Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the
county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...
of
Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the
2020 census, the city's population is 55,698, up from 49,546 at the 2010 census. It is a principal city in the
Sarasota metropolitan area
The Sarasota metropolitan area is a metropolitan area located in Southwest Florida. The metropolitan area is defined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as the North Port–Bradenton–Sarasota Metropolitan Statistical Area, a metropoli ...
. Downtown Bradenton is along the
Manatee River and includes the
Bradenton Riverwalk. Downtown Bradenton is also home to the
Bishop Museum of Science and Nature.
To the south of Bradenton is
Sarasota; beach communities on
Anna Maria Island are to its west. The Manatee River and
Palmetto on the other side of it are to its north.
History
Late 18th and early 19th centuries
A settlement established by
Maroons
Maroons are descendants of Africans in the Americas and islands of the Indian Ocean who escaped from slavery, through flight or manumission, and formed their own settlements. They often mixed with Indigenous peoples, eventually evolving into ...
or escaped slaves named
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...
existed in Bradenton's present area starting in the late 1700s and ending in 1821. It is believed to been spread out between the Manatee River (then known as Oyster River) all the way to
Sarasota Bay
Sarasota Bay is a lagoon located off the central west coast of Florida in the United States. Though no significant single stream of freshwater enters the bay, with a drainage basin limited to 150 square miles in Manatee and Sarasota counties, it ...
. The community is estimated to have had 600–750 residents. Angola was a rather large maroon settlement as the Manatee River at that time was too shallow for US Navy vessels to navigate. The settlement was abandoned after the
Creeks who were aligned with
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...
attacked Angola.
When the United States annexed Florida in 1821, there were two known claimants of land in the vicinity of Bradenton but neither of them was confirmed by the US federal government.
Mid and late 19th century
Josiah Gates along with his family and eight slaves moved to the area where present-day Bradenton exists in January 1842 after being attracted to the area for its natural beauty. Gates thought the area would be a popular place for new settlers to arrive at because it was near
Fort Brooke
Fort Brooke was a historical military post established at the mouth of the Hillsborough River (Florida), Hillsborough River in present-day Tampa, Florida in 1824. Its original purpose was to serve as a check on and trading post for the native S ...
, and he also figured that while they were building their homes they would need a place to stay at temporarily. He built his home near present-day 15th Street East and his inn at another location naming it Gates House. Gates is also credited as being the first known American settler in present-day Manatee County.
Bradenton is named after Dr. Joseph Braden, whose nearby fort-like house was a refuge for early settlers during the
Seminole Wars
The Seminole Wars (also known as the Florida Wars) were a series of three military conflicts between the United States and the Seminoles that took place in Florida between about 1816 and 1858. The Seminoles are a Native American nation which co ...
. Braden owned a sugar plantation in the area, covering and being worked by slave labor. Dr. Joseph Braden was originally from Virginia and relocated to
Leon County in Florida shortly after its
annexation by the United States in 1821 where he established a cotton plantation bringing his preexisting Virginia slaves along with him. After having financial difficulties from the
Panic of 1837
The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis in the United States that began a major depression (economics), depression which lasted until the mid-1840s. Profits, prices, and wages dropped, westward expansion was stalled, unemployment rose, and pes ...
, he tried to reestablish himself financially in Manatee County in 1843 moving to the area along with his slaves.
To help with the shipment of sugar grown at the plantation, he constructed a pier in present-day Downtown Bradenton where ships could dock at and pick up sugar. Where the pier met the land he constructed a stockade getting the name of Fort Braden. During the
Third Seminole War, on April 6, 1856, Braden's fortified home was attacked by several
Seminole Indians, one of the few, albeit small, direct engagements of the war. Braden was financially successful with his plantation but ended up moving back to Leon County in 1857 because of
a financial panic that occurred that year.
