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Ruskin Pioneers Remembered On 100th Anniversary

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By LOIS KINDLE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 7, 2008

RUSKIN - The story of Ruskin is the story of the farmers and fishermen who came here at the turn of the 20th century to make a living off land and sea. As the community turns 100 today, those pioneer families and their stories will be celebrated at the Ruskin Woman's Club.

Ruskin began as a cooperative community founded by George McA. Miller and his wife, Adaline. The venture was based on the ideas of English social reformer John Ruskin and backed by A.P. Dickman and his two brothers, L.L. and N.E.

They acquired 12,000 acres north of the Little Manatee River and began attracting settlers from across the country.

"When my grandfather came to the area in 1906 there were only two families here, the Saffolds and the Royals," said Ruskin historian Arthur McA. Miller. "At first, my family lived on an old Indian mound at Shell Point that was once a fishing lodge."

Miller said the Dickmans and their children moved into buildings that were part of an abandoned turpentine plant.

A Ruskin post office opened on Aug. 7, 1908, with Adaline Dickman as its first postmistress.

In 1910, A.P. Dickman built a house that remains beside the Ruskin Inlet. George McA. Miller, who founded Ruskin College, followed two years later with another home on what is now U.S. 41. That home later was donated to the Ruskin Woman's Club. Both buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

"Education and training were at the heart of the community," said Arthur McA. Miller. "It was based on the three H's - head, heart and hands - which stood for education; ethical awareness, doing right and community service; and physical work."

After the college was destroyed by fire in 1919, the Dickmans, Elsberrys, Sumners, Councils, Leiseys, Willises, Vogels and Villemaires built agriculture into an industry in south Hillsborough County.

"Ruskin was all palmettos, rattlesnakes and dirt roads," said Lucien Villemaire, 85, recalling his early childhood. Until 1987, he and his brother Lionel farmed 900 acres of tomatoes, citrus and strawberries, and raised cattle.

The first Councils came to Ruskin from nearby Terra Ceia in 1934 to grow crops and raise cattle. Eventually, the family owned about 5,000 acres. They, too, fell in love with the community. Many Council family members remain here.

"Ruskin has the continuity of generations of families going back to the beginning of Ruskin," said Sonja Council, 60, who married into the family in 1971. "My grandchildren play with the children of families my husband grew up with. Community ties in Ruskin are strong. I can't think of a better place to raise a family."

For more on Ruskin and its people, go to southshore.tbo.com.

Reporter Lois Kindle can be reached at (813) 865-1553 or lkindle@tampatrib.com.

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