This cheerful bird decorates the front garden at the Bidwell-Wood House
Many members of the Historical Society make donations, large and small. Some donations are green (as in cash!) but very few are red.
Red as in Continue reading
Maggie Nevens teaches Paint Like Crazy
Classes are filling up for November, so be sure to check out the learning possibilities in our Classes in the Park program.
Paint Like Crazy with Maggie Nevens is a perennial favorite here, and you can try a session or two, or buy a 4-class packet at a discount. These folks use watercolor in all sorts of non-traditional ways… so whether you’re a beginner or a old hand at painting, you’ll have fun.
Judy Weaver’s an expert on iPhones
Getting the most out of your iPhone is guaranteed to teach you to teach your phone to do new tricks. Three levels of classes, take them all or pick and choose. One-on-one help is Judy Weaver‘s forte.
Pearse Kelly, professional mosaicist
Basic Mosaic is full up for November… but Pearse Kelly (yes, that Pearse Kelly of Mabel’s Fountain fame!) has graciously agreed to do another class in March, so reserve your spot now.
Bev Blair guides you through leaf-printing
Thinking about hands-on learning? Holiday gifts? Or just looking for a fun activity for yourself or your gang of buddies? We have two one-session classes in November that are perfect!
Sharon Fitzpatrick shows how to make natural, Sarasota, metal-free jewelry
Beverly Blair will guide you in creating leaf prints with Sumi ink and watercolor on November 20, and Sharon Fitzpatrick will help you craft your own shell/ bead/ satin cording jewelry on November 25.
To register or for more information, contact Linda Garcia at HSOSC Monday-Friday from 10a – 2p 941-364-9076 or email: hsosc@yahoo.com
View or download our entire season of classes.
A presentation of the Historical Society of Sarasota County by Historian Hope Black as part of the Viva Florida 500 celebration
Do you know anything about Julia Tuttle, Mahulda Carrier, Carrie Abbe, Rose Wilson, or Victoria Brandon? Probably Continue reading
ANNUAL FLOATING HISTORY LESSON SETS SAIL ON NOVEMBER 3, 2013
The Historical Society of Sarasota County is hosting its 22nd Historical Cruise and Tour of Sarasota Bay on the LeBarge tour boat on Sunday, November 3, 2013 from 11am to 1pm. The cruise will feature narration by popular local historian John McCarthy. Guests can expect a complimentary continental breakfast and a cash bar at noon.
This specialty cruise tour has been a favorite with residents and tourists alike who want to learn more about the bygone people and places that have impacted the development of Sarasota County. Guests cruise along the shoreline of Sarasota Bay and enjoy the sunshine and refreshments while John McCarthy paints a picture of the formative years in Sarasota’s growth.
Fabled local musician Sal Garcia (left) chats with John McCarthy on an earlier cruise. Click for John’s 2-minute History of Sarasota… but you’ll get the Deluxe Edition on our Cruise!
Proceeds benefit preservation projects and community outreach programs at the Historical Society of Sarasota County.
Reservations are a MUST. For more information, contact Linda Garcia at HSOSC Monday-Friday from 10a – 2p 941-364-9076 or email: hsosc@yahoo.com
Historical Cruise Guests should be at the LeBarge slip, south of Marina Jack in Sarasota’s Bayfront Park by 10:15am, rain or shine.
Everyone’s looking forward to Pirates & Pioneers Day on Saturday November 16, when there will be pirate fun for the whole family, from digging for doubloons to a Thieves’ Market and barbeque.
But pirates weren’t the fun-loving characters Hollywood and Walt Disney have made them out to be. Far from it. They were complex, driven, and a fascinating part of Western Hemisphere history. So we’re having Pirate’s Eve for grownups on Friday November 15. Here’s the info (click the graphic to see it larger)
Conversations at The Crocker is back for a new season, starting October 8 with a photography show, sale and in-depth conversation about preserving disappearing parts of Florida through photographic documentation.
If you’re interested in historic preservation, nature, the culture of Florida or you just want to learn about beautiful and forgotten parts of the state, you want to be in the audience for the first of this season’s series, Conversations at the Crocker, organized and presented by the Historical Society of Sarasota and sponsored by SARASOTA Magazine.
The new season starts off with “Florida in Context,” an art photography show, sale and in-depth conversation among award-winning photographers Virginia Hoffman and Matt Allison and historian and naturalist, John McCarthy.
Also on Tues Oct 8, we will be celebrating the seasonal opening of the Gift Shop with new artists and authors. Join us for wine and cheese, starting at 5:30, and get your gift-shopping done with local crafts and art!
All Conversations at The Crocker begin at 7 p.m. and are held in the historic Crocker Memorial Church, 1260 12th Street (Pioneer Park). HSOSC members, free; guests $10.