Major Alden Joseph Adams purchased 400 acres of land in 1876 between present-day Manatee Memorial Hospital and 9th Street East and build his home there in 1882. He named his three-story concrete home Villa Zanza. Alden was known for having many animals and a large amount of foliage at his home. At one point he owned over 300,000 acres of land in Manatee County. Major Alden Joseph Adams served in the Union Army during the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
and eventually reached the rank of major. After the war he served in the
US Secret Service and later as a newspaper correspondent for the ''
New York Herald''. He reported from Paris during the time when the
Paris Commune
The Paris Commune (, ) was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris on 18 March 1871 and controlled parts of the city until 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard (France), Nation ...
existed. At one point he was asked to look for
Dr. David Livingstone but declined and suggested that
Henry Morton Stanley
Sir Henry Morton Stanley (born John Rowlands; 28 January 1841 – 10 May 1904) was a Welsh-American explorer, journalist, soldier, colonial administrator, author, and politician famous for his exploration of Central Africa and search for missi ...
should look for him instead. Adams died in 1915, and his home was bought in 1924 with the intent of remodeling it. However it was not completed, and his home was demolished at some point in the late 1920s.
William I. Turner bought 7 acres from John Crews Pelot in 1877 and create a subdivision from that land creating what is now Bradenton. The land itself was plotted by Axel Emil Broberg and it contained 19 plots on both sides of what is 12th Street West along with a cross street that is currently 3rd Avenue. Turner sold the lots building a store and a warehouse along with his own home where he lived at.
The town was originally spelled "Braidentown," as a spelling error was made when it applied for a post office on May 9, 1878.
The first bridge across
Wares Creek was built in 1886. The following year, Bradenton was designated the county seat after
DeSoto County was formed from eastern Manatee County, as the then county seat,
Pine Level, was in the new county. A county courthouse was built in 1890 at Courthouse Square.
20th century
First half of the 20th century
Railroad service was extended from Palmetto across the Manatee River to Bradenton in 1902. Bradenton was incorporated on May 19, 1903,
with 59 voting in favor of incorporating and 34 voting against it. Shortly after incorporation, a local election was held to choose the city's first elected municipal officials. A.T Cornwell was elected as mayor, Robert H. Roesch as clerk and tax assessor, A.B. Murphy as treasurer and F. Dryman as tax collector along with seven city council members. One of the earliest moves made by the municipal government was amending the name to "Bradentown". However the name change would not be reflected with the
US Postal Service
The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal serv ...
until 1905. On December 29, a streetcar line began operation going from Bradenton to the neighboring city of Manatee and went west crossing
Wares Creek to the nearby community of Fogartyville.
The company operating the line had financial difficulties, likely due to a lack of ridership, and cancelled the line in 1906. The Manavista Hotel was opened in January 1907 bordering the Manatee River on Main Street.
The Davis Bridge, the first general traffic bridge across the Manatee River was opened in June 1910. It was a wooden toll bridge built by C.H. Davis that had one lane and passing spots. The bridge went from present-day 9th Street East (located within then nearby Manatee) to near where the Atwood Grapefruit Groves were located at west of Ellenton.
In 1912, the first road, Range Road leading from present-day Bradenton (then, Manatee) to Sarasota was built.
Also during that year, the original county courthouse was bought and moved to a new location becoming a grade school for black students in the area, Lincoln Academy Grammar School. A
new courthouse was built on the site of the old one which still stands today in the following year, 1913.
The Victory Bridge was opened in August 1919 running from current 10th Street West in Bradenton to 8th Avenue in Palmetto. Funding for the bridge came from bond issues by both Bradenton and Palmetto. The bridge itself had two lanes and was made of wood. Its name came from the United States' recent victory in World War I against the Central Powers.
With the Victory Bridge's construction, the municipal government of Manatee attempted to buy Davis Bridge and make it public as a way to compete with Bradenton's Victory Bridge but the deal however never went through.
The rest of the bridge ended up being dismantled with the exception of its draw section which was sold to county government and put into use for the Snead Island's Cut off bridge in 1920.
