Skip to main content

Florida State Road 789 in Harding Circle of St. Armands Key

Florida State Road 789 departs from US Route 41 in downtown Sarasota and follows the Gulf Coast towards Florida State Road 64 at Anna Maria Key.  Headed northbound Florida State Road 789 crosses John Ringling Causeway and emerges into the unique Harding Circle of St. Armands Key.  Harding Circle is often more popularly referred to as "St. Armands Circle" and is a central attraction for visitors to the City of Sarasota.  


Part 1; the history of Harding Circle

Information pertaining to the history of Harding Circle is easily found at the intersection with western John Ringling Boulevard.  St. Armands Key is named after French investor Charles St. Armands who purchased the island in 1893.   St. Armands Key was later purchased by Circus Magnate John Ringling in 1923.  Ringling sought to build a planned community which would be centered around a circle shaped main street and park.  The grand opening of St. Armands Key and Harding Circle would come in 1928 when the first John Ringling Causeway was completed to downtown Sarasota.  Harding Circle is named after Warren G. Harding who was the residing President when the street grid of St. Armands Key was being planned.   

Note; several sources claim the first automobile to reach St. Armands Key from Sarasota arrived in 1926.  It is unclear if a ferry was required to make this trip to St. Armands Key or if the original John Ringling Causeway was constructed to a point where vehicles could cross.  The below postcard from bridgehunter.com depicts the original John Ringling Causeway

John Ringling Causeway first appear as an extension of pre-1945 State Road 18 for the first time in the 1935 Florida State Road System logbook.  The extension of pre-1945 Florida State Road 18 was intended to connect the highway to Florida State Road 18A at Anna Maria Key.   Pre-1945 Florida State Road 18 appears to have bypassed Harding Circle in favor of Washington Drive. 


John Ringling Causeway can be seen as part of pre-1945 Florida State Road 18 on the 1939 Rand McNally Map of Florida.  

During the 1945 Florida State Road Renumbering John Ringling Causeway were reassigned as Florida State Road 780.  Florida State Road 780 can be seen on the 1956 Shell Highway Map of Florida.  

The second John Ringling Causeway opened to traffic during 1957 and can be seen on this postcard hosted on bridgehunter.com.  The second John Ringling Causeway was a replacement for the original structure which had been completed during 1928.  

In time Florida State Road 780 over John Ringling Causeway was renumbered as Florida State Road 790.  This designation swap appears to occurred alongside Florida State Road 780 departing northward from St. Armands Key being reassigned as Florida State Road 789.  Around the turn of the 21st Century Florida State Road 789 was extended from St. Armands Key to downtown Sarasota.  In 2001 Harding Circle was designated as a National Historic District and placed on the National Register of Historic Places.  In 2003 the third John Ringling Causeway replaced the second structure.  It appears the opening of the third John Ringling Causeway coincided with Florida State Road 789 moving from Washington Drive to Harding Circle.  

Below the present John Ringling Causeway can be seen from Nora Patterson Bay Island Park.  The current John Ringling Causeway is 3,097 feet in length and does not have a draw span unlike it's two predecessors.  


Part 2; a tour around Harding Circle

From John Ringling Causeway Florida State Road 789 enters Harding Circle facing westward.  Traffic headed onto northbound Florida State Road 789 towards Longboat Key is advised to utilize both lanes.  




A closer view of Florida State Road 789 northbound transitioning from Harding Circle to northern Boulevard of the Presidents towards Longboat Key.  

Florida State Road 789 continues to loop Harding Circle and approaches western John Ringling Boulevard where traffic is advised Lido Key can be accessed.  


The street blades of Harding Circle show it now signed as St. Armands Circle. 


The park in the center of Harding Circle. 


Florida State Road 789 traversing Harding Circle to southern Boulevard of the Presidents. 




A statue of John Ringling located at Harding Circle and southern Boulevard of the Presidents. 

Florida State Road 789 completing the full loop of Harding Circle back towards eastern John Ringling Boulevard towards the John Ringling Causeway. 


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The 1915-era Teilman Bridge (the only known Concrete Pony Truss Bridge in California)

The Teilman Bridge is a semi-abandoned structure over Fresno Slough west of Burrell siding near the intersection of Elkhorn Avenue and Elkhorn Grade.  This structure is the only known Concrete Pony Truss Bridge constructed in California and was designed by Ingvart Teilman.  Teilman's Bridge would open in late 1915 when the Elkhorn Grade was the primary road between Fresno and Coalinga.  The structure would be replaced in 1991 but was left standing as it carries pipelines over Fresno Slough.  Part 1; the history of the Teilman Bridge In the early Twentieth Century the most direct highway between Fresno and Coalinga followed the Elkhorn Grade.  The Elkhorn Grade began at Fresno Slough a short distance west of Burrell siding.  From Fresno Slough the Elkhorn Grade followed a generally southwestern course through San Joaquin Valley into the Kettleman Hills towards Coalinga.   The Elkhorn Grade can be seen on the  1914 C.F. Weber map of Fresno Coun...

The Dummy Lights of New York

  A relic of the early days of motoring, dummy lights were traffic lights  that  were  placed  in the middle of a street intersection. In those early days, traffic shuffled through busy intersections with the help of a police officer who stood on top of a pedestal. As technology improved and electric traffic signals became commonplace, they were also  originally  positioned on a platform at the center of the intersection. Those traffic signals became known as  " dummy lights "  and were common until  traffic lights were moved  onto wires and poles that crossed above the intersection.  In New York State, only a handful of these dummy lights exist. The dummy lights  are found  in the Hudson Valley towns of Beacon and Croton-on-Hudson, plus there is an ongoing tug of war in Canajoharie in the Mohawk Valley, where their dummy light has been knocked down and replaced a few times. The dummy light in Canajoharie is currently...

Prunedale Road (Monterey County)

Prunedale Road is a short 2.6-mile-long frontage corridor of US Route 101 in the namesake Monterey County community of Prunedale.  Prior to 1932 US Route 101 bypassed Prunedale in favor of the San Juan Grade to the east.  Prunedale Road along with nearby Moro Road served as an alternative connecting highway between Salinas and San Juan Bautista.  Following the realignment of US Route 101 onto the Prunedale Cutoff the former through route along Prunedale Road would be rendered as a western frontage.   Part 1; the history of Prunedale Road Prunedale Road is located in and is named after the Monterey County community of Prunedale.  Said community was founded near the junction of San Migeul Canyon, Langley Canyon and Echo Valley.  Watsonville settler Charles Langley (namesake of Langley Canyon) was one of the prominent early community settlers.  The Prunedale Post Office would open for the first time in 1894 but would close by 1908.  Early agricu...