Park Sarasota

McClellan Park is one of the oldest residential developments in the city of Sarasota Florida. Touted as "Sarasota's Garden Spot" in the 1916 advertisements promoting the neighborhood, McClellan park certainly lives up to that name.

It is hard to contemplate a time in Sarasota's history where many residents were still using horses for transportation but there was a day when residents of this early Sarasota neighborhood did just that. It is hard to fathom the idea that Mietaw road that leads to the corner of Hyde Park and South Osprey was laid for horse use rather than for Automobiles. Today that portion of Mietaw is now used as a pedestrian path leading to one of the most exciting areas of Sarasota for nightlife and fine dinning in the Hillview area. The main entrance to McClellan Park can be found at the end of Orange Street which is the street that leads to the center of downtown Sarasota.

It was the McClellan sisters, Katherine and Daisietta, which were responsible for platting the 56 acre park. They hired architects that specialized in landscape architecture to subdivide the park into the home sites that exist today. Shell aggregate curbs and gutters lined the streets of the unpaved roads in the development and thankfully some of the original curbs still remain today.

The Native American names used for the streets in the development are the result of the inspiration Katherine found from an ancient Indian mound found in the development. The original schoolhouse in the community was built on this sacred site.

Today the eastern part of McClellan Park is known as Paradise Shores. Many of the area's finest waterfront residences can be found here. When you cross the Indian streets and find yourself on a road with a bird name, you will know you are in the Paradise Shores area.

No other community in Sarasota can match the romance of McClellan Park. Steeped with history and some of the most interesting mix of homes in Sarasota, McClellan Park is certainly one of the best neighborhoods to call home.

Real estate offerings can be quite limited and span a huge price range. Some of the original homes in the development still exist and are being bought by builders to be leveled to make way for more opulent modern designs. Some of the highest priced shacks are sold in McClellan Park simply for the land beneath them. Some of the original homes have been beautifully restored and remind us all of a rich Sarasota history when times were much simpler than they are today.