1920s and 1930s
Baseball spring training began in Bradenton with the construction of
Ninth Street Park in 1923. The first team to train in the city was the
St. Louis Cardinals, doing so for 1923 and 1924. The city council began the process of removing the "w" letter from its then name "Bradentown" in January 1925 and be completed on May 2, 1925, when the state Governor signed a bill relating to it making it official.
All streets in the city were renamed in 1926 with a
numbering system.
After the collapse of the
Florida land boom and the
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
starting, the city faced an economic downturn. Along with an economic downturn, the city had financial issues as well with the city going into debt. During the Florida land boom, Bradenton borrowed money as a way to pay for infrastructure to areas that were considered outlying. As a result, the city retracted its municipal boundaries so it could not provide services to those areas and defaulted their municipal bonds as a result. After the municipal boundaries were retracted, the bonds were refunded, and residents who lived in the new boundaries would be responsible for paying it. Bradenton ended up eventually getting its bonds paid off.
Despite the economic downtown, several new projects were done in the city. A municipal pier (interchangeably referred to as Memorial pier) was built in 1927 with a building at its end. The pier itself still stands and the building at its end has served a variety of functions ever since. As the Victory Bridge was deemed too unsafe to use after a hurricane hit it in 1926, the
Green Bridge was built the following year in 1927 as a replacement to it. In the meantime, a ferry operated until the Green Bridge was built.
On July 22, 1931, a joint committee was appointed by the municipal city councils of Bradenton, Manatee, and Palmetto to consider and possibly even merge the three cities but nothing would come out of the committee in the end. A new post office building in 1937 was built on Manatee Avenue and 9th Street West as a
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...
project. The post office is still in operation.
Compiled in the late 1930s and first published in 1939, the
Florida guide listed Bradenton's population as being 5,986 and described it as:
1940s

Bradenton was affected by World War II like many other cities in Florida and the United States. During the war, Manatee County had its own Civil Defense battalion in it with two subunits existing in Bradenton and another for nearby Manatee. A recreational center was opened in March 1942 at a building on the intersection of 6th Avenue and 12th Street West in the downtown area to be used by soldiers. The recreation center closed in November 1945 and was popular with local soldiers and visited even by those who were stationed outside of Bradenton. Police Chief Clyde Benton expanded the police force by naming 45 officers to serve without pay during the war. Camp Weatherford located at LECOM Field existed for eight months at some point during the war as a training center for the
US Army Signal Corps. About 350 soldiers were trained there during its existence. The camp itself often had an issue with being flooded because of the rainy climate, showers at the camp occurring often, clothes being washed, its low elevation and is located nearby to Wares Creek. A soldier named Joe Grossman at the camp ran a radio show broadcasting on
WSPB called Weatherford Shinings. Local residents accommodated the troops stationed at the base in a variety of ways. Bradenton merged with nearby Manatee (incorporated in 1888) in 1943. Manatee faced similar financial problems as Bradenton did in regards to their bonds and faced high debt levels as a result but Manatee could not pay off the bonds.
Second half of the 20th century
Mayor A. Sterling Hall took office in January 1948. During his tenure lasting the next 20 years before retiring, the city was radically transformed. While serving as mayor he was considered progressive in his time period when it came to racial issues. As mayor, he created a municipal housing authority and also do
slum clearance
Slum clearance, slum eviction or slum removal is an urban renewal strategy used to transform low-income settlements with poor reputation into another type of development or housing. This has long been a strategy for redeveloping urban communities; ...
. He created quality housing for black residents along with paving streets, bringing sewage service, water, and expanded garbage collection services to black neighborhoods. Despite Mayor Hall's racial progressiveness, a
Ku Klux Klan
The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...
march occurred during his tenure in 1958 between Palmetto and Bradenton. The reason for the march was in response to a black group asking the county school board to either give them a new school building in Bradenton or integrate junior and senior high schools in the county. The Manavista Hotel was demolished in 1959 and replaced with a motel and later a retirement community.
During the 1960s the Manatee River was dredged, and an area nicknamed "the Sandpile" was formed getting developed over the course of the rest of the 20th century and the 21st century.
