Old Miakka (or Old Myakka) is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

Sarasota County Sarasota County is a county located in Southwest Florida. At the 2020 US census, the population was 434,006. Its county seat is Sarasota and its largest city is North Port. Sarasota County is part of the North Port–Sarasota–Bradenton, FL m ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

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. It is located at the bend of County Road 780, where it changes from running north–south to east–west. The community is part of the North Port–

Sarasota Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sout ...

–

Bradenton Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698. History Late 18th and early 19th centuries A settlement established by Maroons or escaped sl ...

Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally Incorporated town, incorporate ...

History

The cornerstone is the Old Miakka United Methodist Church which was built in 1886. This is also where the historic marker is located. The area was named after what the Seminole tribe called the Miarca River. The name Miakka first appeared on maps in 1845.

Spelling

A letter was written in 1940 by Secretary W. Stanley Hanson of the Seminole Indian Association to Project Superintendent Claude E. Ragan of the newly formed

Myakka River State Park Myakka River State Park is a Florida State Park, that is located east of Interstate 75 in Sarasota County and a portion of southeastern Manatee County on the Atlantic coastal plain. This state park consists of , making it one of the state's ...

used the spelling of “''Miakka'' River State Park.” The letter explains Hanson's attempt to discover the history and origin of the various spellings. He stated Lake Myakka was labeled as “Mayaco” on some early maps. The letter also notes the origin of the word “

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

”, as “Mayaca” is conjectured by some to have the same meaning. The “

Mayaimi The Mayaimi (also Maymi, Maimi) were Native Americans in the United States, Native American people who lived around Lake Mayaimi (now Lake Okeechobee) in the Belle Glade culture, Belle Glade area of Florida from the beginning of the Common Era ...

” Tribe lived near

Lake Okeechobee Lake Okeechobee (), also known as Florida's Inland Sea, is the largest freshwater lake in the U.S. state of Florida. It is the tenth largest natural freshwater lake among the 50 states of the United States and the second-largest natural freshwat ...

, named from the

Hitchiti The Hitchiti ( ) were a historic indigenous tribe in the Southeast United States. They formerly resided chiefly in a town of the same name on the east bank of the Chattahoochee River, four miles below Chiaha, in western present-day Georgia. The n ...

words ''oki'' (water) and ''chubi'' (big). The oldest known name for Lake Okeechobee was “Mayaimi,” (also meaning big water) as reported by

Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda ( – after 1575, dates uncertain) was a Spanish shipwreck survivor who lived among the Native Americans of Florida for 17 years. His c. 1575 memoir, ''Memoria de las cosas y costa y indios de la Florida'', is one ...

in the 16th century. The

United States Board on Geographic Names The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the federal governm ...

(BGN) ruled in December 1943 on the usage of "Old Myakka" for the spelling of the geographical name as it was "both officially and locally preferred to help distinguish it from Myakka City and vice versa." The ruling acknowledged the spelling ''Miakka'' to be found on various official documents such as the USGS state maps,

Rand McNally Rand McNally is an American technology and publishing company that provides mapping, software and hardware for consumer electronics, commercial transportation and education markets. The company is headquartered in Chicago, with a distribution c ...

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, and Official State Road Map.

References

{{authority control Sarasota metropolitan area Census-designated places in Sarasota County, Florida