Why People Come to FloridaEARLY IN ITS HISTORY Florida’s warm climate brought pioneers and adventurers from the north, and it also encouraged those with illnesses to journey southward. People suffering from lung diseases such as tuberculosis or asthma felt that warm temperatures were beneficial to their health. Some of the early homesteaders traveled to Sarasota for these reasons.
People still come to Florida today for many of the same reasons that the first settlers came in the 1800s. The warm climate is probably the most important factor. Northerners living in icy winter conditions get tired of shoveling snow, slipping on sidewalks, and getting their cars stuck in deep snow drifts.The first Native Americans (or Prehistoric people) may have migrated to Florida to escape difficult living conditions, too. This was eight to ten thousand years ago. Evidence of these people in the Sarasota area is still visible through the remains of shell middens at Historic Spanish Point in Osprey.
Early Settlement in Sarasota
ANOTHER REASON people came to Florida was for the adventure and excitement of traveling in a new and exotic land. Imagine seeing alligators, panthers, snakes, and beautiful birds in the wild. Hunting these creatures was also part of the lure. One of the first settlers in Sarasota came to the area for these reasons. His name was William H. Whitaker.
Bill Whitaker was 21 years old when he came to the Sarasota area in 1842. He had traveled around Florida and to Key West, and even fought in the second Seminole War. With the war just ended and the land now considered safe for homesteaders, the United States Congress passed the Armed Occupation Act of 1842. Those taking advantage of this act were given six months’ provisions and 160 acres of land anywhere south of Palatka and Gainesville — providing they were willing to defend their homes for five years. If additional land was purchased, the going price that year was $1.25 an acre.
The migration to Florida had begun, and Bill Whitaker had found his “dream spot.” In December of 1842 he sailed with his half-brother, Hamlin Snell, along the west coast south of Manatee until he found an excellent location. The land was high on yellow bluffs and overlooked Sarasota Bay. Fresh water was available in springs, and Indian kitchen middens and burial mounds were in evidence. A spot once chosen by natives would prove perfect for the Whitaker home site which was eventually called Yellow Bluffs. A beautiful bayou, or inlet, ran through the property. It is still known today as Whitaker Bayou.
The first Whitaker home was a crude, yet sturdy, cabin made of cedar logs floated over from Longboat Key where a large cedar forest then stood. Whitaker weathered two hurricanes in his log cabin. One in 1846 and one in 1848. The ‘48 storm was described by early settlers as “the granddaddy of all hurricanes.” It was this storm which created a new opening through Longboat Key, and Whitaker named it New Pass. The name remains to this day.
The first business venture started by Whitaker was the selling of dried salt mullet to the many Cuban traders who visited settlements along the coastline. Back then, the mullet were extremely plentiful in the bay and young Bill had no trouble in netting the fish and receiving one cent in payment for each. The money he made went into the purchase of some cattle which later became a large herd that grazed in the Myakka area.
The first orange grove planted in the Sarasota Bay/Manatee area is credited to Whitaker. He traded with the Cubans for the oranges they brought and then planted the seeds.
Bill Whitaker married Mary Jane Wyatt in 1851. She was the daughter of Manatee pioneers Colonel William Wyatt and his wife Mary. In1852, at Yellow Bluffs, the first white child was born in the Sarasota area. Her name was Nancy Catherine Stuart Whitaker. Nancy was their first child, but not the last, for the Whitakers had ten more children in the next fourteen years.
My Arrival in Sarasota
MY FIRST TRIP TO SARASOTA was during spring break 1973. I arrived in town scrunched in the back seat of a green VW bug otherwise occupied by 3 students from the University of Notre Dame. They had picked me up while I was hitchhiking south from Indiana University. They were the last of several rides, although I had lucked out in that I got a ride from Indiana all the way to just north of Ocala. They dropped me off on the Tamiami Trail in north Sarasota. I called my aunt and uncle who were living south of the city. They came and picked me up.
It was the first of many trips to the area. I spent the entire summer of 1978 living in Venice and working in Sarasota. I moved to Venice in 1980 and started working for the Sarasota Police Department in 1981.
Residing in the City
ALTHOUGH MY PERSONAL CONNECTIONS to Sarasota started nearly 30 years ago and are many and varied, I only actually lived in the city for one year. When Barbara and I got married, I was living in Venice and she was living in Sarasota with Jeannine and Angela. The first thing on our agenda after our spur of the moment elopement was to find a place to live. Since we both worked in Sarasota and since both girls attended school in Sarasota (Angela at preschool and Jeannine at Head Start), it made sense to find a place in Sarasota.
We finally ended up at an apartment complex on Bradenton Road near the dog track. The complex has since deteriorated but when we were there, it was a pretty nice place to live. We had a two bedroom apartment on the ground floor with a large living room and plush carpet. Our neighbors were nice. We had a swimming pool.
We lived there after we got married and until we moved to Washington, D.C. We were living there when Matthew was born. He was born at Sarasota Memorial Hospital, as were his sisters.
Some pictures:
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