During the Civil Rights Movement, Mayor Hall tried to make desegregation come about in his city in a nonviolent manner. Lunch counters were desegregated sometime during 1960 and a biracial commission was created during the summer of 1963.
Bradenton built a new city hall located on 15th Street West bordering Wares Creek in January 1970 as a replacement to their location on 13th Street West, which the city had used since 1913.
Governor
Claude R. Kirk Jr. arrived in Bradenton on April 6, 1970, in an attempt to stop Manatee County School District's
desegregation busing. When he arrived he suspended the district superintendent along with the school district, leading to the district stopping the busing of 2,500 students and 107 teachers. During February he threatened to impeach a federal judge and said he would not sign checks that would pay for busing students. He stayed in the Manatee County School District's Administration building then located at the corner of 9th Avenue and 14th Street for a week before being threatened with a $10,000 fine per day if he continued to stay in the building and was unsuccessful with preventing bussing. The 8-floor
Hotel Dixie Grande, which opened in April 1926, was demolished in August 1974.
The Green Bridge was replaced in 1986.
The city hall moved to a new location on 12th Street West in November 1998 after the property was sold to a local resident with the intention of redeveloping it but plans never materialized.
21st century
The local resident who had owned the former city hall property along Wares Creek sold it to a development group sometime in 2004, and it was demolished in December 2004.
The
Bradenton Riverwalk, a 1.5-mile long park along the Manatee River opened in October 2012. McKechnie Field, the spring training stadium for the
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...
, was renamed
LECOM Park in February 2017.
Historic properties
Historic properties in Bradenton include:
*
Bradenton Bank and Trust Company Building, 1925, now the Professional Building, 1023 Manatee Avenue, West
*
Bradenton Carnegie Library, 1405 Fourth Avenue West
*
Braden Castle Park Historic District, off Manatee Avenue and 27th St East
*
Iron Block Building, 1896, 530 12th Street West (Old Main Street)
*
Manatee County Courthouse, 1913, 1115 Manatee Avenue, West
*
Old Manatee County Courthouse, 1860, 1404 Manatee Avenue, East
*
Peninsular Telephone Company Building, 1925, 1009 4th Avenue, West
Geography
The approximate coordinates for the City of Bradenton is located at .
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, Bradenton has a total area of , of which is land and (16.14%) is water.
Bradenton is located on
US 41
U.S. Route 41, also U.S. Highway 41 (US 41), is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway System, United States Numbered Highway that runs from Miami, Florida, to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Until 1949, the part i ...
between
Tampa
Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...
and
Sarasota. The area is surrounded by
waterway
A waterway is any Navigability, navigable body of water. Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation will be of varying importance depending on the nuance of the equivalent word in other ways. A first distinction is ...
s, both fresh and saltwater. Along the
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...
and into
Tampa Bay are over of Florida beaches, many of which are shaded by
Australian pines. Bordered on the north by the
Manatee River, Bradenton is located on the mainland and is separated from the outer
barrier island
Barrier islands are a Coast#Landforms, coastal landform, a type of dune, dune system and sand island, where an area of sand has been formed by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of an ...
s of
Anna Maria Island and
Longboat Key by the
Intracoastal Waterway
The Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) is a Navigability, inland waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the United States, running from Massachusetts southward along the Atlantic Seaboard and around the southern tip of Florida, the ...
.
Downtown Bradenton is located in the northwest area of the city. Home to many of Bradenton's offices and government buildings, the tallest is the
Bradenton Financial Center, 12 stories high, with its blue-green windows. The next tallest is the brand new Manatee County Judicial Center with nine floors, located next to the
historic courthouse. Other major downtown buildings include the
Manatee County Government building and the headquarters of the School Board of Manatee County.
Climate
Bradenton has a typical Central Florida
humid subtropical climate
A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
''Cfa'') characterized by hot, humid summers and warm winters. Bradenton borders a
tropical climate
Tropical climate is the first of the five major climate groups in the Köppen climate classification identified with the letter A. Tropical climates are defined by a monthly average temperature of or higher in the coolest month, featuring hot te ...
