Elwood Park is an unincorporated area in

Manatee County Manatee County is a county in the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 399,710. Manatee County is part of the North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its county seat and largest ci ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, United States.

History

Elwood Park is a neighborhood located at what was a 1500-acre farming community near

Oneco Oneco (sometimes called Owaneko) was a sachem of the Mohegans in the Connecticut Colony and the son of Uncas. During King Philip's War (1675–78), he was a battlefield commander and has been credited as one of the executioners of Canonchet. Late ...

on the

Braden River The Braden River is a waterway that drains an area watershed in west-central Florida and is the largest tributary of the Manatee River. Hydrology The hydrology of the Braden River was altered in 1936 when the city of Bradenton created Ward ...

. The area was named for J. Elwood Moore, a Sarasota banker and developer of the area who established the New Home Development Company in the mid-1910s. The New Home Development Company advertised the agricultural tracts in the

Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

to Northerners willing to cultivate the land and Moore provided the training and supplies needed. By 1918, several farms had been established at the site and a shell road was laid to connect Elwood Park to the nearest town of Manatee. By 1921, the Elwood Park settlement was home to 50 people. In 1923, Carl Haselton purchased the property from Elwood Moore with plans to expand the agricultural tracts available there as well as develop a large subdivision known as Elwood Park Manor. A new schoolhouse and sawmill were built by Haselton to attract residents. However, the development of the neighborhood, which included plans for an amusement park and lavish amenities, was hampered by the Florida real estate bust in 1927. Although still largely rural and home to a few smaller farms and plant nurseries, Elwood Park had experienced independent residential development since the 1950s, but the former subdivision plans were never brought to fruition.

References

Unincorporated communities in Manatee County, Florida Unincorporated communities in Florida Sarasota metropolitan area {{ManateeCountyFL-geo-stub