Editing Bradenton, Florida (section)

=== 20th century ===

==== First half of the 20th century ====
[[File:Main Street, Bradentown, FL.jpg|thumb|left|Old Main Street c. 1910]]
Railroad service was extended from Palmetto across the Manatee River to Bradenton in 1902.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Gibson|first=Pamela|date=February 1985|title=Speech by Pamela Gibson "Railroads of Manatee County"|url=https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll2/id/7055|access-date=2020-09-26|website=Manatee County Public Library Digital Collection|language=en}}</ref> Bradenton was incorporated on May 19, 1903,<ref name=BradInco>{{Cite book|last=Hall|first=A. Sterling|url=https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll2/id/6829|title=Speech by A. Sterling Hall "Bradenton Municipal Government"|year=1970|pages=2}}</ref> with 59 voting in favor of incorporating and 34 voting against it.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Parvin|first=Elizabeth|date=May 15, 1970|title=Early Cultural and Social Life of Manatee County|url=https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll2/id/73|url-status=live|access-date=2021-05-17|website=Manatee County Public Library System: Digital Collection|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210517003348/https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll2/id/73 |archive-date=May 17, 2021 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Thompson|first=Sharyn|date=October 24, 1983|title=1903 Banner Year for Bradentown|url=https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll2/id/5484|url-status=live|access-date=2021-04-25|website=Manatee County Public Library System: Digital Collection|page=2|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210425171351/https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll2/id/5484 |archive-date=April 25, 2021 }}</ref> One of the earliest moves made by the municipal government was amending the name to "Bradentown".<ref>Porter, M. (2014). Manatee history matters. Bradenton Herald. Retrieved from https://www.bradenton.com/news/local/article34739931.html</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4zogAAAAIBAJ&pg=5933%2C4186421 | title=The Legends Behind Manatee Names | work=Sarasota Herald-Tribune | date=November 23, 1979 | access-date=June 6, 2015 | author=Grimes, David | pages=1B | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904105630/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4zogAAAAIBAJ&sjid=s2cEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5933%2C4186421 | archive-date=September 4, 2015 | url-status=live | df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Poston|first=Wayne|date=January 15, 2003|title=Speech by Wayne Poston "Past and Future of Bradenton"|url=https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll2/id/7628|access-date=2020-08-03|website=Manatee County Public Library System Digital Collection|language=en}}</ref> However the name change would not be reflected with the [[United States Postal Service|US Postal Service]] until 1905.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Thompson|first=Sharyn|date=October 24, 1983|title=1903 Banner Year for Bradentown|url=https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll2/id/5483|url-status=live|access-date=2021-04-25|website=Manatee County Public Library System: Digital Collection|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210425171351/https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll2/id/5483 |archive-date=April 25, 2021 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Slusser|first=Cathy|date=March 21, 2001|title=Speech by Cathy Slusser "Manatee County History"|url=https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll2/id/5955|access-date=2020-08-03|website=Manatee County Public Library System Digital Collection|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Lambert|first=Joe|date=January 21, 1987|title=Speech by Joe Lambert "The Graham-Davis House"|url=https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll2/id/5012|access-date=2020-08-16|website=Manatee County Public Library System Digital Collection|language=en}}</ref> The company operating the line had financial difficulties, likely due to a lack of ridership, and cancelled the line in 1906.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Poston|first=Wayne|date=January 15, 2003|title=Speech by Wayne Poston "Past and Future of Bradenton"|url=https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll2/id/7628|access-date=2020-08-03|website=Manatee County Public Library System – Digital Collection|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=1900s|title=Manatee County Courthouse|url=https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll1/id/6816|access-date=2020-08-03|website=Manatee County Public Library System – Digital Collection|language=en}}</ref> The Manavista Hotel was opened in January 1907 bordering the Manatee River on Main Street.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Russell|first=Cindy|date=November 18, 2014|title=Manatee History Matters: The Manavista Hotel was Bradenton's first 'sky scraper'|work=[[The Bradenton Herald]]|url=https://www.bradenton.com/news/local/article34750326.html|access-date=May 31, 2021}}</ref>

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.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|year=1910|title=Davis Bridge over Manatee River|url=https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll4/id/770|url-status=live|access-date=2021-05-27|website=Manatee County Digital Library System: Digital Collection|language=en|type=Postcard|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210527020432/https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll4/id/770 |archive-date=May 27, 2021 }}</ref> In 1912, the first road, Range Road leading from present-day Bradenton (then, Manatee) to Sarasota was built.<ref name=":0" /> 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 [[Manatee County Courthouse|new courthouse]] was built on the site of the old one which still stands today in the following year, 1913.<ref name=":1" /> 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.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web|last=Gibson|first=Pamela|year=1985|title=Speech by Pamela Gibson "Some Early Bridges of Manatee County, North to South, East to West"|url=https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll2/id/5514|url-status=live|access-date=2021-05-27|website=Manatee County Public Library Collection: Digital Collection|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210527020432/https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll2/id/5514 |archive-date=May 27, 2021 }}</ref> 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.<ref name=":5" /> 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.<ref name=":6" />

