We talked a while back about pineapples and their place in Sarasota County history.
Well, that just wasn’t enough for your Intrepid Blogger here at HSoSC. No, she had to delve into the local history of the grapefruit.
And that led to an intriguing article titled
Grapefruit Is One of the Weirdest Fruits on the Planet
Graphic from this article.
when all we really were seeking was some info on a fellow by the name of Kimball Chase Atwood who was quite an important fellow in this area back when.
So here’s the rabbit hole we fell into:
- The Manatee Agricultural info on Kimball.
- The house he built around the same time he developed his groves? Got its own Wikipedia page.
- Heck. There’s even an aftershave named after him.
- To top it all off, I learned a new word. Donezo*. Did you know this neologism?
Oh, and Kimball Jr., the 3rd, and the IVth? They’re a bunch of high performers, but I’ll leave that to your curiosity. I’ve gotta go walk the cat now; he’s had a close call with death today.
*[Donezo] To be thoroughly, physically, and completely done.
Graphic altered from one on Cinema Vet Service’s website.
The Historical Society of Sarasota County 
Thanks for the interesting piece on grapefruit. They were the last major citrus to reach Florida. They were introduced in 1806 by a French Count named Odet Philippe.
Hey! Thanks for reading the article. It was great, wasn’t it?