Ringling Bridge

Connecting the Sarasota mainland to the barrier islands, the Ringling Bridge was a project built by John Ringling to provide access to his real... more

by Warren Day

Title

Ringling Bridge

Artist

Warren Day

Medium

Painting - Mixed Media Painting

Description

Connecting the Sarasota mainland to the barrier islands, the Ringling Bridge was a project built by John Ringling to provide access to his real estate holdings. Ringling in 1917 began buying up land, including Bird Key, St. Armand's Key, Coon Key, Otter Key, and several unnamed mangrove islands. In 1923, he brought in dredges to build up the mangrove islands and to fill in around Cedar Point (now Golden Gate Point), St. Armand's, Lido and the southern end of Longboat Key, where he planned his luxurious Ritz--Carlton Hotel. He installed sewer and water mains and planted thousands of palms and Australian pines on his holdings. One year later it was open to the public. Costing $750,000, Ringling presented the causeway to the city in 1927.
Since it first opened, commercial fisherman and sport fisherman had an ongoing dispute. Tourists say that netting ruins the sport, while commercial fishermen claim to need netting to catch mullet, which aren't attracted by hooks. Men, women and children enjoyed fishing from the Ringling Bridge for several decades.

Uploaded

July 28th, 2015