FLORIDA PLACE TO EXPLORE
St. Armands Circle
Sarasota County · Gulf Coast
A traffic circle of shops and restaurants on St. Armands Key, laid out by John Ringling in the 1920s and studded with statues he brought from Italy.
ABOUT THIS PLACE
A Frenchman named Charles St. Amand bought land on the key in 1893, and a clerk misspelled his name in the deed, which is why the island carries the spelling it does. John Ringling bought the key in 1917 and planned a residential development around a circular shopping street. There was no bridge, so he worked from a paddle-wheel steamboat, then financed the causeway and was the first man to drive across it in 1926. The land boom collapsed soon after and the scheme stalled for decades before it filled out. The circle now holds more than 130 shops and restaurants. Classical statuary Ringling bought in Italy stands around it, restored through a public campaign in 2007 and 2008. The Circus Ring of Fame runs through the circle too, over 150 bronze plaques set in the pavement honoring circus performers, among them Nik Wallenda and Bello Nock. Lido Beach is a short walk west
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