Sarasota County, Florida
Sarasota County is located in Southwest Florida along the Gulf Coast. At the 2020 United States census, the population was 434,006. Its county seat is Sarasota, Florida and its largest city is North Port, Florida. Sarasota County is part of the Sarasota metropolitan area. The county includes barrier islands with beaches and beach communities. It is home to colleges, a network of libraries, and various parks and preserves.
The area was home to indigenous peoples. Wealthy socialites including Bertha Palmer, who owned substantial lands in the area including what is now Palmer Ranch, established residences in the area. Agriculture included citrus and celery. Several historically African American neighborhoods were established, including the Rosemary District and Newtown. More recently, the North Port area has been fast growing including with Eastern European immigrants.
Sarasota is home to a library system, spring training facilities for the Baltimore Orioles, the Bobby Jones Golf Club, numerous parks and preserves, and waterways for boating, paddle-craft, and fishing. Sarasota has been a center of architecture, both Italianate and modern (Sarasota School of Architecture) as well as for visual arts and circus performers. The cities of Sarasota, Venice, and North Port are in the county as well as the town of Englewood, Florida, beach communities including Siesta Key, and unincorporated communities such as Nokomis and Osprey.