Seaboard Railway Depot

Seaboard Railway Depot. . , On this site in 1903, the U.S. and West Indies Railroad and Steamship Company built a depot. This railroad, subsequently incorporated into the Seaboard Air Line Railway, provided great impetus to the town's turn-of-the-century progress. Trains brought passengers and manufactured goods to Sarasota and took local products such as fish, citrus, lumber, and vegetables to northern markets. The tracks entered the town along Lemon Avenue, crossed Main Street and curbed south to terminate on a pier extending into the bay where commercial fish houses were built., Reverse: , In 1905 and 1912, tracks were built to the agricultural and commercial centers of Fruitville, Bee Ridge, and Venice. When Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus established winter quarters in Sarasota, tracks were extended to the circus grounds east of the City. Daily train and sleeper service from Sarasota to point's north ultimately succumbed to the convenience of the automobile. The Seaboard Air Line Railway and Atlantic Coast Line Railroad merged in 1967 to form the Seaboard Coast Line which continued train service at its station on east Main Street.