Manatee Village Historical Park

This week’s Map Monday is a day late because we thought we’d share a map today to celebrate the 169th birthday of Manatee County! On this day in 1855, Manatee County was formed from the southern portion of Hillsborough County. At the time, the county encompassed about 5,000 square miles of land, parts of eight different counties today. This map, which is Colton’s 1855 Florida Map, is one of the earliest examples of a map of Florida containing Manatee County, and it depicts the large area of land inside the county’s original boarders. Can you name all eight modern counties?

Map courtesy of Florida Memory.

Are you or is anybody you know interested in working in a museum? We are hiring for a full time Event & Volunteer Coordinator! Details and application can be found here:

https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/manatee/jobs/4331884/event-volunteer-coordinator-manatee-village-historical-park?pagetype=jobOpportunitiesJobs

Calling all volunteers! We are looking for judges for Manatee History Day. This science fair like competition will be held January 19th through February 10th, and judges will be needed for both virtual and in person categories. For more information and registration, please follow the link below.

Manatee History Day zFairs Contest Management System

Our monthly lecture series is returning! Our first lecture of the year will be held on Saturday, January 27, 2-3pm.

This month, we are bringing back by popular demand, Mayhem in Manatee. From murders to prison escapes, the Sarasota Vigilance Committee left the nation in awe when a group of men in Sarasota (then part of Manatee County) came together in 1884 to form a group with the sole purpose of eliminating “obnoxious” people. By summer they would have committed their first murder and gotten away with it. In December, they murdered postmaster Charles Abbe in broad daylight but they wouldn’t be so lucky.

If you've attended this lecture before, we encourage you to do so again! More research has yielded additional information, adding to this fascinating story.

Image: Sarasota Main Street, ca. 1885-1886, courtesy of Manatee County Public Library Historical digital Collections

This week's Cemetery Spotlight is husband and wife, Daniel and Hannah "Annie" Lloyd.

Daniel Lloyd III was born in England on August 6, 1837, to Welch parents. He immigrated to New York in 1860 at the age of 22, leaving his entire family behind. Sometime before 1868, Daniel moved to Manatee County, where he married Adalaide “Addie” Vanderipe, sister of Edward and James Vanderipe. Together, they had three children. Addie died in 1881, and that same year Daniel remarried to Hannah “Annie” Park. Annie was born in Key West, where the couple married. They shared six children. During his time in Manatee, Daniel was a cattle rancher and a citrus farmer. He passed away in 1904, and is buried in plot #18. Daniel is buried next to his second wife, who is in plot #17. She passed away in 1945.

Have you signed up for our newsletter? You could be among the first to know about events, new articles, the month’s curators corner artifact, and more! Our newsletter goes out the first week of every month, so be sure to start 2024 off right and sign up now on our website!

We will be closed tomorrow through Monday, January 2, but don't let that stop you from immersing yourself in local history! Our website has several great resources allowing you to visit us without actually visiting us. We have several digital exhibitions discussing topics ranging from the creation of Manatee Village Historical Park to the Bat Fogarty Boat Works. You can check them out using the link below.

Digital Exhibits | Manatee Village Hist Enjoy these exhibits from the comfort of your device! Click "Begin," to explore how each structure came to be, why it was important, and how it came to be a part of our museum. 

Manatee Village Historical Park Holiday Hours: We'll be open for the remainder of this week. We will be closed for the holidays beginning this Saturday, December 23, and will reopen Tuesday, January 2 for our normal hours.

If you didn't get a chance to make your own pomander at An Old Florida Christmas, or if you want to make one at home, our curator, Matthew Woodside, has put together a brief article with some information on the history of pomanders and the materials you need to get started on your own. Read the article below, and have fun partaking in this Florida Christmas tradition!

Pomanders Researched and written by Matthew Woodside. All sources are available upon request. History of the Pomander The orange pomander is a fragrant and spiced fruit that can be used as décor, incense, or a gift during the fall and winter holidays. These beautiful and fragrant oranges are decorated mostly...

"Our flourishing neighbor village Miakka also indulged in a tournament Christmas day, which afforded an abundance of amusement, ant at which some very fine feats of horsemanship were displayed...

A regular picnic dinner was spread after the exercises were over and everybody participated therein.

