Sarasota and the Circus (1)


The transformation of Sarasota from a sleepy fishing town to a major resort is due to two people. 

There was the famous and brilliant Bertha Honore Palmer, about whom I’ll write some more another day.

And there was John Ringling, world famous for the Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus.  Ringling made (and then lost in the great depression) a great fortune, not from circus, but from land purchase and development.

But his circus had its winter quarters in Sarasota from 1927 – 1960.  That’s led to a great historical identification of Sarasota with circus.

(My home is built on land which had been those winter quarters!).

See these links for some stuff about circus and Sarasota.


http://www.squidoo.com/Circus-Sarasota


http://www.sarasotacircushistory.com/

Tomorrow I’ll tell you more about my attendance  at  “Circus Sarasota”  -  a fabulous experience of  “old time circus”.


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