The year 1878 saw William and Mary Goff become our area’s first settlers, that is, after the original native Americans. They bought 60 acres of land bordering on Lemon Bay, which included, what today is part of the Dearborn Street area. A footpath, worn through the slash pines and the palmettos by the Goff family, later was enlarged to a wagon trail when the Goff’s were able to acquire oxen and a wagon. Therefore, the Goffs must be credited with handcarving Dearborn Street out of the wilderness.
The Nichols brothers, early Englewood developers, must be credited with naming it, 18 years later, when they recorded the first plat of Englewood in 1896. They gave names to the new town that were from their home in Englewood,Illinois.
Yale Street was Englewood's first business district. However, in 1916 Pete Buchan bought land on Lemon Bay at the end of Dearborn Street because it was cheaper. He built a large building to house a store. The family lived above the store. He also built a long dock from which to receive his goods which arrived by sailboat. Buchan's move from Yale Street would eventually stimulate other small businesses to follow him. The Dearborn Street area business district has been up and running continuously ever since and is the oldest commercial area in Englewood, therefore very deserving of the Sarasota County Historic Marker that is on the corner of Mango Street.
