The gulf coast of Florida has long attracted people for its welcoming climate, abundant beauty and casual lifestyle. Although some of this beauty and lifestyle has been lost to the advances of progress, a never-ending stream of tourists and families continues to venture south every year for their own piece of the good life in the sun.

Sarasota, Florida, is one city that has always possessed all of the elements—beaches, sport, sun and fun—that draw so many to the Sunshine State every year. As with other popular tourist destinations, there are the year-round inhabitants who, while always ready to share the beauty of their surroundings with visitors, remember their hometown with a much simpler and relaxed fondness.

Sarasota in Vintage Images by longtime resident, historian and columnist Jeff LaHurd is a visual stroll through the Sarasota of yesteryear. With a feel for the nostalgic, Jeff offers readers a pictorial glimpse of Sarasota from the roaring 1920s through the transforming 1960s.