Shocked may be a better word.
Beginning in the late 1800s, Schroeder and, later, the Uihlein family, founders of the Schlitz Brewery, harvested timber on a 30,000-acre parcel they called Schroeder-Manatee Ranch.
The ranch is within both Manatee and Sarasota counties, just east of Interstate 75.
Today, roughly 15,000 people - some 6,000 households - live in the master-planned community called Lakewood Ranch, built on 8,500 acres.
The founding group of lumber men and women knew their land was valuable, but no way like it is today.
"Guard this land closely, boys," Alfred Uihlein wrote to his sons in the late 1880s. "It may one day command several hundred dollars an acre."
Today, you can spend almost $1 million in The Lake Club for a developed lot.
The Schroeders and Uihleins probably could not imagine such things as a Golden Apple Dinner Theater and a Haagen-Dazs Ice Cream Shop, two businesses now in San Marco Plaza, one of several shopping areas in Lakewood Ranch with interesting retailers.
Residents also can shop at Main Street, Town Center, Market Square, Gateway North, the Courtyards at Market Square, Lane Plaza and Lake Osprey Village.
Lorraine Corners at Lorraine Road and State Road 70 and Lakewood Centre at State Road 70 and Lakewood Ranch Boulevard are also on the way.
"I think John Schroeder would be most amazed that there is a town here, that there are people living here and that this is not remote anymore," SMR spokeswoman Sondra Guffey said. "He would be pleased that we still have ranching and preserved the native feel. But I think he would be very very surprised. He would probably say, 'holy cow.' "
Lakewood Ranch had its first residents in 1995. Twelve years later there are seven residential villages - Summerfield, Riverwalk, Edgewater, Country Club, Country Club East, Greenbrook and Lake Club - whose residents enjoy 100 miles of paths for walking, jogging and biking as well as many lakes, ponds and nature preserves.
"The trees in Lakewood Ranch are gorgeous and there are many places to literally get away from everything," said long-time Lakewood Ranch resident Phyllis Troy.
Yet, after more than 100 years, SMR is still a working ranch and agricultural enterprise.
Today, the ranch has roughly 2,000 head of cattle, six cowboys, 1,500 acres of citrus groves, 3,500 acres of vegetables, tree and turf farming and an aggregate mining operation for shell, Guffey said.
Companies have also discovered SMR and many have built corporate headquarters there, most citing the proximity to Interstate 75 and Tampa, St. Petersburg, Orlando, Fort Myers and other locales.
SMR now has visitors every workday coming to the 1,273-acre Lakewood Ranch Corporate Park, 900-acre Commerce Park and 500-acre Town Center.
SMR even has its own corporate headquarters, a two-story, 32,000-square-foot structure built in 2006 to hold 80 to 100.
Quick facts
Zip Codes: 34202 is the main zip code of Lakewood Ranch
