The origin of the name "Ruskin" can be traced back to John Ruskin, a nineteenth-century English social critic and champion of socialism. Colleges founded in Ruskin's honor promoted the ideal of higher education for the masses. They served anyone who was willing to work in the schools' industries or agricultural fields. One such school was founded on the banks of the Little Manatee River in 1910.

Three years earlier, Dr. George Miller and his financial partner A.P. Dickman purchased 12,000 acres of cheap, secluded land along the river. Miller sold land to finance the construction of the college. With its opening in 1910, working class northerners, lured by cheap land and the promise of an education, began arriving. Others came from failed Ruskin communities in Tennessee and Georgia. For a few short years, these colonists lived the dream of a cooperative socialist community. Female as well as male landowners voted on the direction of the local government, and the town church was non-sectarian.

The arrival of the railroad in 1913 and the advent of paved roads linked Ruskin more closely with the outside world, but residents kept to themselves, aware of the external hostility toward socialism. World War I deprived the town of many of its young people, ending years of population growth and forcing the college to close its doors. A 1918 fire destroyed all but two buildings at the college. A year later, Dr. Miller died while on a speaking tour. The closing of the college ensured that few of Ruskin's young people returned after the war. Gradually, the community shifted into commercial farming, and tomatoes became the area's staple crop, commemorated every May in the Tomato Festival.

Today, Ruskin's history is on display for visitors. The George Miller House and A.P. Dickman House pay tribute to the town's founders. The College Arts Building, one of the two buildings that survived the 1918 blaze, provides visitors a glimpse into the town's heyday, and the Memorial Gardens cemetery holds the remains of its earliest inhabitants. From its beginnings as a socialist community to its present status as a quaint agricultural town, Ruskin offers the visitor a unique take on Old Florida.

This podcast made possible through a grant from the Florida Humanities Council. Script written by Kyle Burke. Narrated by Dave Dunwoody.