Dearborn Street - Englewood, Florida. Photo credit: State Archives of Florida.
Early History of Englewood’s Dearborn Street
Written by Diana Harris
The year 1878 saw William and Mary Goff become our area’s
first settlers, that is, after the original Native Americans. They
bought 60 acres of land bordering on Lemon Bay, which included, what today is part of the Dearborn Street area. A footpath,
worn through the slash pines and the palmettos by the Goff
family, later was enlarged to a wagon trail when the Goff ’s were
able to acquire oxen and a wagon. Therefore, the Goffs must be
credited with hand carving Dearborn Street out of the wilderness.
The Nichols brothers, early Englewood developers, must be
credited with naming it, 18 years later, when they recorded the
first plat of Englewood in 1896. They gave names to the new
town that were from their home in Englewood, Illinois.
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www.EnglewoodChamber.com
Yale Street was Englewood’s first business district. However, in
1916 Pete Buchan bought land on Lemon Bay at the end of Dearborn Street because it was cheaper. He built a large building to
house a store. The family lived above the store. He also built a long
dock from which to receive his goods which arrived by sailboat.
Buchan’s move from Yale Street would eventually stimulate other
small businesses to follow him. The Dearborn Street area business
district has been up and running continuously ever since and is
the oldest commercial area in Englewood, therefore very deserving of the Sarasota County Historic Marker that is on the corner
of Mango Street.
Diana Harris has been archiving and documenting Englewood history
since she moved here from New York in 1963. The historical columnist
for the Englewood Sun has written a book, Englewood Lives, which
is available for sale at the Englewood Chamber of Commerce office.