Photography will be for sale at this Conversation and will be exhibited in the Crocker Memorial Church.
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Organized and presented by the Historical Society of Sarasota County (HSOSC), Conversations at The Crocker is a series of monthly inter-active panel discussions that highlight aspects of Sarasota’s history and looks at past events and at the people who have influenced today’s Sarasota. Conversationists are invited to participate because of their expertise and personal experiences.
New Directors Bill Kleber and Deborah Bowers look forward to meeting you and hearing about your concerns and your volunteer talents at the Historical Society of Sarasota County. Come meet them Tuesday October 8 at our first Conversation at the Crocker!
Our first Conversation at the Crocker on Tuesday October 8 would be an excellent time to meet your new Board members. Remember, the buildings open an hour earlier, at 6pm, including the Gift Shop, and Deborah and Bill would love to get to know you and your particular areas of interest and expertise!
At its annual meeting, the members of the Historical Society of Sarasota County elected two new board members, Deborah Bowers and Bill Kleber. They also re-elected President Howard Rosenthal and Recording Secretary JoRita Stevens, and elected former Board member (and immediate past president) Jane Kirschner-Tucillo to a new term.
Deborah Bowers recently moved to Sarasota from Fort Myers Beach where she and her husband Peter owned and operated a small beach resort. Prior to her move to Florida, Bowers worked in non-profit development in the Boston area for 20 years. Her positions there included Vice President for Development and Marketing at the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, an organization which operates 25 historic house museums throughout New England. She also served as Vice President for Development at MetroWest Medical Center, created by the merger of two community hospitals in the western suburbs of Boston. Deborah is a native Floridian and a graduate of Duke University.
Bill Kleber moved to Sarasota in 2004 after a career in the computer industry in Chicago, New York and Boston. A graduate of Purdue University with a BS in mechanical engineering, he also served in the Air Force and was assigned to one of the country’s first computer installations. “I like to tell people that I was a programmer on the 10th computer ever built, which is true,” he said. Besides serving on the HSOSC board, Kleber is membership chair of the Genealogical Society of Sarasota, a member of the Sons of the American Revolution and a member of the local Purdue Club. Heand his wife Ali recently formed a non-profit organization, Sarasota Outreach Solutions, Inc., the goal of which is to establish an overnight shelter for the homeless in the Sarasota area.
The full HSOSC Board is: Howard Rosenthal (President), Marsha Fottler (Vice President), Greg Dickinson (Treasurer), Meade Ferguson (Corresponding Secretary), JoRita Stevens (Secretary), Linda Garcia (Site Manager), Lynn Harding, Ron McCarty, Jane Kirschner-Tuccillo, Deborah Bowers, Bill Kleber and William Watrous. Rotating off the board but remaining active with the organization on various committees are Kate Holmes, Chuck Resh and Hope Black.
Some of the events this season at the Historical Society of Sarasota County require a bit of pre-planning, as we talked about our Schedule of Events in this post.
Others, all you need to do is show up and enjoy!
Remember when people used to say “give me a tinkle” when they meant “call me on the phone”? Well, we’re asking you to
Love this phone? Click to see where you can get it.
and call the Historical Society to reserve your spot on this fall’s exciting events. Call us at 941-364-9076 Tues.-Fri. between 10am and 2pm. Mastercard & VISA accepted!
Call us at 941-364-9076 Tues.-Fri. between 10am and 2pm, and our Site Manager Linda Garcia will
It’s been a long time since phones tinkled instead of vibrated (and who in living memory had a dance card tied to her wrist?), but nonetheless, we’d love to hear from you before all the seats are taken!
(If you want that phone, it’s for sale here.)
It’s long been a concern of members and event attendees that the steep shallow steps to the front porch of the Crocker Church are not the easiest to navigate. Well finally, after much “historic review” and permissions and permits and the like (not to mention budget-jingling and the most generous donation of the funds for this project from a cherished member of the Historical Society, we now have handrails!
Here, Board members (left to right) Jane Kirschner-Tuccillo, Meade Ferguson and Linda Garcia try them out. They report that the rails work fine, and will be able to withstand SRO audiences for the upcoming season’s Conversations at the Crocker, the hordes of marauding pirates and pioneers, and a full slate of students including yoga goers and watercolorists!
Now is an ideal time to stop by the Historical Society of Sarasota County garden at the historic Bidwell-Wood House and enjoy the local color.
Have a seat on a bench and feel all stress disappear.
Our members’ garden is a lovely spot for relaxing and maybe reading a book or enjoying a beverage. Everything is in glorious bloom. You’ll find pentas, rain lilies and gerbera daisies as well as a young American holly tree, a gift from a local master gardener.
