The Bidwell-Wood House and Crocker Memorial Church are two of Sarasota’s most successful examples of preserving historic buildings through adaptive reuse. These historically designated buildings need constant maintenance, sensitive repairs and renovations to continue to serve the community and preserve historic status.
During the past few years
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We may not have sweater-weather when the calendar turns to fall, but we DO welcome the Phillippi Farmhouse Market back… this year, on Wednesday October 1. Located on Tamiami Trail/41 at 5500 S. Trail, it’s Florida at its best (and a bit of Come-From-Afar too… bonzai, bagels!)
In addition to providing wonderful foods and
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The People and Places that made a Paradise, by local historian and member of the HSoSC Board Jeff LaHurd, is the newest addition to his remarkable series of Sarasota County historical references. This 17th book from LaHurd is a compilation of many of his articles that have appeared in newspapers and magazines which you might have missed.
He moved here as a young boy with his family, went
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Imagine Pioneer Park, the site of Hog Creek which #onceuponatime led to Sarasota’s harbor, without the Bidwell-Wood House and the Crocker Memorial Church.
Remember when we raised the funds to move our buildings?
The Historical Society of Sarasota County cares for and is proud to use our two reminders of Sarasota’s picturesque past. And our campus isn’t JUST
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Curious abut the history and development of Pinecraft? It’s an unusual neighborhood in Sarasota, first settled by Mennonites in the 1920s. Many Mennonites still live there. As a religious group Mennonites are members of a small denomination, with some 300,000 members in the United States. Sarasota’s Mennonite community is composed of about 2,000 regular worshippers in the summer and twice that during the Pinecraft season.
Pinecraft has about 500 tiny homes in a planned grid at the intersection of Beneva Road and Bahia Vista Street. The bustling neighborhood is home to many authentic restaurants and is a popular destination for snow-bird Amish as well as Mennonites escaping the harsh winters of the midwest. Find out why the commuity exists, and how it came to be.
J.B. Miller is an authority on the history of the Mennonite community in Sarasota and on the history and development of Pinecraft. We are pleased to host this expert on Sunday, January 14 at 2 p.m. at the Historical Society’s Crocker Memorial Church at 1260 12th Street, between Tamiami Trail and Cocoanut Avenue in Pioneer Park, Sarasota.
[Updated 3-30-24: See the latest email from the Alliance here. ]This post is inspired by the Sarasota Alliance for Historic Preservation, who are urging you to contact your city officials to make your opinion known on the McAlpin House.
You may not know the role of Mr. McAlpin in Sarasota history. Chances are, you don’t drive down Cross Street (it stretches all the way from Pineapple to Osprey and is the 5th exit from a roundabout, easily missed), nor know about rusticated stonework. You may not be a city resident, or you may feel the tug of property rights. Perhaps a 1700-square-foot old house-turned-office surrounded by parking lots isn’t your idea of “history”.
But if you long to see a smidgen of our “pioneer” past remain, visit the SAHP website.
If you miss the garden you once had, if you’re curious as to how to groom your tropical plants, or just if you want to be out in the fresh air and join others digging in the dirt: You’re invited!
Bring your gloves and your gardening tools! Kids and grandkids welcome, too. They can learn how to care for the environment, heck how to weed… and when they get bored, there’s a playground right next to us in Pioneer Park.
Another way to be a part of history: If you have a cutting
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This quiz is from an older blog post, but it’s time to learn more about, pay more attention to, care more for our remaining historic buildings; we’re sure you agree.
Designed by the late Frank Lloyd Wright’s firm, Taliesin Associates Architects, the building was called by its critics the “purple cow” or “purple people seater.”
Answers: In each case, the correct answer is #2, except for the last. All the choices are correct about the Van Wezels! You will be awarded extra points if you pronounce Van Wezel as “Van Way-zel”, not “Van Weasel.”
Did you know? Tours of the Van Wezel backstage areas and the Fine Arts Society art collection are offered to the public once a month. More info.
And if you can’t remember all the lyrics of One Eyed One Horned Flying Purple People Eater, here it is on YouTube. Tequila.
