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CONTACT:
Dean Dixon
Historical Resources Assistant
(941) 749-1800 ext. 4070
December 2002 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.
And they're off!
Click here to
see a picture of the Manatee Banner from the same time period
"Gentlemen, start your engines!" may have been
the cry of some now forgotten starter at the Fourth of July
celebration in Bradentown in 1910. America was just beginning
its love affair with the automobile and Manatee County was
not going to be left out of the romance. Automobiles were
relatively new and already people were pushing them to their
limits of speed and endurance. This day was Bradentown's turn
to test them and competitors came from all over the area to
race, some from as far away as Tampa.
Dr. H. Baer and the Bradentown Automobile and Motor Boat Club
organized two automobile races. One was a short one-mile dash
from a standing start down Manatee Ave, from the community
of Manatee to Main Street in Bradentown. There were three
classes of autos for this race: four-cylinder, two- cylinder
and one-cylinder. The four-cylinder class winner, a man by
the name of Robinson, won in the blazing time of 1: 18, which
was nine seconds faster than his closest competitor. The two-cylinder
winner finished in 2:44. The Manatee River Journal doesn't
bother to give the time of the winner of the single cylinder
class, only that the winner was Dr. Baer in his Cadillac.
The event that drew the greatest interest was the 60-mile
endurance race. A grueling test of man and machine, the course
was over city streets and country roads that were little more
than cow paths. The first one to cross the finish line was
given fifty points. The cars that followed the leader had
a point deducted for every minute that they trailed him. Since
the race was also a test of the automobile's endurance, each
car was given fifty points to start with. The engine covers
and radiator caps were sealed before the race and if the driver
returned with a seal broken, meaning he had to repair it during
the race, 10 points would be deducted, 10 points for every
broken seal. Points would also be deducted for crashing and
a time limit of four hours was set.
The race started on Main Street in Bradentown and went east
to Main Street in Manatee (15th St. East). From there, the
adventurers sped to the outer reaches of the county to the
east and to the north. They then circled back to the west
to the finish line back at Main Street in Bradentown.
As the men battled their way through the rough terrain in
eastern Manatee County, folks back in Bradentown passed the
time playing baseball, having bicycle races and many other
forms of diversion. Just after three in the afternoon, word
was received that the leader was fourteen miles out. People
dropped what they were doing and lined the streets to cheer
on the racers. At 3:25 p.m. the leader came through the streets
of Manatee, "all most flying" as he strove for the
finish line at Main Street in Bradentown. As the Manatee River
Journal reported, "every mouth was open, cheering, and
the banners were waving congratulations to the Victors."
The victor was Whitney Curry driving a Buick model 18 owned
by William Warren. He finished the 60-mile race in two hours
and thirty minutes, with a 10-point penalty for crashing into
a fence. The cup that Whitney Curry received for winning the
race, though tarnished with age, is still on display in the
Eaton room at the Central Library after ninety years.
In the Historical Records Library, there are copies of various
newspapers from early Manatee County that make for interesting
reading. The information for this story was taken from newspaper
accounts.
Dean Dixon, Historical Resources Assistant
Sources, Manatee River Journal, June 31st, July 7th
Manatee Historical Society, interview with Whitney Curry
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