Photo of children playing in front of the original Ruskin Elementary school in 1912. This building was used for a number of community meetings, as well as religious services, prior to College buildings being erected later in the decade.

Photo of tomato harvesting. Growing tomatoes was expensive, forcing many, including Paul Dickman to abandon tomato crops in the early 1950s in favor of cattle ranching and salad vegetables. This is one of the reasons. Tomatoes were handpicked which required expensive labor at harvest time. (Even today, tomatoes designed to be sold as fresh, whole tomatoes are picked by hand. All other tomatoes designed for process, e.g tomato juice or tomato paste, are not picked by machine. The expense of staking, handpicking etc. was one factor that led to the decline of the tomatoes in the Ruskin area.

Dolly Reagan (AKA Jolly Dolly, The Ossified Girl, was born in Saskatoon, Canada in 1919. She began her sideshow career in the early 1940s. She could neither stand nor walk. However, she had command of a few fingers, which helped her control an electric wheelchair. She suffered from Muscular Dystrophy and ankylosis which kept her body rigid. She married three times (a juggler, a ride foreman, and a sideshow manager/magician.). She died in 1994.

Kate O"hare was a very well known socialist reformer, author, speaker, agitator for not only socialist causes but women's suffrage and prison reform. She taught at Ruskin College in 1917 on the invitation of Dr. George Miller. That same year, Ms. O'Hare, who lived in Ruskin with her husband and four children, was arrested in Montana and charged under the new US Sedition Act for speaking against US intervention in WWI. She was sentenced to 5 years and served one year in a Missouri Prison. During that time she wrote many letters home to her family which were included in a published book, "Dear Sweethearts". There she discusses many aspects of her reform thinking. In the picture Kate Richards O’Hare addresses crowd in front of the St. Louis Court House on National Women’s Suffrage Day, May 2, 1914.

Many types of dancing were a instant hit with guests at the resort and with locals as well. This couple is engaging in the very popular weekly square dances. On Friday nights, Millie and Sim provided dances lessons on the Cha-Cha, Merengue, Tango, Rumba, Fox Trot, Samba, Waltz, Basso Nova and Swing for the low, low cost of $1.75 per dance. The Coral Choral (which was in the same building as the Bahia Vista restaurant, but on the south side of the building) was often home to dance clubs, and dances of all styles, catering to all ages.

Naturally, given Bahia Beach's location on Tampa Bay at the Little Manatee River, fishing was a popular sport with guests (and locals). Here this young fisherman, who just returned from a Bahia Beach charter trip, proudly displays his catch.

Resort guests could also partake in hunting as a resort activity. Bahia Beach was affiliated with the River Bend Hunting Preserve in Ruskin and offered guests the opportunity to hunt local game: particular pheasant and other game birds. The Preserve provided train retriever dogs to assist the hunters. Trained guides also accompanied guests.

The Florida Queen was the sister ship (albeit somewhat larger) to the Bahia Queen. Sightseeing tours and jungle cruises occupied guests in this popular attraction.

Jungle Cruises on the Bahia Queen took guests on a leisurely cruise in lower Tampa Bay and up the "wild" Little Manatee River.

The Bahia Vista Restaurant was popular with the locals as well as resort guests. Depicted is a busy night at the restaurant. The windows on the right looked out over the beach at Tampa Bay and were a good place to watch daily sunsets