Sunday Favorites: Historical Sites Worth Visiting

The Braden Castle was constructed in 1850 by Dr. Braden.

The weather is cooling off and it’s time to take advantage of some outdoor activities that you may have neglected in the last few hot and humid-filled months. However, before you plan your next weekend trip, be sure to visit some of my must-see historical sites around the county that everyone should see at least once in their lifetimes.

Braden Castle – The ruins of an old sugar cane plantation, located in East Bradenton, was the home of former Tallahasseean Dr. Joseph Addison Braden.

Built in 1850, the secure walls 20-inch-thick walls hosted some of the most decadent dinner parties for many prominent families in the area.

Seminole Indians unsuccessfully attacked the homestead in 1856, when a band of natives organized a surprise assault and shot at inhabitants though the open windows. The also tried (unsuccessfully) to burn down the tabby house. 

After the natives could not penetrate the walls of the secure mansion, they made off with 14 slaves and retreated to Joshua Creek, near present-day Arcadia, where Braden and a number of other vigilantes ambushed them a few days later. Braden and his men scalped at least one tribesman as rebuttal.

The Braden family returned to Tallahassee the following year, and another family owned the property until 1879. After that, it was abandoned and left to degenerate over the years due to the elements, most notably with a woods fire in 1903.

Many travelers took refuge in the dilapidated plantation on long route up the Manatee River to the trading post at Fort Hamer. However, the house was thought to be haunted due to an unexplainable presence on the second floor. The “ghost” that haunted the building for more than a decade turned out to be a neighbor’s Billy goat, which used the upper floor for its nightly accommodations. 

The Gamble Mansion – Similar to the Braden Castle, The Gamble Plantation was constructed in 1840 by a sugar plantation owner from Tallahassee who was trying to take advantage of the statewide sugar boom.

Judah B. Benjamin hid out at the Braden Castle while on the run from Union officials.

Robert Gamble built the Greek revival-style home to accompany his 1,500-acre sugar plantation, sugar mill and shipping wharf all powered by nearly 100 slave laborers.

While Gamble’s endeavor was one of the largest at the time, the plantation is most know for what happened after Gamble abandoned the homestead during the financial panic of 1858.

Following the conclusion of the Civil War, Judah B. Benjamin, the former Secretary of State under Confederate President Jefferson Davis, hid out in the mansion before fleeing the country.

Benjamin posed as a poor French farmer, scoping out the fertile land sites in Florida.

Making his way south, he formed an alliance with the occupant of the Gamble mansion at the time, Archibald McNeil. McNeil, who was also on the run, hid Benjamin in the house until he could be transported to Sarasota to board a boat for a long passage to England.

The locals smuggled Benjamin on a meat cart in order to get him to Sarasota without being recognized.

After being auctioned off for just $3,000 in 1974, the state eventually acquired the site In 1984, turning it into a state park. The grounds look much like they did when it was first constructed, and the park hosts events like Civil War reenactments, weddings and much more. 

Yellow Fever Cemetery – Originally the Palmetto Cemetery, this creepy burial ground located in the middle of downtown Palmetto earned its title during the 1888 yellow fever epidemic.

The land for the cemetery was donated by Palmetto developer Samuel S. Lamb and housed the remains of the very first people who died while living in the newly designated city. But when the disease arrived from Tampa, the victims, who were placed in the cemetery, outnumbered those buried there before the epidemic struck.

At the time, very little was known about the disease and village was quarantined and any belongings or bedding from the deceased were burned. Citizens watched for buzzards to monitor out-of-town homesteads. The bird circling a residence was a tale-tell sign the occupants were dead.

Today anyone can walk around the cemetery among the unmarked graves of those yellow fever victims. 

These are some of my favorite historical locales around the county. I hope you will take the time to visit them and let me know what you think!