Historic Spanish Point Sarasota Family Vacation Activity
Located on the shores of Little Sarasota Bay in Osprey, Florida, Historic Spanish Point is an archaeological, historical and environmental site museum. The year 2007 marks the 25th anniversary of the museum being open to the public, but the history of the site goes back 5,000 years to Florida’s first people. The shell middens built by them cover much of the 30-acre site. Florida’s pioneer past is also evident at Historic Spanish Point through the legacy of the Webb family from New York, who travelled to Florida in 1867. Settling on the bay at the high point of land recommended to them by a Spanish trader they met in Key West, they named the homestead Spanish Point in honor of that trader. Turn of the century Sarasota was a place of growth and Spanish Point became a part of the winter estate of Chicago socialite Mrs. Potter Palmer. She added her own touches to the landscape in the form of gardens and garden architecture.
