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Dst In Sarasota Magazine

Col-John-Hamilton-Gillespie_photo_courtesy_State_Archives_of_Florida_Pinard_qzekgy_600x409

Five Fun Facts From Discover Sarasota Tours About What Makes Our Town Special

BY ILENE DENTON
November 30, 2018

Discover Sarasota promises it offers fascinating insight into Sarasota’s rich cultural past.

A new trolley tour company launched this fall with costumed guides who offer, as founder Tammy Hauser promises, “tours of the most interesting people, intriguing places and amazing stories that shaped Sarasota’s rich cultural past.” We asked Hauser to share a few. (She also promises that the trolleys are air-conditioned!)

“Many consider Col. John Hamilton Gillespie, an early settler from Scotland who became Sarasota’s first mayor, the father of American golf. In 1886 he built a practice course with two greens and one long fairway between what is now Main Street and Ringling Boulevard.”

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