Andrew McAnsh
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Andrew McAnsh (1874 – October 23, 1946) was a
Scottish-American Scottish Americans or Scots Americans (; ) are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in Scotland. Scottish Americans are closely related to Scotch-Irish Americans, descendants of Ulster Scots, and communities emphasize and cel ...
businessman. He lived in the Chicago area for most of his life and was active in that area. McAnsh would play a prominent role in the development of
Sarasota, Florida Sarasota () is a city in and the county seat of Sarasota County, Florida, United States. It is located in Southwest Florida, the southern end of the Tampa Bay area, and north of Fort Myers, Florida, Fort Myers and Punta Gorda, Florida, Punta Gord ...
, being a real estate developer there.


Early life and career

Andrew McAnsh was born in Scotland in 1874. He would be the son of John and Christina (McGill) McAnsh. He and his family immigrated to North America when he was 5 or 6 years old. His family would first live near
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
before moving to
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
two years later, where he spent most of his life living at. He would receive his education from public schools and a business college. McAnsh originally worked in the haberdashery industry before later moving onto the grocery and restaurant businesses. He would become active politically serving in the Chicago city assessor's office and would serve as a staff member to Illinois Governor
John Riley Tanner John Riley Tanner (April 4, 1844 – May 23, 1901) was the List of governors of Illinois, 21st Governor of Illinois, from 1897 until 1901. Tanner was the first governor in the country to be openly neutral in labor disputes, gaining national no ...
. He then start to become active in furniture manufacturing opening factories in several states including: Wisconsin, Michigan and North Carolina. At some point he began to do construction and real estate work.


Time in Sarasota

After moving to Sarasota (where he was given a hero's welcome) from
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
in 1922, McAnsh founded the Mira Mar Corporation and began developing the Mira Mar Apartments (which took less than sixty days to build). He subsequently built the Mira Mar Hotel (in less than a year) and the Mira Mar Casino. McAnsh struck a deal with the Sarasota civic authorities and arranged for the hotel, apartments and casino to be supplied with free power and water, as well as exemption from property taxes, for the first ten years of its existence. In doing so, he took advantage of an offer previously provided to
John Ringling John Nicholas Ringling (May 31, 1866 – December 2, 1936) was an American entrepreneur who is the best known of the seven Ringling brothers, five of whom merged the Barnum & Bailey Circus with their own Ringling Brothers Circus, Ringling Br ...
, which Ringling had turned down. With his wife Bertha Deegan McAnsh, he had two children. His wife would die on June 10, 1945. McAnsh would be a 32nd Degree Mason. He would spend the winters in Sarasota until he died on October 23, 1946, in Chicago. He is listed as a
Great Floridian Great Floridian is a title bestowed on citizens of Florida by the Florida Department of State. There were actually two formal programs. The Great Floridian 2000 program honored deceased individuals who made "significant contributions in the histor ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McAnsh, Andrew History of Florida 1874 births 1946 deaths Scottish emigrants to the United States Businesspeople from Toronto People from Sarasota, Florida Businesspeople from Chicago American businesspeople in real estate