PAY DIRT: How Sarasota became a Real Estate Destination

There’s more to the story than beach, weather, mosquito control, crooks and visionaries.

Bob Plunkett to moderate Pay Dirt, a panel discussion at the Historical Society of Sarasota County

Our next Conversation at the Crocker will be an illuminating panel discussion on how and why this area started attracting serious buyers in 1885 and hasn’t stopped yet.

In 1885 60 men, women and children from Scotland (known as the Ormiston Colony), who had purchased land in this area from the Edinburgh-based Florida Mortgage and Investment Company, debarked in Sarasota on a December day. They thought they were coming to sunny Florida to become gentlemen farmers. Then it snowed.

Want to know what happened next? Then be sure to be in the audience at the Crocker Memorial Church on Tuesday, February 12 at 7 p.m. for a panel discussion about those who were deceived by promises of paradise and about the developers and visionaries who promised paradise.

Bob Plunket, moderator, has been writing about Sarasota’s people and places for over 30 years. He is a magazine writer and as The Real Estate Junkie, a well-known TV personality. Joining him will be author/historian Jeff LaHurd who has lived in Sarasota since 1950 and is Sarasota County History Center’s History Specialist. “The common thread running throughout Sarasota’s history from its earliest days to the present time is real estate,” said LaHurd, “buying, selling and, occasionally, bilking.” Also on the panel are long-time experts Realtors Lynn Robbins and David Jennings.

This Conversation at the Crocker is the fifth in a series of panel discussions presented by the Historical Society of Sarasota County with support from SARASOTA Magazine. The events are free to members; $10 for non-members. New memberships are welcomed at the door.