Historic McClellan Park (Sarasota, Florida)

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Sarasota's "Garden Spot" was the description used in local ads for McClellan Park in 1916. On 56 acres at the southern end of Orange Avenue, between Osprey Avenue and the Bay, the subdivision represented a new style of development for Sarasota. The developers were Katherine E. and Daisietta G. McClellan, sisters who had initially visited Sarasota around 1910. They hired landscape architects to design the park, with the result that roadways curved over the gently sloping land and every lot had a view of the bay.

The Sarasota Times commented that Katherine McClellan, a professional photographer, was "always keeping in mind the artistic as well as the practical." Paved sidewalks, shade trees and flowering shrubs lined the shell-covered roads (Some of the original shell aggregate curbs and gutters can still be seen.) Pergolas framed the Orange Avenue entrance to the Park.

An Indian mound on the property inspired Katherine McClellan to use Seminole words when naming the roads and yacht basin. Early publications described the Clubhouse as "furnished in Indian effect." Along with this advertised connection with the assumed cultural tradition of the land, however, was the clear message that McClellan Park was a modern development.

To read further, visit the floridahistoryalive website, and click on Journals of Yesteryear. While on the site explore historic markers, historical designations, historical designations, walking tours, and now a great video spotlight.