Historic Spanish Point

We visited Historic Spanish Point today. It is a small peninsula in Little Sarasota Bay. It had been previously settled by indigenous people but was abandoned 1000 years ago. The property was bought by the Webb family in 1867 and was named Spanish Point. They farmed the land for over 40 years before heiress Bertha Honore Palmer bought this parcell and almost one fourth of what is now Sarasota County. The property was donated to Sarasota County in 1980. The little chapel above was built as a memorial to an 18 year old tuberculosis patient named Mary who came here to recuperate but died 5 weeks later. It is "Mary's Chapel".

 

The view from the pier of the original Web  packing shed and dock.

 

 

 

This building is called "A window to the past" and is built over an archeological excavation of a shell "midden", or pile of shells built by the original inhabitants.

This is the view from a wood bridge  over to the boatworks and house of Frank Webb Guptill.

 

I couldn't help but see this colorful spider.

Kathy is in front of the Guptill boat works.

This is the beautifully restored Guptill home.

 

 

The Guptill kitchen.