Before it was formed with dredge, the adjacent area to the north was known as Cedar Point and then called the more attractive sounding Sunset Point, a popular spot for locals and sweethearts to watch the multi-hued skies as the sun went down.
According to Sarasota historian Karl Grismer, early on a short-lived business was started there by Eli Veruki and Andrew X. Alexaky who exported dried fish roe to European markets under the name Gotzago.
There was the Roberts and Stanton boat house with an engine repair shop, and a sawmill was built at Cedar Point which provided lumber for the growth of the newly incorporated small town.
SARASOTA – Three-time Sarasota Mayor Harry Higel was the toast of the town, a visionary developer whose personal steamship, gas-and-kerosene dealership and campaign to become independent from Manatee County were among the cornerstones of his efforts to bring a sleepy Florida village into the 20th century.
He energized the local economy by luring wealthy snowbirds to Siesta Key with marketing slogans like “Think of it! Living on a tropical island on Sarasota Bay where one can bathe in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, hunt, fish motor and enjoy life the year around.” He opened his 150 person dining-hall capacity Higelhurst Hotel at Big Pass in 1915, and ferried 200 guests for the grand opening. He hobnobbed with the likes of city founders Owen Burns, John Hamilton Gillespie, and the Ringling Brothers.