Verna | |
|---|---|
  Verna Location within Manatee County, Florida | |
| Coordinates: 27°23′14″N82°16′05″W / 27.38722°N 82.26806°W Coordinates: 27°23′14″N82°16′05″W / 27.38722°N 82.26806°W [1] | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Florida |
| Counties | Manatee, Sarasota |
| Elevation | 92 ft (28 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (EST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
| Area code(s) | 941 |
| FIPS code | 12-74100 [2] |
| GNIS feature ID | 294959 [1] |
Verna is an unincorporated area in Manatee County and Sarasota County, Florida, United States.
The town of Verna was a small community from 1915 to 1930 built from a stop located on the East and West Coast Railroad which ran from Bradenton in Manatee County to Arcadia in Desoto County. Today its location is marked by the intersection of what is now State Road 70, Verna Bethany Road, and Verna Road.
The community was established in 1915 on the former Posey Farm and was originally called St. Claire. Early advertisements for the railroad use this name. [3] However, the name was changed a year later by John Posey, owner of the land and future clerk of the city. He named the community after his daughter, Verna Posey. [4]
The post office was established there in February 1916. In 1915 the land deed for the St. Claire School was approved by the Manatee County School Board and by 1918 Verna School opened under teacher Lois Bond. [5] [6] By 1923 there were 16 homes in Verna. By 1925, there was a grocery store owned by F.E. Albritton, garage, post office, hotel, restaurant, train depot, and gas station in the town. [4] The Verna Methodist Episcopal Church was erected in 1926. [7]
During the real estate boom of the 1920s, expansion was planned. John Posey and business partner Frank Golden, along with other Bradenton developers such as C.H. Ballard platted new communities adjacent to the town. Subdivisions including Verna Heights, La Verna, and Verna Courts were advertised in newspapers from Tampa to Miami. [8] [9] However, these projects did not come to fruition due to a major economic depression which began in Florida in 1926.
In June 1925, the town of Verna was incorporated, but it was not long-lived. In 1927, Florida State Legislature ordered the city to be abolished, which was completed in 1929. [10] [11]
The Verna Post Office closed in January 1930 and the school closed at the end of that spring. The community was unofficially absorbed into the neighboring Myakka City. Today the area that was once Verna is home to agricultural businesses, small residential neighborhoods, and the Myakka City Fire Department.
Manatee County is a county in the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2010 US Census, the population was 322,833. Manatee County is part of the North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its county seat and largest city is Bradenton. The county was created in 1855 and named for the Florida manatee, Florida's official marine mammal. Features of Manatee County include access to the southern part of the Tampa Bay estuary, the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, and the Manatee River. Manatee County ranks 15th among Florida counties in population.
Sarasota County is located in Southwest Florida on the Gulf Coast. As of the 2010 US Census, the population was 379,448. Its county seat is Sarasota and its largest city is North Port with an estimated 2018 population of 68,628. Sarasota County is part of the North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Bayshore Gardens is a census-designated place (CDP) and planned community in Manatee County, Florida, United States. The population was 16,323 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Bradenton–Sarasota–Venice Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Bradenton is a city and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, United States. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated the city's 2019 population to be 59,439. Bradenton is a principal city of the North Port–Sarasota–Bradenton metropolitan statistical area, which had a 2018 estimated population of 821,573.
Samoset is a census-designated place (CDP) in Manatee County, Florida, United States. The population was 3,440 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Bradenton–Sarasota–Venice Metropolitan Statistical Area.
State College of Florida, Manatee–Sarasota (SCF) is a public college with campuses located in Manatee and Sarasota counties, Florida. Part of the Florida College System, it is designated a "state college" because it offers a greater number of bachelor's degrees than community colleges. Founded in 1957 as Manatee Junior College, it was known as Manatee Community College from 1985 to 2009.
Snooty was a male Florida manatee that resided at the South Florida Museum's Parker Manatee Aquarium in Bradenton, Florida. He was one of the first recorded captive manatee births, and at age 69, he was the oldest manatee in captivity, and possibly the oldest manatee in the world. Due to his hand rearing from birth, Snooty was never released to the wild and was the only manatee at the museum's aquarium that had regular human interaction.
The Sarasota metropolitan area is a metropolitan area located in Southwest Florida. The metropolitan area is defined by the Office of Management and Budget as the North Port–Sarasota–Bradenton metropolitan statistical area as a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) consisting of Manatee County and Sarasota County. The largest cities in the MSA are North Port and Sarasota and Bradenton. At the 2010 Census, the MSA had a population of 702,281. The Census Bureau estimates that its population was 836,995 in 2019.
Lakewood Ranch High School in Manatee County, Florida, United States, was opened in 1998 in Bradenton, Florida. It is named after the master planned community it borders, Lakewood Ranch.
Myakka City is an unincorporated community in southeastern Manatee County, Florida, United States. It lies along State Road 70 near the city of Bradenton, the county seat of Manatee County. Its elevation is 43 feet (13 m), and it is located at 27°20′59″N82°9′41″W. Although Myakka is unincorporated, it has a post office, with the ZIP code of 34251; the ZCTA for ZIP code 34251 had a population of 6,351 at the 2010 census. up from 4,239 in 2000.
Edgeville was a former company town and railway stop located southeast of Myakka City in Manatee County, Florida, United States.
The Tampa Southern Railroad was a subsidiary of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad originally running from Uceta Yard in Tampa south to Palmetto, Bradenton, and Sarasota with a later extension southeast to Fort Ogden in the Peace River valley built shortly after. It was one of many rail lines completed during the Florida land boom of the 1920s. Most of the remaining trackage now serves as CSX Transportation's Palmetto Subdivision. Another short portion just east of Sarasota also remains that is now operated by Seminole Gulf Railway.
The East and West Coast Railway was a railroad line running from Bradenton on the west coast of Florida southeast to Arcadia in the Peace River valley. Despite its name, the line never went all the way to the east coast of Florida. The line was often used to transport mail, lumber, grain and other commodities.
Duette is an unincorporated community in Manatee County, Florida, United States. State Road 62 intersects with Keentown Road in Duette. The area is home to Bunker Hill Vineyard and Winery. The only remaining single-classroom schoolhouse in Florida, Duette School, is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Manhattan was a proposed city in a development that was located in northern Manatee County, Florida near the present-day town of Parrish during the Florida land boom in the 1920s. The town was intended to be the centerpiece of an agricultural community called Manatee River Park Estates.
Oak Knoll is an unincorporated area in Manatee County, Florida, in the United States.
Waterbury is an unincorporated area in Manatee County, Florida, United States.
Elwood Park is an unincorporated area in Manatee County, Florida, United States.
Rubonia is an unincorporated community in Manatee County, Florida.
Parmalee, Florida was a short-lived town and stop on the East and West Coast Railway in Manatee County, Florida, United States. Located at the modern day intersection of Betts Road and State Road 70, the area remains largely undeveloped or agricultural.
Municipalities and communities of Manatee County, Florida, United States | ||
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| Cities |  | |
| Town | ||
| CDPs | ||
| Unincorporated communities | ||
| Ghost towns | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
Municipalities and communities of Sarasota County, Florida, United States | ||
|---|---|---|
| Cities |  | |
| Town | ||
| CDPs | ||
| Unincorporated communities | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties, †This populated place also has portions in the City of North Port | |