, with only one month (January) having a mean temperature below , which is the threshold for a tropical climate.
Demographics
Bradenton is a principal city of the
North Port–Sarasota–Bradenton metropolitan statistical area, which had a population of 833,716 as of 2020.
2010 and 2020 census
As of the
2020 United States census, there were 55,698 people, 22,350 households, and 13,033 families residing in the city.
As of the
2010 United States census, there were 49,546 people, 21,120 households, and 12,341 families residing in the city.
2000 census
As of the census
of 2000, there were 49,504 people, 21,379 households, and 12,720 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 24,887 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 78.14%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 15.11%
African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.79%
Asian, 0.29%
Native American, 0.05%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 3.91% from
other races, and 1.71% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or
Latino of any race were 11.26% of the population.
In 2000, there were 21,379 households, out of which 23.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.5% were married couples living together, 12.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.5% were non-families. 34.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.85.
In 2000, in the city 21.6% of the population was under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 25.3% from 25 to 44, 19.9% from 45 to 64, and 25.4% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.9 males.
In 2000, the median income for a household in the city was $34,902, and the median income for a family was $42,366. Males had a median income of $28,262 versus $23,292 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,133. About 9.7% of families and 13.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.3% of those under age 18 and 8.2% of those age 65 or over.
Economy
Tropicana Products
Tropicana Brands Group ( ) is an American fruit-based beverage company. It was founded in 1947 by Anthony T. Rossi in Bradenton, Florida. Between 1998 and 2021, it was a subsidiary of PepsiCo. In August 2021, 61% of Tropicana was sold along with ...
was founded in Bradenton in 1947 by
Anthony T. Rossi, an Italian immigrant. By 2004 it had over 8,000 employees and marketed its products throughout the United States.
PepsiCo
PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase, New York, Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the f ...
, Inc., acquired it in 1998. Tropicana's
Juice Trains have been running to northern markets via
CSX
CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Railroad classes, Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of trac ...
and predecessor railroads since 1971. In 2003, Pepsi relocated Tropicana's corporate headquarters to Chicago after it acquired
Gatorade
Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. The drink is owned and manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was develope ...
and consolidated its non-carbonated beverage businesses. However, their juice production facilities remain in Bradenton.
Champs Sports
Champs Sports is an American sports retail Chain store, store, operating as a subsidiary of Foot Locker. Products sold at Champs Sports include apparel, Sports equipment, equipment, footwear, and accessories. As of June 2019, there were 540 store ...
, a nationwide sports apparel chain, is headquartered in Bradenton.
The department store chain
Bealls is also headquartered in Bradenton.
Bradenton was significantly affected by the
United States housing market correction, as reported by CNN, projecting a 24.8% loss in median home values by the third quarter of 2008.
Real estate has shown a recovery since 2012, as home prices stabilize and inventory subsides.
Transportation
Bradenton is served by
Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport and is connected to
St. Petersburg by the
Sunshine Skyway Bridge. The Sunshine Skyway is a cross-bay bridge that rises above the bay at its highest point. Remnants of the old Skyway bridge have been converted into a fishing pier extending into Tampa Bay from both sides of the bay.
Manatee County Area Transit (MCAT) buses serve Bradenton along with the cities/communities of Palmetto,
Ellenton, Anna Maria, Holmes Beach,
Bradenton Beach, Longboat Key, Tallevast and Samoset, with transfers to Sarasota and St. Petersburg. Free trolleys run north–south on
Anna Maria Island, as well as to/from various points on the mainland. Amtrak charter buses run through downtown Bradenton outside the courthouse to
Tampa Union Station
Tampa Union Station is an Amtrak train station in Tampa, Florida. The station is located at 601 North Nebraska Avenue ( SR 45). Built in 1912, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 as Union Railroad Station The station ...
and Venice.
