Earliest known photo (c. 1908) of one of two boats that served Ruskin Florida as the only transportation in and out of the town. The name of the boat is not listed. Photo provided by the Ruskin Chamber of Commerce.

Circa 1929 photo of US 41 looking north in Ruskin, FL. The Coffee Cup is the farthest building on the right (that you can see). On the left, according to Paul B.Dickman is his original Real Estate Office. In 1933 or 34 this building was converted to a warehouse for Dickman's tomato canning plant. It housed machinery and canning tomatoes. Just north of that building was a filling station run by a man named Garrett (later Harry Molz, Sr.)

Copy of photograph of the old Ruskin Amphitheater prior to its eventual demolition. The theater was built in mid-century to hold an outdoor drama in an effort to attract tourists. That effort, while initially successful, did not see the outdoor drama last beyond a short season. In later years the Ruskin Tomato Festival was held on the amphitheater grounds. (The site has not been formally identified, but it appears to have been south of College Avenue on the east side of US 41.)

This aerial photo is of the Ruskin Vegetable Cooperative on US541 (now us 41) looking east. On the extreme left is the small white structure that housed the cooperative headquarters. That building survives intact in 2022, and is now the retail facility *MUV" for the marijuana grow facility which replaced the structure in the photo around 2019. The photo looks to be c 1940 based on the vehicles in the photo. This area would have been known as North Ruskin (at least that was the name of the small train station that served the cooperatives, likely just to the left of the administrative building, but out of the picture. Today, across from the administrative building would be the entrance to Flamingo Road, which was built in the late 1950s as part of the new Apollo Beach construction. Note the vintage plan in the foreground which was likely used for crop dusting. Also interesting is the completely barren land east of the facility, which today is being developed as part of the massive Waterset Community.

This title abstract, while for running of electrical lines in Ruskin, is significant for a couple of reasons. In the first document, RELEASE OF RESERVATIONS, The Ruskin Commongood Society grants permission to run electric lines provided that no "manufacturing, banking, or mercantile business shall be conducted on lands with out specific Commongood Permission. It also shows that Adaline Dickman was president of the Society in 1926. Of even more importance is the third document, ORDINANCE by the Town of Ruskin. Little is know of the incorporation of Ruskin in the late 1920s, but this document attests to the fact that at some point,Ruskin was incorporated as a town in Hillsborough County. See page entitled DEED BOOK 806 Page 278. where, at the bottom, the resolution was "passed by the City Council of the Town of Ruskin, Florida in regular sessions assembled and signed by J. B. Thornton President of the City Council of the Town of Ruskin, Attested by the City Clerk, Cora Jones, and by Edward P. Buckland, Mayor of the Town of Ruskin Florida.

George and Adaline Miller siblings, later in life. Photo identified by Mac Miller, who is the young man pictured in front of his two parents in this photo. (Mac was born in 1941.) From left to Right are Admer Miller, Wilbur Miller, Julia Miller (Wilbur's wife and Mac's mother), Aurora Miller, Zoa Miller, Georgadda Miller and Olnton Miller. The site is unknown.

This is a photo of a younger Georgeadda Miller. This was likely taken while the family was in Glen Ellyn, IL where Miller's Second Ruskin College was created. Georgeadda was both a student and instructor at the Illinois Campus. From other family members it seems that Georgeadda greatly missed her time in Illinois when the family moved to Florida.

This wide shot of one of the original Ruskin College building is very useful. Note the nature of the college grounds, and the construction of the building using rough pine wood to build. In 1918 this is one of the buildings that burnt to the ground. Poor quality photo is from the Joni Maschek collection.

There are few photos of the old hotel, reportedly built on the site of native Ucita (native tribe who lived in the area at the time of DeSoto's entry in Florida) mound at the end of Ruskin's Shell Point. This picture, from the Joni Maschek archives and labeled as a 1908 photo of the Ruskin hotel was the first residence for George Miller and his family. In some of the interviews of the children (some of which are contained in the site, you will find references to their time in this hotel. Miller's first goal was to create a town in the vicinity of the hotel, which he intended to call Venoa, was abandoned because of the difficult terrain at the end of Shell Point. At that point, he began searching for land on properties owned an abandoned lumber camp which included lands along the Little Manatee River where Ruskin is now located.

Copy of newspaper ad, likely from Ruskin's local paper, of a community celebration of Ruskin's 5th Anniversary on June 12, 1914. Note a couple of things about this ad. It names the college as Ruskin Institute. Few references show this name. Note also that the anniversary is for the "First allotment." This likely refers to the first allotment of lands offered for public sale in Ruskin. Lands would have been sold by the Ruskin Commongood which allotted lands in 3 distinct phases in the first years. Item was discovered in writings of Joni Maschek