Image courtesy of HSOSC.

Conserving Sarasota’s rich and robust heritage is the Historical Society’s M.O. Time-traveling back to 1927, a citizens group began collecting historical materials, and in the early 1950s, the Office of County Historian formed. Eventually, the Sarasota County Historical Society (HSOSC) came to be in 1959. It reorganized in 1977 as a not-for-profit corporation and is still operating as a private nonprofit in order to showcase two of Sarasota’s oldest, most historical buildings in Pioneer Park. Today, the Historical Society of Sarasota County continues to foster public awareness of the rich heritage of Sarasota County and the state of Florida, encourage inquiry and research into its history, promote an archived collection and preservation of memorabilia, develop a broader appreciation of its communities, and protect its historic sites and structures. 

With so many political, societal and cultural issues coming in to play this year, the nonprofit has taken a mindful approach in simply bringing the nation’s milestone history markers to the forefront. For instance, to encourage more voters to register and place their votes this election season, they’ve used their social media platform to remind women of their 19th Amendment— linking to articles that share first-hand accounts from the day that will forever be in history books as the day women’s suffrage made a giant step towards equality: the day women gained the right to vote. Similarly, they posted about the first-ever U.S. post office to open in Sarasota in 1878—a time when it cost two cents to mail out a letter and delivered by horseback. Subtly, it had a way of shining a light on the historical significance the postal services have had on the country for well over a thousand years and are now in jeopardy.

For the real history buffs and chronicle-oriented curiosos, you may be interested to learn that the HSOSC recently launched a new Articles section on its website—a landing page where various historians, authors, and figureheads of the community will be contributing articles on various historical stories/topics related to Sarasota County. Author and historian Jeff LaHurd kicked it off with personal insights on the day Sarasota split off from Manatee in 1921, “after residents in South County grew disgruntled by terrible road conditions and the way tax dollars were being spent,” he writes. Attached is a photograph of the front-page newspaper featuring the headline, “Hurray for Sarasota County” printed in the rechristened Sarasota County Times, announcing the momentous news of the formation of Florida’s newest county.

With HSOSC’s Sunday Afternoon Socials, the Historic Downtown Sarasota Trolley Tours, Historical Society Bay Cruises, Conversations at the Crocker, and facility rentals for weddings and special events all put on hold till March 2021, membership and contributions are as important as ever to keeping this community fixture operating and preserving our past. You can join HSOSC’s email list to keep current with the Society and community updates here. And to learn more about the benefits of becoming a member, receive info on historical happenings and fun facts about the narrative of this area’s evolution, head here.

Image courtesy of HSOSC.

1260 12th St. (In Pioneer Park) Sarasota, 941-364-9076, hsosc1@gmail.com.