Government
The city is governed by a city council with five members. Each of the members are residents of one of the five wards. The city council selects the city's vice mayor. The mayor and the five city council members are elected at-large for a four-year term. In Bradenton, the mayor functions as the head of the council and presides at meetings making a tie-breaking vote. The city council has the ability to elect a vice mayor. A vice mayor has the ability to take over when the mayor either resigns, dies or takes a leave of absence.
Media
Newspapers
* ''
The Bradenton Herald'' is Manatee County's local newspaper, published daily.
* ''
The Bradenton Times'' is Manatee County's local online-only newspaper.
* Daily editions of the ''
Sarasota Herald Tribune'' and the ''
Tampa Bay Times
The ''Tampa Bay Times'', called the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It is published by the Times Publishing Company, which is owned by The Poynter Institute ...
'' are also available throughout the area.
Radio stations
Bradenton is located in the
Sarasota-Bradenton radio market. It also receives many stations from the nearby
Tampa-St. Petersburg market.
The stations listed below are located and/or licensed in Bradenton or Manatee County:
*
WWPR – 1490 AM – studio and transmitter in Bradenton
*
WBRD – 1420 AM – licensed to Palmetto
*
WJIS – 88.1 FM
*
WPBB – 98.7 FM ''(studios and transmitter in Pinellas County)''
*
WHPT – 102.5 FM ''(Sarasota; transmitter in northeastern corner of Sarasota County; studios in St. Petersburg)''
*
WRUB – 106.5 FM
Television stations
WSNN-LD is based in Sarasota but transmits from Manatee County.
WWSB channel 40, the local ABC affiliate, is based in Sarasota, but has a transmitter in Parrish, northeast of Bradenton; it is seen on cable channel 7 on most cable systems in the area.
WXPX-TV channel 66, the local
Ion Television
Ion Television (referred to on-air as simply Ion) is an American broadcast television network and FAST television channel owned by the Scripps Networks subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company. The network first began broadcasting on August ...
affiliate, is licensed in Bradenton, with its transmitter in
Riverview in Hillsborough County.
Education
Manatee County Public Schools operates area public schools. Schools in the city limits include:
*
Manatee High School
The
State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota
State most commonly refers to:
* State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory
**Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country
** Nation state, ...
's (SCF) main campus is located in
Bayshore Gardens, and
State College of Florida Collegiate School has a campus on the SCF Bradenton campus.
[ �]
Campus map here
which indicates the exact location of SCFCS.
Culture
Bradenton is home to the Washington Park neighborhood, a historically African American Community where
Lincoln Academy was located.

Bradenton is home to the
Village of the Arts, a renovated neighborhood immediately south of downtown where special zoning laws allow residents to live and work in their homes. Many of these once dilapidated houses have been converted into studios, galleries, small restaurants, and other small businesses. The Village of the Arts promotes its 'First Fridays' activities, celebrating the seasons and different holidays. The Village of the Arts remains the largest arts district on the Gulf Coast.
The Manatee Players, who reside at the Manatee Performing Arts Center, have a three-year record of first-place wins within the Florida Theatre Conference and the Southeastern Theatre Conference competitions. In addition, the theatre currently holds the first place title from the
American Association of Community Theatre competition.
The
Bishop Museum of Science and Nature, a museum-planetarium-aquarium located in downtown Bradenton, offers a glimpse of Florida history, a star and multimedia show, and an ongoing lecture and film series. The Parker Manatee Aquarium was the permanent home to Manatee County's most famous resident and official mascot,
Snooty, the
manatee
Manatees (, family (biology), family Trichechidae, genus ''Trichechus'') are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivory, herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows. There are three accepted living species of Trichechidae, representing t ...
. Born at the Miami Aquarium and Tackle Company on July 21, 1948, Snooty was one of the first recorded captive manatee births. He was the oldest manatee in captivity, and likely the oldest manatee in the world.
On July 23, 2017, two days after his 69th birthday, Snooty died as the result of drowning.
ArtCenter Manatee is the center for art and art education in Manatee County. The nearly building in downtown Bradenton features three galleries, five classrooms, an Artists' Market gift shop and an art library featuring over 3,000 art volumes.
