Remember when … Ross became Sun City and Universal Pictures’ ‘Florida’s Motion Picture City’?
By PENNY FLETCHER
In 1725, Elisha Buzbee became the first Buzbee to be born in what is now the United States of America. Although the first name of his father is not known, what has been found are records that Elisha Buzbee’s father came from England, lived in South Carolina, and moved to the rattlesnake-infested land just south of Ruskin. He settled on the banks of the Little Manatee River. At the time, the country was still run by Great Britain.
“We can’t find the first name of Elisha’s father,” said Ron Buzbee in an interview last week. “But we do know he came sometime in the late 1600s or early 1700s, before the Revolutionary War, and settled in what was then a small place called Ross.”
Although much written history of long-forgotten “Ross” is online at the Florida Division of Historical Resources’ website, more interesting details were supplied by Elisha’s descendants.
“His family fanned out all over,” Buzbee continued. Some of the family can be traced, some cannot. But Buzbee’s great-great-grandfather Lawrence had two families in South County — Buzbees in Riverview (part of which was then called Peru) and another in Ross. “His first wife died in 1883 or 1884, and he married again to (who became) my great-grandmother.”
“Back then all the deeds to the land there said, “‘Ross, addition to Sun City’ on them.”
Not to be confused with Del Webb’s Sun City Center built in the 1960s, Sun City was the area just south of Ruskin; part of which was originally “Ross.”
Carol Buzbee Flannery said her granddad, Nebraska Buzbee, was called “Uncle Brack,” and his whole family lived in what amounted to a family compound in old Ross. Many of their homesteads still stand.
“Cedella Pellum, Loretta Merrill, Opal and Brack Buzbee, Edna Connell and Ralph Merrill were all part of the family. Ralph Merrill, whose mom was Loretta, still lives in Ruskin,” she added.
Another early settler from the 1800s was Daniel Houghtaling, who moved to Ross from Michigan in the 1800s.
“Our grandchildren will make the seventh generation of the family living here,” said Diane Houghtaling, who is the wife of Mike Houghtaling, the fifth generation of area citrus growers.
“The main road into Sun City, Stephens Road, was named after Jimmie Stephens, a local farmer whose homestead is still standing,” Houghtaling said. “Mabel Markwood Simmons owned many acres in Sun City, including a large tract of land where her company, Roman J.Claprood Co., grew gladioluses.”
Many other families from that small area south of Ruskin are still in South County.
I also received a letter asking about a legend, and it turns out the legend of Tarzan movies being filmed in Sun City is true. (Telling this story makes me feel a little like the editor of The (New York) Sun, who in 1897 printed the “Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus” editorial.)
I started looking for early settlers after receiving a letter from Peg Budzik, who wrote, “I so enjoy your column about the past even though I’ve only been coming here 10 years. I miss the weeks you’re not in the paper and go through it twice to make sure I didn’t miss it. I stay in an RV Park off U.S. 41 just outside Ruskin (Hide-A-Way) and have been told it is an old movie lot that was the site of filming the Tarzan movies. I was wondering if you had any information confirming this.”
In 1915, at the height of Florida’s land boom, Florida historical records show that J.H. Meyer, a Miami realtor, and H.C. Van Swearingen, a Cleveland railroad investor, joined forces and bought 500 acres of land in and around Ross, forming the Sun City Holding Company, based in Bradenton.
By 1925, Sun City had a school, hotel, theater, church and city hall, and Universal Studios bought in.
After that, Meyer began promoting Sun City as “Florida’s Motion Picture City,” enticing buyers with the prospect of living among movie stars.
As part of Meyers’ promotion, streets were named for prominent film stars, directors and studios of the period. That’s why you will still find (Mary) Pickford Avenue, (Charlie) Chaplin Drive, (Douglas) Fairbanks Drive, (King) Vidor Avenue, Fox Place, Metro Drive and Universal Drive.
Universal Studios spent more than $300,000 to build a 70-by-190-foot movie studio and on October 8, 1925, Tampa Mayor Perry Wall led the dedication ceremonies for opening it.
“But the bust came soon after,” said Ron Buzbee, referring to the Great Depression. “The studio closed and Uncle Brack’s daddy was asked to live in and watch the tower (a high building that was part of the movie studio). Uncle Brack said he used to play in the old abandoned building and that it was still filled with old movie sets and clothes. He said he could play cowboys and Indians with real props. He got in real trouble though when he climbed up into the high part of the tower and out the hatch, and his dad caught him sitting on the top.”
This story was verified by county records, and the story, “Sun City, Boom Town, Sold for $100 at Auction,” in the July 5, 1932 edition of the former Tampa Tribune.
These days, Sun City and Sun City Center are often confused.
When developer Del E. Webb built his California and Arizona retirement communities called Sun City, he did not anticipate the coincidence of having another Sun City within the same county as the one he planned for Florida — and had to add “Center” to the name.
Sun City residents do not like the town being referred to as “Old Sun City” but realize it is often spoken of that way to avoid confusion.
“We may eventually be engulfed as a part of Ruskin and lose Sun City altogether just as Ross became lost in Sun City,” said Diane Houghtaling.
That is what happened to Peru — which became a part of Riverview, and Gardenville — that became known as part of Gibsonton. But the old street names still tell their stories. You just have to find the area’s old-timers to find out about them.