with more than 5,000 attendees.


1957 Work begins on the new Englewood Elementary School. Bolton McBride,West, Waters architects.


1960 Hurricane Donna forces evacuation of Keys and closing of Sarasota schools. See the diagram of the route and wind forces statewide and in Sarasota.


1960 Hurricane Donna


1960 The Garden Club is built including Japanese screens and gardens.


1963 New College, a liberal arts college, is established on the grounds of the former Charles Ringling estate.


1963 Sarasota's Terrace Hotel is an inviting place for tourists to stay. (Now it is County Administration bldg.)


1963 Gulf Gate ad


1965 The John Ringling Towers are turned into an apartment building


1966 Plymouth Harbor, designed by Frank Folsom Smith, becomes Sarasota's tallest building with 25 stories


1966 Sarasota Vistors Guide


1967 Old City Hall demolished


1969 Lido Casino demolished

[mrs.cool]

Is the "Moore's Stone Crab Restaurant" now Mar-Vista? It looks like it on the water side.

[SoFLGal]

Originally Posted by mrs.cool

Is the "Moore's Stone Crab Restaurant" now Mar-Vista? It looks like it on the water side.

Nope, Moore's is next door. Actually, when I was a kid Moore's had a pen where they kept a dolphin named Jackie. When the restaurant was closed we'd go down there and swim with him.

I used to ride my bike to Mar Vista when I was little to play their Pac Man arcade game. It used to be a small little bait shop.

[d4g4m]

I'm not 100% sure but I think the 1955 photo of the Sunshine Springs and Gardens was for a promotional gimmick to sell lots and homes in the area that is now 'Lake Sarasota'. There still may be remnants of the ski jump. It didn't make it as a development at the time because back then it was considered way too far from town. A few streets were developed that border Bee Ridge Rd in the mid 60's. The western part of the subdivision was developed in the 70's with it's main entry being Mauna Loa Bl, the eastern/southern part was developed in 98-03

[SoFLGal]

The monkey was owned by the Chappell’s who lived at the mouth of Fiddler’s Bayou on Siesta back in the 1960’s. They used to cruise the beach together and if you left your car windows open and the keys in sight, Kong, the monkey would steal them.


Margaret, The 'Bicycle Lady' - she was a total trip! She would stop her bike and blow her whistle and direct traffic downtown. Heck, she would even direct the cops! She also did head-stands on Marina Jack's bar to get free drinks. She was a very talented artist, though people thought she was eccentric. Many of you may be too young to remember her (myself included) - but Sarasota was full of interesting characters. Life was so much fun here.


It was the Gulf View Inn and was constructed in just 16 days! It was meant to attract investors to Sarasota in the 1920s. The interior was a "lodge" look, and there was a pool inside with a live alligator. Wish it was still here. Great looking place.


Here's one of Gregg and Duane with the band they had before forming the Allman Bros. They used to play at different joints around Anna Maria back in the 60's & 70's.


Galloway Furniture showroom. Architect: Victor Lundy. The showroom opened in October 1959, but was already closed in 1966 when an artist tried to turn it into a gallery for his religious paintings.


This photo is when Bird Key was first developed, but surely some of you remember throwing soap in the fountain. There was a detergent product (can't think of the name) that was shaped into a solid disc. It was easy to throw from a distance - as one was driving by Bird Key. Mind you, I NEVER did such a thing.



Bird Key in the 1960's

Trail Drive In




White Tower


Zinns Restaurant. Anyone remember The Waterfall Room?


The Wall on Siesta. It's where all the kids would hang out in "The Day".


Smack at the corner of Osprey Ave and Main St


New Pass Bait Shop going over to Longboat Key. This was before The Pelican Man or Mote was out on City Island.


The old Lido Casino

[bbronston]

SFG, I love seeing those old photos. They are great and I really like your comments. My wife and I always stop at the New Pass Bait Shop (if that's what it is still called) at that snack bar. For a hotdog and a drink with a view, it's a great place.

[SoFLGal]

Originally Posted by bbronston

SFG, I love seeing those old photos. They are great and I really like your comments. My wife and I always stop at the New Pass Bait Shop (if that's what it is still called) at that snack bar. For a hotdog and a drink with a view, it's a great place.

Thanks B! I'm an old picture fanatic

My parents and grandparents tell me all kind of crazy stories from the 1920 and beyond.

There was another dog riding monkey that used to be on Siesta around the same time. The monkey belonged to a lady named Mrs. Greenwoods. They would hang out around Point of Rocks on Siesta. That monkey was known to bite. One day it bit someone on the beach and Mrs. Greenwood marched out there with a pistol and shot the monkey dead

There was word that it was Kong but it was a different, lesser known, monkey/dog combo. I heard that Kong and the dog eventually got hit by a car but I don't know that for sure.

Crazy Margaret used to hang out over at Marina Jack's. My parents used to go there for happy hour and she was the main attraction. She used to ride around on her bike with a guy named "Gay Jay". Then there was another guy on a bike that always dressed up like a clown and would be seen with them riding around Ringling. They were quilt a spectacle in town.

Then there was the guy people in town called "The Mayor of Bee Ridge". He was a homeless guy who lived by the dog track. He always wore a full suit even in the dead of summer.

Talk about "Circus Town!"