==== 1920s and 1930s ====
Baseball spring training began in Bradenton with the construction of [[Ninth Street Park (pre-1923)|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.<ref name=":8" /> All streets in the city were renamed in 1926 with a [[numbered street|numbering system]].<ref>{{Cite web|year=1914|title=Postcard of Prospect Avenue Looking North from Manatee Avenue, Bradentown|url=https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll4/id/2864%20(for%20note)|url-status=live|access-date=2021-04-12|website=Manatee County Public Library System: Digital Collection|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412211005/https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll4/id/2864%20(for%20note) |archive-date=April 12, 2021 }}</ref>

After the collapse of the [[Florida land boom of the 1920s|Florida land boom]] and the [[Great Depression in the United States|Great Depression]] starting, the city faced an economic downturn.<ref>{{Cite web|last=King|first=Carl|date=May 17, 1978|title=Speech by Carl King "Real Estate Trends in Manatee County"|url=https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll2/id/5910|url-status=live|access-date=2021-05-16|website=Manatee County Public Library System: Digital Collection.|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516184951/https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll2/id/5910 |archive-date=May 16, 2021 }}</ref> 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.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|last=Hall|first=A. Sterling|date=November 18, 1970|title=Speech by A. Sterling Hall "Bradenton Municipal Government"|url=https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll2/id/6828|url-status=live|access-date=2021-05-16|website=Manatee County Public Library System: Digital Collection|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210517131638/https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll2/id/6828 |archive-date=May 17, 2021 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Kropp Co|first=E.C.|year=1935|title=Municipal Pier, Bradenton|url=https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll4/id/398|url-status=live|access-date=2021-05-18|website=Manatee County Public Library System: Digital Collection|language=en|type=Postcard|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210518141610/https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll4/id/398 |archive-date=May 18, 2021 }}</ref> As the Victory Bridge was deemed too unsafe to use after a hurricane hit it in 1926, the [[Green Bridge (Manatee River)|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.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite web|last=Co.|first=Gulfstream Card|date=2002–2010|title=Bradenton, Florida|url=https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll4/id/2663|url-status=live|access-date=2021-05-22|website=Manatee County Public Library System: Digital Collection|language=en|type=Postcard|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210522151606/https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll4/id/2663 |archive-date=May 22, 2021 }}</ref> 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]] project. The post office is still in operation.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Sales Co.|first=Hartman Litho|year=1947|title=U.S. Post Office, Bradenton|url=https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll4/id/743|url-status=live|access-date=2021-05-18|website=County Public Library System: Digital Collection|language=en|type=Postcard|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210518141610/https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll4/id/743 |archive-date=May 18, 2021 }}</ref>

Compiled in the late 1930s and first published in 1939, the [[American Guide Series|Florida guide]] listed Bradenton's population as being 5,986 and described it as:{{Blockquote|text=lies opposite Palmetto on the south bank of the Manatee River. The two towns are connected by a mile-long bridge. Boom-time hotels dominate the skyline and do a thriving business in winter, when the population almost doubles. In the residential sections comfortable houses are surrounded with aged trees. The neighboring area of rich muck land normally produces two or three crops each season, making Bradenton the principal shipping center for winter vegetables on the west coast. Celery, citrus fruits, tomatoes, cabbages, eggplants, green peppers and square are the main products.
<ref name="auto">{{cite book |last=Federal Writers' Project |date=1947 |edition= 5th |title=Florida: A Guide to the Southernmost State |url=https://archive.org/details/floridaguidetoso00fede/page/394/mode/2up?q=Bradenton|location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=394|isbn= 9781595342089}}</ref>|author=Federal Writers' Project|title="Part III: The Florida Loop"|source=''Florida: A Guide to the Southernmost State'' (1947)}}

