Editing Fruitville, Florida (section)

==History==
[[File:MJD0026.jpg|thumb|Army "Jenny" planes and observers at Franklin Field in Sarasota.]]
{{US Census population
|1960= 2131
|1970= 1531
|1980= 3070
|1990= 9808
|2000= 12741
|2010= 13224
|2020= 15484
|footnote=source:<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=[[U.S. Census Bureau]]|access-date=January 15, 2019}}</ref>
}}
[[File:Fruitville aerials-1948.pdf|thumb|Aerial photograph of Fruitville farms in 1948.]]
The area that is Fruitville was mostly a sawgrass swamp when European pioneers began to settle the area. This marshland was home to wild cattle but, according to one source, those cattle didn't do well due to a lack of minerals in the foliage they grazed from. This swampland was eventually drained to make the land more suitable for farming.<ref>{{cite book |title=A History of Agriculture of Sarasota County Florida |date=1976 |publisher=Sarasota County Agriculture Fair Association}}</ref>

In the late 1870s, a new wave of pioneers began to settle in Florida thanks to a growing orange industry.<ref>History & Preservation Coalition, http://historicpreservationsarasota.org/sarasotahistory/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210727091604/https://historicpreservationsarasota.org/sarasotahistory/ |date=July 27, 2021 }}</ref> In 1876, a man by the name of Charles Reaves settled in what is now considered Fruitville. According to some sources, he was the one who named the area Fruitville after the abundance of fruit in the area.<ref>{{cite web |title=Land of Sarasota A Settlement in the Wilderness |url=https://venicefl.pastperfectonline.com/library/B07DEF71-8383-4459-8213-724994756543 |website=Venice Museum and Archives |access-date=4 June 2022}}</ref> Reaves would go on to become the postmaster for the area's 115 residents. The first church in [[Sarasota County]] was the Friendship Baptist Church. The church was chartered in 1875 and a small pine log structure was used for the congregation until a new church was erected in 1876, using some of the original lumber from the first church.<ref>State Archives of Florida/Works Progress Administration. Retrieved from https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/251255</ref> In 1887, the Florida Mortgage and Investment Company of Scotland donated land to the church for the establishment of the community's first cemetery.<ref>The Genealogical Society of Sarasota (2007). Cemeteries of Sarasota County Florida A Record of Births, Deaths, and Burials. Retrieved from http://sites.rootsweb.com/~flgss/CemeteryFiles/FriendshipBaptistCemetery.pdf 12/17/2021</ref>

Also in 1887, Charles and his wife Martha Tatum Reaves converted their corncrib into Fruitville's first school for their three children and seven neighbors. They went on to hire Miss Josie Clower as the first teacher in the area.<ref>{{cite web |title=Overview / About Fruitville |url=https://www.sarasotacountyschools.net/domain/1503 |website=www.sarasotacountyschools.net |publisher=Sarasota County Schools |access-date=13 April 2023 |language=en}}</ref> After citizens petitioned for a modern school building, funding was granted from the [[Works Progress Administration]] to build Fruitville Elementary in 1941. Rural schools in the nearby villages of Tatum Ridge and Old Myakka were closed, with their students bussed to the new school in Fruitville.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sarasotahistoryalive.com/history/articles/sarasota-s-journey-from-depression-to-war/|title = Sarasota's Journey from Depression to War &#124; Sarasota History Alive!}}</ref>

A map from 1902 shows Fruitville on the map as a community.<ref>{{cite map |title=Cram's Florida, 1902 |website=State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory |publisher=George F. Cram |year=1902 |url=https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/323193 |access-date=November 30, 2021}}</ref>

In May 1918, [[Franklin Field (Florida)|Franklin Field]] (named after then-mayor George Franklin) began operating as a military airfield during {{nowrap|[[World War I]]}}. The Franklin airfield was located north of Fruitville Road and east of what is now Tuttle road. The airfield was an auxiliary landing station for the U.S. Army Air Service and housed, at the least, several [[Curtiss JN]] "Jenny" planes.<ref>{{cite web |title=Army "Jenny" planes and observers at Franklin Field in Sarasota |website=State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory |url=https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/276012 |access-date=November 30, 2021 |year=1918}}</ref> With the war over, the airfield saw less and less traffic and was likely unused by 1920. In 1924 the land was developed for a new subdivision.<ref>Sunday Favorites: The Intrigue of Aviation, The Bradenton Times. Retrieved from https://thebradentontimes.com/sunday-favorites-the-intrigue-of-aviation-p21183-133.htm</ref>

Throughout the 1960s and 70s, there was a migrant camp called Sababo in Fruitville that supplied much of the labor force for area's farm industry. A major crop in the area was celery.<ref>{{cite news |title=Migrant Options There to Pick |url=https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/florida/sarasota/sarasota-journal/1977/01-27/page-34/ |access-date=26 May 2022 |agency=Sarasota Journal |date=27 January 1977}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Celery Fields |url=https://www.sarasotaaudubon.org/the-celery-fields/ |website=Sarasota Audubon Society |publisher=Sarasota County Fair and Sarasota County Historical Commission |access-date=4 June 2022}}</ref> In 1966, there was an estimated 2,000 migrant workers in Sarasota County. To provide healthcare and education to this population, on December 5, 1966 the Fruitville Area Medical and Educational (FAME) Center was opened.<ref>Florida Migrant Health Project. Fourth Annual Progress Report, 1966-1967. Florida State Board of Health. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED013699.pdf on 5/26/2022. p. 252</ref>

In November 1990, Litchfield's Cinema 10 opened in the Sarasota Commons, the community's first modern movie theater. As a promotion, the theater offered tickets for only 50 cents during its opening. Some of the films shown for its pre-opening weekend were ''[[Pretty Woman]]'' and {{nowrap|''[[Back to the Future III]]''}}.<ref>{{cite web |access-date=November 30, 2021 |title=Sarasota Crossings 10 in Sarasota, FL |url=http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/26427/photos/30943 |website=Cinema Treasures}}</ref>

[[File:Fruitville Public Library.jpg|thumb|Fruitville Library]]
On December 8, 2001, the Fruitville Library was opened to serve the Fruitville community as a part of the [[Sarasota County Library System]]. The library was initially called East County Library throughout its [[land-use planning]] process before the Sarasota County Commission renamed the library a month prior to its opening.<ref>{{cite web |access-date=2021-11-30 |title=About Us |url=https://friendsofthefruitvillelibrary.org/about-us/ |website=Friends of the Fruitville Public Library}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=NewsBank&req_dat=AFBD557EA6FA48E3948D424ADE8156CF&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews%252F0EFADF33A148056F |newspaper=Sarasota Herald-Tribune |date=November 8, 2001 |access-date=November 30, 2021 |via=NewsBank |title=Commission votes to rename library}}</ref>