The southern mouth of the Manatee River was likely the
landing site of the De Soto Expedition and is the
location of the U.S. National Park Service's De Soto
National Memorial.
The area was opened to settlement in 1842. The first two
settlers were Joseph Braden and Hector Braden who moved
into an area near the Manatee River, The two had lost
their land for their plantations in Northern Florida
during the Panic of 1837. They were said to have heard
about that there was abundant land in the area. The
brothers moved into a log cabin 5 miles north of the
mouth of the Manatee River. Four years later Hector had
drowned while trying to cross the Manatee River on his
horse during a hurricane. Despite this tragic event,
Joseph decided that he would still build his sugar
plantation, the Braden sugar mill at the mouth of the
Manatee River and the Braden River. He later built a
dock where Main Street was at and fortified the area
near his house building a stockade.
A few years later in 1851, he would build the Braden
Castle, which was made out of tabby and served as his
residence. It would later become a popular tourist
attraction in the early 1900s with Tin Can Tourists. He
would only stay there for the next six years before
moving to
Tallahassee.
When Manatee County was created in 1855, it included all
of what are now
Charlotte County,
DeSoto County,
Glades County,
Hardee County,
Highlands County,
Sarasota County and part of
Lee County.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manatee_County,Florida
|