This week in history

Feb 19, 1976
Siesta Key was the site of its own gold rush in the ’70s as sharp-eyed beachgoers pocketed gold doubloons and gold pieces of eight coinage that had washed ashore from sunken Spanish Main ships and pirate ships.

According to the Siesta Key Pelican article, many shipwrecks still laid on the Gulf floor because of the time and expense it took to uncover and salvage them.

The Pelican’s tip for treasure hunters? Check the beach right after a storm.

Feb. 19, 1981
The Siesta Key Pelican featured Cliff Parker, a yacht captain and “avid conchologist” for winning three ribbons at the Sarasota Shell Show. Parker moved in 1974 to Sarasota from Connecticut— his motivation was a novel one: escaping the cold winters up north.

Feb. 16, 1995
The City Commission approved a land swap with a developer that would allow the city to build a new library downtown in Five Points Park, but city commissioners’ reading wish list didn’t end there.

The city asked the county to again consider placing the main county library downtown.

The county had decided at the time to build a new 60,000-square-foot central county library off of Clark Road.

Feb. 19, 1998
The Pelican Press reported that the landmark house structured like a lighthouse on Osprey Avenue would be featured on the Home and Garden Channel’s “Extreme Houses” segment. The home had also been featured in a New York Times article. The house was built in 1934 by Capt. Arthur Jackson Rowe, who was the captain of John Ringling’s yacht until he was called to duty in World War II.

After the war, Rowe became a yacht captain to William Selby, founder of Selby Gardens.

The Siesta Key resident picked up his first shell on Lido Key, got hooked on collecting and joined the Sarasota Shell Club.