How Sarasota's Old Money Built a Coast of Mansions and Then Lost It All: Sapphire Shores

On a cold morning in December 1936, a 70-year-old man died in a rented apartment in New York City, far from the water he loved. His name was John Ringling. Thirty years earlier he'd been one of the richest men in America, a circus king who bought Sarasota by the square mile. When the accountants opened his bank account that winter, they found $311. Eleven hundred miles south, his marble palace sat in the dark, surrounded by a neighborhood that was supposed to be a whole coast of mansions. This is the story of Sapphire Shores — and how the most protected shore in Sarasota emptied out, one unpaid bill at a time. Sources: https://www.ringling.org/ca-dzan/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ri... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida...