Join us in the Historical Marker Dedication for Hyde Park Groves and Forest Lake Estates.

This property was once part of 4 million acres of swampland purchased from the state of Florida in 1883 by Hamilton Disston. Bertha Palmer, a Chicago socialite, purchased 80,000 acres of this land around 1910 and began developing it in partnership with her brother, Adrian, and her sons, Honore and Potter. Impressed with the land’s agricultural potential, the Palmers drained the swamp and created fertile farmland, including one of the nation’s largest celery-producing centers. 

 After Bertha Palmer’s death in 1918, her sons, Honore and Potter, developed the Hyde Park subdivision and Hyde Park Citrus Groves. By the 1930s, the 1,200-acre grove was the largest in Sarasota County, contributing to the state’s leading agricultural export. After two decades, the Palmers sold Hyde Park to Carney Groves, which later sold the land to Palmer Bank & Trust Corp.

In 1963, the bank partnered with developer Roland King to use a portion of the former grove to build a 227-acre golf course with a country club, three swimming pools and 401 homes. Some of the original Hyde Park orange trees were incorporated into the design, and a few still survive.

This community, Forest Lakes Country Club Estates, now represents an important part of the Palmer family’s legacy in Sarasota County.