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CONTACT:
Dean Dixon
Historical Resources Assistant
(941) 749-1800 ext. 4070
April 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.

Bradentown and the Village of Manatee Unite

Click here to read the May 4, 1917 article in "The Manatee Banner" about the town assembly

Click here to see the 1944 resolution merging Bradenton and Manatee

Settlements along the Manatee River were numerous in the early days of Manatee County as ambitious people poured into the new and fertile land. Though these settlements were relatively close to each other, each relished its own identity. Bradenton (then spelled Bradentown) and Manatee (the first village) were both carving their mark into South Florida's history within a mile of each other. It might have been inevitable that eventually one of these settlements would grow to overshadow the rest. It may have been just as likely that the other settlements would suffer from standing in the shadows. But, when Bradenton became the largest city in the area, the first city, Manatee, found itself struggling for survival.

In the early 20th century both Bradenton and Manatee had suffered through hard times, but Manatee had not grown as much as Bradenton. In 1917 there was a study done by the two cities about a possible merger and, at a meeting of Manatee city citizens, the problems with the merger became apparent. In the Historical Records Library are kept copies of The Manatee Banner, a newspaper for the city of Manatee that is no longer in existence. The paper covered the meeting and quoted M. G. Rushton at length about the reputation of the city of Manatee. He mentioned that he could mail a letter from South Africa addressed simply to Manatee and the letter would arrive in the city. The civic pride in Rushton and other Manatee citizens at the meeting was obvious and they were concerned about losing the prestige that came with being the first city to settle the area. What would happen to their postal service? Would they be treated as a minority in the new city government and be ignored, would they lose their identity?

One of the problems that Manatee had was debt. It had issued bonds to make improvements in the city such as electricity and sewage. The minute books for the city, which are stored at the Historical Records Library, show that the city asked many times to be forgiven of some debts and extensions on loans from various banks. The city was having problems paying these debts and the problems span many decades. There was also a matter of growth. Bradenton was growing and Manatee was not. Manatee imposed a higher tax rate on its citizens than Bradenton did to retire its debt, which became an impediment to people settling there.

There were some hard feelings between the two cities. In 1887, several local cities, including Manatee, Palmetto and Sarasota, had been vying to be the location of the county seat. When there was no clear choice, the relatively new city of Bradenton won by compromise despite the fact that Manatee had been the original county seat. Bradenton was also doing a better job promoting itself across the bay area. On Feb. 8th, 1918, The Manatee Banner accused the Favorite Steamship Line of persuading passengers to disembark at Bradenton rather than Manatee, saying that employees on the ship were convincing passengers to disembark at Bradenton. C.P. Fuller of the Favorite Steamship Line replied that Bradenton was simply doing a better job of promoting itself by things such as offering free automobile rides to passengers if they disembarked at Bradenton and that it was not the policy of the Favorite line to promote one city over another. The question of merger in 1918 was put aside as jealousies between the cities were too high at this time. Manatee wasn't going to find its way out of financial trouble and the question was not going to go away.

By the early 1940s, Manatee had reached the end of its rope. It was losing businesses and there was no resolution of its financial troubles in site. Manatee had only two choices, merge with Bradenton or go into bankruptcy. With a vote for merger coming up soon, the Bradenton Herald printed on Oct. 25, 1943, "Newcomers have not been attracted to Manatee and have been attracted to Bradenton, largely because Bradenton has been more progressive and its finances are in better shape and values have been more stable." On November 1st 1943, three Manatee businesses ran a large advertisement scolding some Manatee citizens for their "let us alone policy", saying that they have been left alone and that's why Manatee was in such bad shape. The ad urged Manatee citizens to vote for the merger. On November 2nd 1943, Bradenton and Manatee both voted to merge Manatee into Bradenton.

Manatee really had no choice; they had to merge. Yet, out of the 420 Manatee citizens that voted, 169 were still not willing to see the reality of the situation and voted not to merge. After the vote, many Manatee citizens wore black armbands. The minute books of Manatee display little of the passion that surrounded the issue of merging the two cities. The last entry in the book read, "This concluding the business before the City Council of the City of Manatee, upon motion and second Council adjourned its last meeting." On January the 1st, 1944 the two cities became one and the city of Manatee would soon be known as the east end of Bradenton.

You can also read March's article on the murder of Charles Abbe.