REAL HISTORY by Jeff LaHurd: The rise and fall of greater Sarasota
Jeff LaHurd
At the end of 1925, Sarasota was overjoyed about the unprecedented prosperity fueled by a growth spurt and building boom that had never been equaled. Northern nay-sayers were forecasting doom ahead and warned not to invest here.
Spurious reports cited underwater property —“You have to row to your front door”— purchasing property by the bucketful, the dreadfully hot weather and the bugs, snakes, and alligators.
Sarasota boosters chalked the negative talk to sour grapes. The Sarasota Daily Times assured its readers on November 11, 1925, “In other words, the ‘Florida Bubble’ will never burst; for if a bubble it is, it is not the bursting kind.”