Lido / St.Armands Key

Visionary circus magnate John Ringling purchased the St. Armands Key property in 1917 and planned a development which included residential lots and a shopping center laid out in a circle. As no bridge to the key had yet been built, Ringling engaged an old paddle-wheel steamboat, the "Success," to service as a work boat. Decades after conception, St. Armands Circle has fulfilled John Ringling's dream of a premier shopping district. Conceived during Florida's real estate boom, St. Armands was part of the John Ringling Estates development and the jewel of Ringling Isles, an ambitious venture encompassing planned resorts, a casino, subdivisions and a shopping area scattered from Bird and Lido keys to southern Longboat Key. Designed by architect John J. Watson of Ohio and Sarasota engineer Leon Pickett, the circle and surrounding development were made accessible by construction of Ringling Causeway in 1926.