History lessons lead to business success in Lakewood Ranch

Lakewood Ranch Realtor Paul Oakes hears from his out-of-town customers that the Sarasota-Manatee region thrives on tourism and promotion of its beaches but also that the area lacks a history as far as other businesses and industry are concerned.

After attending the Feb. 27 joint luncheon of the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance and Rotary Club of Lakewood Ranch at the Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club, he said he feels more prepared to change that perception.

During the presentation by John McCarthy, a local historian and executive director at Historic Spanish Point in Osprey, he learned about how businesses, other than those tourist related, shaped the region.

He said some of McCarthy’s presentation gives him conversation starters with his clients.

Such as?

The dotted lines that separate road lanes? They were invented by Barron Collier, for whom Collier County is named.

Bradenton man George Washington Blackburn patented the drag for a fishing reel, as well as the first fishing spoon.

The area now known as Lakewood Ranch came about in 1905 when businessman John Schroeder set up a cattle ranch on thousands of acres in eastern Manatee County. He sold the property in 1922 to the Uihlein family, which still owns much of it today.

McCarthy said that at that time, local ranchers branded their cattle, but there were not always fences to separate herds. Ranchers would look at calves and try to match them with their mothers, and ranchers worked together for success.

“It was an honor system,” McCarthy said. “Isn’t that important for business?”

Even the brand of guitar strings Oakes uses are produced locally.

“This was enlightening to discover how much business is here,” Oakes said. “I can see lots of times where this [information] will help people feel more connected.”

McCarthy’s theme was to showcase innovation and business in the Sarasota and Manatee region as well as the value of networking. He said the networking term came about from creating and mending fishing nets. People would talk as they were “net-working,” and the concept proved vital for business development in the Sarasota/Manatee region, just as it is today.

McCarthy said understanding the area’s history proves residents here valued diversity, honesty and innovation.

“It creates a sense of place,” McCarthy said of understanding the area’s history. “Sarasota and Manatee counties have been involved in innovation or years. How many people know the communication system used to put the first man on the moon was developed off Fruitville Road? It reminds us of the opportunities that are out there.”