One of the Seaboard Air Line's major customers was the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, which was headquartered in Sarasota from 1927 to 1959 and then in Venice from 1959 to 1990.
After moving the "Winter Quarters" to Venice, the Ringling train would pull into the Venice Depot and unload the circus.
The Venice Depot closed in 1975, but was restored in 2002. It has become a local tourism and community heritage hub. In 2021 a Ringling Circus Car will be placed on permanent display after being restored. LEARN MORE AT THIS LINK
The Florida West Shore Railway was a subsidiary of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad that expanded their rail system south to Sarasota in the early 1900s. The Seaboard Air Line opened up the area to tourists and encouraged the growth of the region as a segregated railroad. It was one of the first major expansions of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad in Florida, who had just started serving Florida by acquiring the Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad in 1901. It crossed the Manatee River via a long swing bridge into Bradenton, which was located just east of the current Desoto Bridge. From Bradenton the line continued south to downtown Sarasota. The Seaboard Air Line operated the line's first train to Sarasota on March 23, 1903. By 1905, the line was extended east from downtown into Fruitville. By 1911, it extended south to Venice at the urging of Bertha Honoré Palmer who owned land in and near Venice. The neo-Mediterranean style of the Venice Train Depot has two platforms, a material legacy of the divide imposed on workers and travelers.
By 1925, at the height of the Florida land boom of the 1920s, Seaboard considered extending the line further south through Englewood along Lemon Bay to Placida, but that extension was never built.
The Tampa Southern Railroad began service through Sarasota in May 1924. The first passenger train arrived in December 1924 at the freight and temporary passenger station north of Fruitville Road. A permanent Atlantic Coast Line passenger depot, Sarasota Station, was constructed in 1925. (On March 22, 1984, the depot was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. Two years later, it was demolished.)
-some text from Sarasota History Alive, National Register Information, and Sarasota County Historical Commission Marker-
Hi, it's Edith Ringling again . . .
Click my photo to see how Seminoles (especially women) used dugouts for transportation, and to learn about these fascinating little boats.
In the early 20th century, increased automobile use and affordability resulted in highways becoming a major mode of travel. The construction of the Tamiami Trail was a contributing factor in the development of Sarasota and Venice. The Tamiami Trail is the southernmost 275 miles (443 km) of U.S. Highway 41 (US 41) from Florida State Road 60 (SR 60) in Tampa to US 1 in Miami. Materials for the roadbed included the shells from ancient mounds; driving on the road means literally being on history.
In 1915 construction began on the north-south section of the road from Tampa to Naples. While the east-west section of the road from Naples to Miami was initiated in 1916, the State of Florida ran out of construction funds in 1922. In 1921 the Chevelier Corporation of Miami’s Captain James Franklin Jaudon agreed to finance the construction of a new route for the Tamiami Trail on land he owned in Monroe County. The State accepted his proposal and construction began on this route in 1921. However, in 1922 Barron Collier, who owned millions of acres in the southwest Florida wilderness, agreed to finance the completion of an east-west route if the State created a new county named for him. (Collier County was established in 1923.) Collier and his supporters supported the original route for the Tamiami Trail through newly created Collier County rather than the “South Loop” segment constructed by the Chevelier Corporation through Monroe County. Despite protests from Dade County, the Florida State Road Department reinstated the original route for the Tamiami Trail and the road constructed in Monroe County was accepted as a “South Loop” of the Tamiami Trail. (from 1920 Auto Trip Northampton, Ohio To Winter Haven, Florida: Diary of Clara Herbruck Prange edited and annotated by Dorothy Korwek)
The steamship Mistletoe was Sarasota's first reliable and regular connection to the outside world. In the 19th century, road and rail connections between Sarasota and neighboring towns were poor or nonexistent and boats came and went according to whim or need, not on any schedule. The Mistletoe's arrival was facilitated by the dredging of channels in the northern part of Sarasota Bay, enabling shallow-draft steamers to make the entire trip from Tampa without having to go into the open Gulf waters.
The beginning of regular shipping to Tampa led to a shift in the fishing industry in Sarasota. Previously, fish for export were dried and salted. The Mistletoe carried ice, enabling it to take on fresh fish for northern markets via Tampa trains. A number of wholesale fish houses opened along the bay in the following years, including one by John Savarese, the Tampa wholesale fish dealer who owned the Mistletoe.
While being overhauled at Savarese dock in Tampa, the Mistletoe sank during a hurricane in October 1910. After being raised, the steamship was enlarged and outfitted to carry 200 passengers as well as cargo. In its new form it was christened The City of Sarasota on February 6,1911. The Sarasota Times reported that Miss Esther Edmundson christened the ship, the Sarasota Brass Band played, Mayor H.S. Smith gave a speech and Harry Higel reviewed the history of the vessel. The Times article focused on the elegantly furnished and upholstered cabin of The City of Sarasota, with only brief mention of its capacity to carry fish. By 1917 The City of Sarasota ended its runs to Sarasota. (by Ann A. Shank, former Sarasota County Historian)