The weather was exceedingly fine and the Christmas of 1889 will long be remembered by those who participated in its celebration at Miakka."

- "Miakka Tournament," Manatee River Journal, Thursday January 2, 1890

Image of a Christmas eggnog party at the Pooser home in Arcadia in 1893, courtesy of Manatee County Public Library Historical Digital Collections

Atlas Obscura has listed Manatee Village Historical Park as one of their top 10 reasons to visit Bradenton. We tend to agree with them! Check out the article below.

10 Reasons Why You Should Visit the Bradenton Area: From a towering mastodon skeleton to a funky art village and a serene riverwalk, here are supercool stops in the Friendly City. Hugging the Manatee River, just south of Tampa Bay, Bradenton is a central Florida destination brimming with soul. At the annual Downtown Bradenton Public Market, peruse the goods of nearly 100 vendors and pick up beach-themed art, local coffee, gifts, jewelry, clothes, and much more. Equally divers...

Every month, our Curator, Matt Woodside, will be sharing an object from our collections. This month’s Curator’s Corner object was more of a "Curator's Conundrum." Matt asked our newsletter recipients to help him identify this tool, and thanks to several people who responded, we now know what this is!

This item is a Bridgeport Gun Implement's (BGI) 10 Gauge Recapper. This is shotgun recapping tool for reloading shotgun shells. It dates to the 1880s, and can be found in their catalogues under number 1182.

This item is not currently on display.

Thank you to everyone who came out to An Old Florida Christmas this past Saturday! This year was our biggest year ever, and we hope everyone who came, visitors and vendors alike, had a great time! Here are just a few photographs of this year's festivities.

All photographs courtesy of Eric Michael Hilton

Old Florida Christmas is off to a great start! Be sure to drop by before it wraps up at 3!

Today is the day! Come visit us at An Old Florida Christmas, where you can browse vendors, listen to live music, eat food, and children can make free crafts. Here is a schedule of events for the day. We hope to see you today!

If you didn't get a chance to catch our curator, Matthew Woodside, on Suncoast View this morning, don't fret! You can check out his interview and a preview of our free craft, Pomanders, here:

Celebrating An Old Florida Christmas at Manatee Village Historical Park

An Old Florida Christmas is TOMORROW! Gates open to the public at 10 am and close at 3 pm. Admission is FREE, so stop on by and enjoy the day!

For a preview of An Old Florida Christmas, tune into Suncoast View today at 9 am!

An Old Florida Christmas is this Saturday, and we are excited to announce the entertainer schedule! The following groups will be on site to sing and/or play music while you enjoy the day!

We are hiring! We're looking for a full time Education & Engagement Coordinator to join our team. Information and application can be found here:

https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/manatee/jobs/4294939/education-engagement-coordinator-manatee-village-historical-park?pagetype=jobOpportunitiesJobs

Have you ever seen a functioning 19th century blacksmith forge? This Saturday, during An Old Florida Christmas, our curator, Matthew Woodside, will be conducting a blacksmithing demonstration at our forge from 10 am to 12 pm.

Photo by Eric Michael Hilton

REMINDER FOR TEACHERS: You must complete your teacher registration on Z-Fairs by the END OF THE DAY TODAY! If you do not complete your account in time, your students will not be able to participate in Manatee History Day 2024! Please let us know if you have any questions by emailing [email protected].

An Old Florida Christmas is this Saturday! We'll have over 50 vendors selling a wide range of handmade or custom products, varying from woodworking to jewelry, and more. There's going to be something for everyone and admission is free, so stop on by!

REMINDER FOR TEACHERS: TOMORROW is the final day to complete your teacher registration on Z-Fairs. If you do not complete your account in time, your students will not be able to participate in Manatee History Day 2024! Please let us know if you have any questions by emailing [email protected].

Today's Map Monday map is actually 21 maps in total. This 1936 document shows the evolution of Florida's counties between 1820 and 1936. The first one to pay attention to for Manatee County are #14, depicting the state in 1860. This is the first one to show Manatee County, which was established in 1855. The next one would be #17, depicting the state in 1890. In 1887, Manatee County split, losing all land except for present day Sarasota and Manatee Counties. Finally, #21 shows the state in 1936, where one can see the separation of Manatee and Sarasota Counties, which occurred in 1921.

This map is courtesy of State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory Project.