==== 1940s ====
[[File:Florida - Brandenton through Clearwater - NARA - 23936567.jpg|alt=An aerial photograph taken of Downtown Bradenton in August 1941 by the US Army Air Forces.|right|thumb|Downtown Bradenton in August 1941 in an aerial photograph taken by the [[United States Army Air Forces|US Army Air Forces.]]]]
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.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Warren|first=G.|title=Speech by Lt.Col. G. Warren Johnson Jr "World War II Comes to Manatee County"|url=https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll2/id/4887|url-status=live|access-date=2021-06-03|website=Manatee County Public Library System: Digital Collection|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210603133927/https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll2/id/4887 |archive-date=June 3, 2021 }}</ref> Camp Weatherford located at LECOM Field existed for eight months at some point during the war as a training center for the [[Signal Corps (United States Army)|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 (Florida radio station)|WSPB]] called Weatherford Shinings. Local residents accommodated the troops stationed at the base in a variety of ways.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Favorite|first=Merab|date=March 3, 2019|title=Sunday Favorites: Camp Weatherford|url=https://thebradentontimes.com/sunday-favorites-camp-weatherford-p20645-133.htm|url-status=live|access-date=June 3, 2021|website=The Bradenton Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210603133929/https://thebradentontimes.com/sunday-favorites-camp-weatherford-p20645-133.htm |archive-date=June 3, 2021 }}</ref> 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.<ref name=":2" /><ref name="herald">{{cite news|author=Mannix, Vin|date=June 17, 2007|title=The founding of the Manatee settlement|newspaper=[[Bradenton Herald]]|url=http://www.bradenton.com/681/story/49041.html|url-status=dead|access-date=August 15, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071009120719/http://www.bradenton.com/681/story/49041.html|archive-date=October 9, 2007}}</ref>

==== 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 in the United States|slum clearance]]. He created quality housing for black residents along with paving streets, bringing sewage service, water, and expanded garbage collection services to black neighborhoods.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Roundtree|first=Craig|date=November 18, 1991|title=Speech by Craig Roundtree "Mayors of the City of Bradenton, Past and Present"|url=https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll2/id/5272|url-status=live|access-date=2021-05-22|website=Manatee County Public Library System: Digital Collection|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210522151607/https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll2/id/5272 |archive-date=May 22, 2021 }}</ref> Despite Mayor Hall's racial progressiveness, a [[Ku Klux Klan]] 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.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Marth|first=Del|date=March 9, 1958|title=KKK rally in Bradenton, rides through quarters, police and sheriff disagree|work=[[Tampa Bay Times]]|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/13354948/kkk-rally-in-bradenton-rides-through/|access-date=August 5, 2021}}</ref> The Manavista Hotel was demolished in 1959 and replaced with a motel and later a retirement community.<ref name=":9">{{Cite web|title=The Manavista Hotel, Bradenton|url=https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll4/id/65|url-status=live|access-date=2021-05-31|website=Manatee County Public Library System: Digital Archives|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602213406/https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll4/id/65 |archive-date=June 2, 2021 }}</ref> 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.<ref name=":4" /> 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<ref>{{Cite news|last=the Student Voice|date=August 1960|title=STATE REPORTS – FLORIDA|work=the Student Voice|url=https://www.crmvet.org/docs/sv/sv6008.pdf|access-date=July 5, 2021}}</ref> and a biracial commission was created during the summer of 1963.<ref>{{cite report |url=https://www.crmvet.org/docs/6312_src_crsummary.pdf |publisher=Southern Regional Council , Inc. |title=CIVIL RIGHTS: YEAR-END Summary |date=Dec 31, 1963}}</ref>

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.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web|last=Card Distributors|first=West Coast|date=1971–1978|title=Bradenton City Hall|url=https://mymanatee.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll4/id/1274|access-date=2021-05-28|website=Manatee County Public Library System: Digital Collection|language=en|type=Postcard}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Pharmacy|first=Thomas'|date=1913–1917|title=City Hall and Fire Station, Bradentown|url=https://mymanatee.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll4/id/1232|access-date=2021-05-28|website=Manatee County Public Library System: Digital Collection|language=en|type=Postcard}}</ref> 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<ref>{{Cite web|title=Manatee County High School|url=https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll4/id/668|url-status=live|access-date=2021-06-10|website=Manatee County Public Library System: Digital Collection|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210610161943/https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll4/id/668 |archive-date=June 10, 2021 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Protest march during Governor Kirk's busing Crisis|url=https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll1/id/20398|url-status=live|access-date=2021-06-10|website=Manatee County Public Library System: Digital Collection|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210610161945/https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll1/id/20398 |archive-date=June 10, 2021 }}</ref> The 8-floor [[Hotel Dixie Grande]], which opened in April 1926, was demolished in August 1974.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Co.|first=Asheville postcard|date=1934–1941|title=Seasons Best Greeting, Hotel Dixie Grande|url=https://mymanatee.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16681coll4/id/1166|access-date=2021-05-28|website=Manatee County Public Library System: Digital Collection|language=en|type=Postcard}}</ref>

The Green Bridge was replaced in 1986.<ref name=":4" /> 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.<ref name=":7" />