The nonprofit organization
Realize Bradenton works with the above-listed cultural partners to promote Downtown Bradenton as a destination for the arts. It also produces events in the downtown area with a focus on arts and culture.
Additionally, the town is the subject of the
We the Kings song "This Is Our Town"; they, as well as the band
Have Gun, Will Travel originate from Bradenton.
Sports
Bradenton is the spring training home of
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
's
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...
who play their home games at downtown's
LECOM Park. During the regular baseball season, the stadium is home to the minor league
Bradenton Marauders who play in the Florida State League in
Class A-Advanced
High-A, officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing, is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A and D ...
.
The city is home to the
State College of Florida, Manatee–Sarasota Manatees sports teams.
Manatee County high schools produce several teams including
Manatee High School whose football team was nationally ranked in the 1950s, 1980s, and 1990s and regained their national status in 2009. Manatee High School has won five football state championships. Bradenton is also home to the
IMG Academy
IMG Academy is a University-preparatory school, preparatory boarding school and sports training destination in Bradenton, Florida, United States. The organization is set across over 600 acres (243 ha) and features programs consisting of sport ca ...
, the home of the U.S U-17 residential soccer program.
The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton was home of the
2015 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship.
Bradenton and
Sarasota together held the
2021 U-18 Baseball World Cup.
Points of interest
*
Bishop Museum of Science and Nature, home of the late manatee
Snooty
*
Bradenton Riverwalk
*
De Soto National Memorial
*
DeSoto Square (Now abandoned and vacant)
*
Manatee Village Historical Park
*
Neal Preserve
*
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...
spring training
Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...
at
LECOM Park
* Robinson Preserve
*
Village of the Arts
Notable people
*
Hank Aaron (1934–2021) –
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
(MLB) player and
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United St ...
inductee
*
Freddy Adu (b. 1989) – soccer player
*
Hugo Armando (b. 1978) – tennis player
*
Sekou Bangoura (b. 1991) – tennis player
*
Bob Barron (1928–1991) –
NASCAR Cup Series
The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States.
The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, ...
driver
*
Waite Bellamy (b. 1940) –
Eastern Professional Basketball League player
*
Chase Brown (b. 2000) –
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
(NFL) player
*
Sydney Brown (b. 2000) – NFL player
*
Jim Boyd (b. 1956) –
Florida Senate Majority Leader
*
An Byeong-hun (b. 1991) –
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...
golfer
*
Sandra Cacic (b. 1974) – tennis player
*
Gene Clines (1946–2022) – MLB player
*
Kimberly Couts
Kimberly Couts (born May 9, 1989) is an American former professional tennis player.
On 20 April 2009, she reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 259. On 12 July 2010, she achieved her best WTA doubles ranking of 157.
Kimberly pl ...
(b. 1989) – tennis player
*
Jordan Cox (b. 1992) – tennis player
*
Ed Culpepper (1934–2021) – NFL player
*
Tiffany Dabek (b. 1990) – tennis player and coach
*
Taylor Dent (b. 1981) – tennis player
*
Bill Doak (1891–1954) – MLB player
*
Eric DuBose (b. 1975) – MLB player
*
Brian Dunn (b. 1974) – tennis player
*
Victoria Duval (b. 1995) – tennis player
*
Tyler Dyson (b. 1997) – MLB player
*
Zach Edey (b. 2002) –
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
(NBA) player
*
Graeme Edge (1941–2021) – co-founder of
The Moody Blues
The Moody Blues were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in May 1964. The band initially consisted of Graeme Edge (drums), Denny Laine (guitar/vocals), Mike Pinder (keyboards/vocals), Ray Thomas (multi-instrumentalist/vocals) and Clint W ...
, drummer, songwriter, and poet
*
Alfred Ellis (1941–2021) – member of
The J.B.'s,
saxophonist
The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...
,
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and def ...
, and
arranger
In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestrat ...