We also have bromeliads, yellow lantana, iris, spider plants, Indian Hawthorne, ferns, fire spike (red and purple), dwarf heliconia, and a bleeding heart vine that struggled the year we planted it, but seems to have taken off recently. Three pineapples are growing under a pine tree and it will be a race to see who harvests them first – us or the squirrels. Phil Stevens planted pineapple tops from fruit he bought at Publix.
If you’re thinking about planting a Florida-friendly garden at your house, our HSOSC garden is a good one to replicate or to study for inspiration. Everything here is Florida-hardy and does well with erratic or minimal watering (except for the gerbera daisies which wilt if you look at them funny). The large and sheltering tree at the entrance to the garden is a pig nut hickory. We did not plant it. That tree was at Pioneer Park long before we arrived in 2006. It sheds its leaves in winter and looks so frail we always think it is on death’s door. Then in the Spring, it surprises us all and it’s glorious all through the summer providing shade for part of the garden and a gigantic playground for squirrels, birds and lizards.
The members’ garden at HSOSC is always growing and expanding. Lynn and Alex Harding recently donated a small grove of Lady Palm trees to the east side of the house that are thriving and at the back of the house, bromeliads and orange dwarf heliconia are staking a claim to the sandy soil. Within the next two years, we are planning to redesign the parking lot on the west side of the Crocker Memorial Church and install a car park arboretum of Florida-friendly flowering trees. Parking will be convenient and the view will be lovely. Board member Bill Kleber is working on that with a survey and preliminary drawings. If you have suggestions for flowering trees you’d like to see in that space, let us know and if you’d like to
to a history-garden-loving friend, the Landscape Committee is ready to make that happen. Contact Marsha Fottler, Landscape Chair at fottler@verizon.net
If you’d like to give a no-money-involved gift to the Historical Society of Sarasota County (although, of course, financial contributions are always welcome!) please consider writing a review and/or adding a photo or two to these web resources. The more mention we have on the Internet, the more residents, winter Floridians, and visitors will find us!
So if you have five minutes, and think the history of Sarasota County is worth preserving, see what you can add to:
Sarasota FL map from an automobile atlas 1919. Click to enlarge.
You can “share” not only our website with friends, but this from visitsarasota.org And of course, you can refer your online friends, folks coming to town, and so on, to our Facebook page and our Twitter feed.
All Conversations take place at the Crocker Memorial Church, 1260 12th Street (Pioneer Park), Sarasota, FL. All conversations start at 7 p.m. For more information, call Linda Garcia at (941) 364-9076. Members, free; Guests, $10
On August 16 1878, Sarasota got its first post office. It was located in the store of Charles Abbe, in the area now known as Harbor Acres. Mail came in “fairly” regularly, delivered by horseback.
Charles Abbe Continues to Spark Fascination, a newspaper article by Janet Snyder Matthews
The (maybe) 2013 location of the first post office, an article by Harold Bubil (unfortunately this link to a Herald-Trbune article is unavailable)
Just one year later in 1879, Judge Webb was appointed postmaster and named the area where his Webb’s Winter Resort was, Osprey.
It wasn’t until 1909 that the Crocker family (yes, our very own Crockers, of Crocker Memorial Church fame) opened their post office, claiming the “southern part of Sarasota was underserved.” The location? Present-day Bay Road (the eastern extension of Bee Ridge Road) and Red Rock Lane or Red Rock Lane.
An aside: It’s said that John Webb had to rename his community from Spanish Point because the rules at that time stated that post offices had to have a single-word name . The Judge lifted his eyes in thought and saw an osprey drifting overhead. I consider it fortunate that he didn’t see a vulture. “Vulture, Florida” just doesn’t have that ring, does it?
Photograph of Charles Abbe from the Manatee County Public Library web archives
We’re excited to announce that the 2013-2014 Classes at the Park Schedule is now online!Our traditional Classes on the Back Porch have been renamed Classes at the Park, reflecting our involvement in the wider community of Pioneer Park in Sarasota, this year’s syllabus starts with Yoga and ends with birdwatching… and you won’t believe the variety of classes in between!
While our Conversations at the Crocker focus monthly on historical info and interests, and our special events such as the Bay Cruise and Trolley Tours put residents and visitors alike in touch with Sarasota’s journey to 2013, our classes are focused on the here-and-now with up-to-date topics and education.
As far as non-members are concerned, class registration opens in September. But members not only get preferred pricing, but if you call our competent and just-plain-adorable Site Manager, Linda Garcia (who’s “standing by” in the Historical Society office Tues-Fri, 10 to 2), I’m sure she’ll let you snap up the limited enrollment spots now! (Tip: there are some one-session classes that your card club, Red Hat Ladies, neighbor group could turn into a private girls’ day out!)
Our Classes in the Park are a major source of operating funds for the non-profit Historical Society, so learn something and help us preserve, protect, and polish the Bidwell-Wood House and the Crocker Memorial Church at the same time.
The Historical Society of Sarasota County 