School’s out. Whether you have kids home on vacation or visiting kids in your household, you’re gonna have to counter the “I’m bored” with something to do.
“Between hours sitting in school (with recess abridged or abandoned), time spent inside playing video games, and parents preventing kids from playing in messy nature, kids today hardly ever get to spin, flip, roll, climb, hang, race, or shimmy. It’s something that deeply worries pediatric occupational therapist Angela Hanscom—who traces these restrictions to everything from kids’ growing inability to tolerate wind in their face to the
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We keep finding local history-related things for you to do. (Here’s the first installment, and Part Two…) It’s too hot to go traipsing about graveyards and boardwalks right now, but it’s always cool to learn a bit more about our local area.
One of our favorite supporters, Liz Coursen, is giving a talk at Gulf Gate Library on Florida Lighthouses. Info here. You probably have visited this one. If not, do! We’re sure Liz will give you directions.
Take a peek into the art collection at the Van Wezel, our on-the-bay performance venue that folks are afraid will be history soon. The best way to show your love for local history is to participate. Here’s your chance, by joining the Art and Backstage Tour. The tour features features works from the Arts Advocates’ Sarasota Colony artist collection as well as noted Florida artists, including pieces by Robert Chase, William Hartman, Eugene White, Ben Stahl, Julio de Diego, Thornton Utz, Frank Colson, and Dean Mitchell, to name a few. The backstage tour provides a peek at the dressing rooms, green room, back hallway, and the Van Wezel stage.
Tours are offered to the public August 8 and September 12 from 1:30-3:00 pm. Tours begin in the Main Lobby and cost $15 per person. Tickets can be purchased at the Box Office or by calling (941) 263-6799. More info.
More the outdoors, drink and hum along type? Here’s another Van Wezel event you’ll love, and it’s free. The Friday Fest. Future dates for Friday Fest are August 12 and September 16.
Or maybe you’d like to help fellow Sarasotans CREATE history? After all, history is not fixed in stone; it’s made every day by folks like you. Our tradition of art is strong here, and you can build on that to make art even stronger as time marches on. For example, by participating in and supporting local artists. Your grandchildren will thank you for becoming patrons of the arts in accessible venues like Creative Liberties, Ligon Arts, ArtUptown, and of course Art Center Sarasota.
It’s time for Sparkly Saturday! On Saturday February 12, from 8am to 2pm, we’ll fill the Crocker Memorial Church with preloved jewelry, from costume to sterling, funky to fabulous, necklacesbraceletsearringsbroochesandmore, in conjunction with our fabulous supporter JewelrytotheRescue. And as always, we fill the porches of the Bidwell-Wood House with our “household sparkles” too. Come early, stay late!
Then there’s our even-more-traditional Historic Sarasota Bay Cruise on Sunday March 6, with
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For a climate not known for its subtly, our semi-tropical Sarasota lets autumn sneak up on us. Maybe youve noticed those beach sunsets come earlier and earlier? It’s already before 8. By Halloween, the sun will be setting at 6:45 p.m, and by Thanksgiving? It’ll be dark by 5:30 or so.
And how about your pool temperature? It’s going down even though air temperatures are in the mid to upper 80s. Just so you know: the average high in early September is 90. By the end of November, the average high will be 75.
The beauty berry plumps up (read what you can do with this harvest.)
The blackeyed Susans compete with the beach sunflowers for Showiest Bloom.
And the Virginia creeper, latest of all fall signals, lets you know when you should start Christmas shopping.
You probably haven’t noticed, what with the world being tilted on its own axis these 18+ months and everyone waiting for it to settle down, but the steeple of our historic Crocker Memorial Church has needed a little resettling itself, so to speak.
So, being the
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Celebrate! Thanks to you, our supporters, and almost-Eagle Scout Daron, we will be DOUBLING our handicap-accessible parking at the Historical Society this summer!
That means that when we are finally confident in our new season, starting in October 2021, it’ll be easier for our guests to attend our gatherings. Stay tuned for reportage on what the Events Committee has planned for the new season. And yes, we heard Continue reading
The Historical Society of Sarasota County 