*
Deshaun Fenwick (b. 1991) – NFL player
*
Tommie Frazier (b. 1974) –
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...
player and
college football
College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...
coach
*
Colton Gordon (b. 1998) – MLB player
*
Sammy Green (b. 1954) – NFL player
*
Rod Harper (b. 1985) – NFL player
*
Christian Harrison (b. 1994) – tennis player
*
Teri Harrison (b. 1981) – model, actress, and
Playboy Playmate
*
Jamea Jackson (b. 1986) – tennis player
*
Helen Jepson (1904–1997) – opera singer
*
Hank Johnson
Henry Calvin Johnson Jr. (born October 2, 1954) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2007. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district is anchored in Atlanta's inner eastern suburbs, inclu ...
(1906–1982) – MLB player
*
Shang Juncheng (b. 2005) – tennis player
*
Al Klink (1915–1991) – saxophonist
*
Jessica Korda (b. 1993) –
LPGA Tour
The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekly ...
golfer
*
Nelly Korda (b. 1998) – LPGA Tour golfer
*
Sebastian Korda (b. 2000) – tennis player
*
Michaëlla Krajicek
Michaëlla Krajicek (; born 9 January 1989) is a Dutch former tennis player. She has won three singles and five doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as one WTA 125 tournaments, WTA 125 doubles title, and 14 titles in singles and 24 in double ...
(b. 1989) – tennis player
*
Rick Lamb (b. 1990) – PGA Tour golfer
*
JC Latham (b. 2003) – NFL player
*
Kelvin McKnight (b. 1997) – NFL player
*
Adrian McPherson (b. 1983) – NFL player
*
Ahmad Miller (b. 1978) – NFL player
*
Shintaro Mochizuki (b. 2003) – tennis player
*
Johnny Moore (1902–1991) – MLB player
*
Jamie Moyer
Jamie Moyer (born November 18, 1962) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Over his 25-year career in Major League Baseball (MLB), Moyer pitched for the Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers, St. Louis Cardinals, Ba ...
(b. 1962) – MLB player
*
Naoki Nakagawa (b. 1996) – tennis player
*
Sharrod Neasman (b. 1991) – NFL player
*
Ingrid Neel (b. 1998) – tennis player
*
Ryan Neuzil (b. 1997) – NFL player
*
Whitney Osuigwe (b. 2002) – tennis player
*
Brian Poole (b. 1992) – NFL player
*
Maria Sharapova
Maria Yuryevna Sharapova (, ; born 19 April 1987) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 21 weeks. Sharapova won 36 WTA Tour-level sin ...
(b. 1987) – tennis player
*
Satnam Singh (b. 1995) – NBA player and wrestler
*
Myles Straw (b. 1994) – MLB player
*
Sunitha Rao (b. 1985) – tennis player
*
John Reeves (b. 1975) – NFL player
*
Austin Reiter (b. 1991) – NFL player
*
Patrik Rikl (b. 1999) – tennis player
*
Anthony Rossi (1900–1993) – businessman and founder of
Tropicana
*
Clifford Rozier (1972–2018) – NBA player
*
Ace Sanders (b. 1991) – NFL player
*
Robby Stevenson (b. 1976) – NFL player
*
Willie Taggart (b. 1976) – NFL player and coach
*
Sarah Taylor (b. 1981) – tennis player
*
Charles Trippy (b. 1984) – bassist for
We the Kings and YouTuber
*
Peter Warrick (b. 1997) – NFL player
*
Fabian Washington (b. 1983) – NFL player
*
Benny Williams (b. 2002) –
college basketball
College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...
player
*
Todd Williams (b. 1978) – NFL player
*
Tyrone Williams (b. 1973) – NFL player
*
Sam Woolf (b. 1996) – singer-songwriter
References
External links
City of Bradenton
{{Authority control
Sarasota metropolitan area
Cities in Manatee County, Florida
County seats in Florida
Populated places on the Intracoastal Waterway in Florida
Populated places on Tampa Bay
Cities in Florida
Populated places established in 1842
1842 establishments in Florida Territory