Sarasota in Vintage Images

The gulf coast of Florida has long attracted people for its welcoming climate, abundant beauty and casual lifestyle. Although some of this beauty and lifestyle has been lost to the advances of progress, a never-ending stream of tourists and families continues to venture south every year for their own piece of the good life in the sun.

Sarasota, Florida, is one city that has always possessed all of the elements—beaches, sport, sun and fun—that draw so many to the Sunshine State every year. As...