May Sarasota Prosper

Sarasota voted to incorporate as a town in October 1902. Fifty-three men gathered for the vote and elected John Hamilton Gillespie as Sarasota’s first mayor. For the town motto the men chose the hopeful, but prophetic, “May Sarasota Prosper.” The town seal consisted of a mullet and a rising sun over palmettos with shells at the base. Gillespie served as mayor from 1902 through 1907 and again from 1909 to 1910. He also served as a city councilman.

The town of Sarasota 1902 seal consisted of a mullet and a rising sun over palmettos with shells at the base.