|
Back to Home Page
CONTACT:
Dean Dixon
Historical Resources
(941) 749-1800 ext. 4075
November 2003 Article
Introduction: The Manatee
County Historical Records Library is a wealth
of information about our local past. Documents from
as early as the 1850's describe the life and times
of Manatee County residents and weave many an interesting
tale. Each month, we will post a new story for you
based on documents in our library. We invite all of
you to come to the library, located
at 1405 4th Avenue West, to see these documents
for yourself and to touch, feel and experience our
heritage.
Historical Maps of Manatee County
Lt. Follett's
map
In the 1850s, the area that would become the County of Manatee
was considered a frontier. Along with that moniker came all
the hardships of living away from civilization in a hostile
environment. South Florida had seen many conflicts between
the United States Federal Government and the Seminole Indians.
After the Seminole Wars, the Indians, fewer in number, traveled
in smaller bands and acted as raiding parties, stealing whatever
they could from those they attacked. With settlers coming
into the area, they made frequent and easy targets for Seminole
raids. There are stories of local settlers gathering at Joseph
Braden's home to hold up during some of these skirmishes.
The United States Army often set up small encampments that
they called forts where they would place a few troops to help
keep track of the hostilities The forts in this area were
called Fort Hamer and Fort Addison, often called Fort Ruff
and Ready.
Because the Seminoles were nomadic, they were hard to track
and locate. The military needed good maps to keep track of
where settlers were living, to know where the forts were and
to know where the roads and trails were. One of the oldest
maps of the area was drawn by Lt. Follett. This map shows
the settlement of Manatee and points out the Addison Fort;
it also shows the homes of some of the old Manatee settlers
like Braden, Atzeroth and Hayes. Roads and trails are clearly
marked and some seem to follow the same routs we travel today.
When the Federal Government opened South Florida up for settlement
it needed a way to direct people to their land. The solution
was a sectional map. A map of the State of Florida was accurately
drawn and a grid was drawn over the top of it. Each square
of the grid, called a township, was 36 miles, containing 23,040
acres. Inside each township was another grid with thirty-six
squares called sections, each section was a square mile. Each
township and section was numbered and would be the basis for
a legal description that told an owner where his land was.
An example of a legal description goes as follows:
Beginning at a point twenty (20) feet east and twenty (20)
feet North of the center of the West line of the Northeast
quarter ¼ of the Northwest quarter ¼ of section
thirty-five (35), township thirty-four (34) South range seventeen
(17) East etc.…
Thus, the description pinpoints a relatively small area out
of a much more vast area, letting the owner and others know
precisely what he owns and where it is.
After the area was settled, maps of another sort became very
important. People who owned large tracts of land often divided
it up and sold off the various lots. The best way to keep
track of the land after it became subdivided was by drawing
a Plat map. In order to make a map of this kind, the land
had to be properly surveyed. The old military maps were mostly
concerned with terrain and relative distance between settlements.
They didn't need to be precise down to the last inch. Plat
maps are more concerned with precise measurements of property
that had to match a legal description of the land. If the
map was imprecise a property owner could find that they are
using someone else's land or that someone is using theirs.
The Plat map was a drawing of the larger property with the
lots drawn inside it and the feet and inches labeled on each
line. Plat maps closely resemble blueprints.
In the early 20th century when towns were becoming larger,
insurance companies found a way to help local fire departments
and help Insurance agents determine rates. They drew maps
of a given town with an outline of the buildings and other
structures, as well as coded descriptions of what the building
was constructed out of and what businesses were there. Places
that held or used combustible materials were labeled as such.
Fire departments could use the map to find places that presented
greater dangers. Insurance companies could see which customers
posed a greater risk. These fire insurance maps, or Sandborne
maps (after the company that drew them), would later become
a great resource in restoring old buildings because they show
the shape that the building took in that time period and what
it was made of.
The Historical Records Library contains these maps and others
that pertain to Manatee County. A complete list of the type
of maps that are stored there is placed below.
Sanborns Bradentown, Manatee, Palmetto and Bradenton also
early Sarasota
Zoning
Sectional of Manatee DeSoto and Sarasota
Aerials
Street and Road Maps
Subdivision Maps (plats)
Town Plats
Property maps in deed books
Follett's Military Map 1851
US Government Survey Maps beginning of Manatee Region 1843
Capt. AA Humprey's Military Maps of Southern Florida 1856
Camp Smead 1857
Calton's Florida Map pre 1887
Inter Coastal Waterways
USGS Topographical Maps
Area Property Maps with owners names on larger property pieces.
You can also read:
|
