Sarasota County
Lakewood Ranch Relocation Guide
Sarasota County was created in 1921 from the southern part of Manatee County. After acquisition by the United States as a territory, the area now included in Sarasota county had been part of St. Johns County (1821), Alachua County (1824), Hillsborough County (1834), and Manatee County (1855) as new counties were created from older counties to accommodate population growth and settlement in new areas.
Although the name was associated with the area from the beginning of European contacts, the origin of the name “Sarasota” is unknown. Some believe a fanciful story created for a popular early twentieth-century pageant held in Sarasota, that was named after the daughter of famous explorer Hernando de Soto’s daughter Sara.
According to the Florida League of Cities, the name first appeared in print as “Zarazote” on a 1763 land grant map.
Joseph Daniel Anderson was one of the pioneers of the Sarasota area. He established his homestead in the Forked Creek area in 1886 and became an early leader in what now is southern Sarasota County (having been Manatee County from 1855 until 1921).
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