Sarasota's oldest bar occupies the 1912 Worth's Block — a grocery store turned speakeasy where bartender Johnny Hernandez has seen the original owner's wife more than 50 times
1490 Main St, Sarasota, FL 34236
Research updated June 2026
Age
21+
Cost
$
No cover charge; standard bar prices.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Indoor bar on ground floor; staircase to second floor
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1912 · National Register of Historic Places — Worth's Block (1998, Ref. 98000651) · Sarasota's longest-operating bar · Speakeasy and Prohibition history · Associated with Worth family, early Sarasota merchants
The building at the corner of Main Street and Lemon Avenue in downtown Sarasota has been in more or less continuous commercial use since 1912, when William David Worth — son of Sarasota's first tax collector — constructed a two-story masonry block to house his family's grocery business. The Worths lived in the residential quarters upstairs while operating the store below, a common arrangement for the era.
The building changed hands and character over the following decades, cycling through uses that tracked the city's growth: a cigar shop, an ice cream parlor, and, during Prohibition, a speakeasy operating in the basement. Workers doing renovations later found a stash of moonshine concealed behind a wall under the stairs — physical evidence of those years. Accounts suggest the building also housed a brothel during the 1930s and into the early 1950s.
The property was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 3, 1998, under the designation Worth's Block (reference no. 98000651). The building's architectural fabric is largely intact: the original brick facades feature segmental arch surrounds on the paired windows, and the interior staircase connecting the two floors dates to the original construction.
The Gator Club has operated in the building for decades, promoting itself as Sarasota's oldest continuously running bar. It now offers live music five nights a week and a second-floor DJ space on weekends, drawing from a catalog of local bands.
Sources
The primary ghost associated with The Gator Club is a woman identified by staff as Mrs. Worth — the wife or female relative of the grocery store's original ownership family. Bartender Johnny Hernandez, who worked at the venue for approximately 30 years, documented over 50 encounters with the apparition over his tenure. In the most detailed account, he described seeing a woman seated on an upstairs loveseat: hair pinned on top of her head, a long dress with a high collar and puffed sleeves consistent with late-Victorian or Edwardian fashion. She appeared solid, sitting as though waiting for someone, before vanishing.
On the staircase — the building's original interior stairs connecting the ground floor to the former residential quarters above — Hernandez reported a direct physical encounter in which the apparition passed through him. He described the sensation as cold and damp.
A second, separate figure has been captured in photographs: a young boy in 1920s attire has appeared in images taken on the dance floor, with no corresponding child present at the time the photos were taken. Staff also report recurring electrical disturbances and cold spots throughout the building.
The Gator Club appears on the 'Ghosts of Sarasota: History, Hauntings & Hi-Jynx' ghost trolley tour, which runs Thursday nights from October through May. No formal paranormal investigation reports from named organizations are on record.
Notable Entities
The two-story brick building at the corner of Main and Lemon dates to 1912 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (1998). The original staircase where Mrs. Worth's apparition has been reported is still in use. Live music runs Thursday through Saturday.
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