Sunday Favorites: Myakka City History

Frank Knox was a retired attorney and judge from the Palisade, New Jersey. He scouted out the area and was impressed by the fruitful harvest of several area farmers including Marion Carlton and William Durance both of whom homesteaded along the Myakka River.

Knox purchased Durance’s land in 1914, along with a much larger tract alongside the proposed East and West Coast Railroad, which was planned to connect Arcadia to Bradenton. Knox intended to use the railroad to transport his harvest.

Durance, Carlton, Knox and another man, Augustus Wilson, a state legislature, became good friends. All four were entrepreneurs with visions of becoming rich land barrens. They made plans to develop a city before the railroad arrived. When deciding the name, Wilson suggested the adjacent region, then known as Miakka. However, to distinguish the city from the surrounding area, the men decided to change the name to Myakka. Thus the City of Myakka was born and the surrounding area became ”Old MIakka,“ according to the article ”To the Wilderness They Came.“ by Joe and Libby Warner of the Manatee County Historical Society.

There were 91 blocks planned for the city, each allowing for 10 homesteads. An advertisement in the Manatee River Journal offered five-acre (or more) tracks a promised to help homesteaders ”plant and build up a grove on terms.“ The names of the streets and avenues reflected those of the residents who planned to live there. There was Coker, Ballard and Blackwell avenues and, of course, Knox, Durance, Wilson and Carlton streets.

Knox managed a farming company called Myakka Farms. He oversaw the building of the town and construction progressed consistently with the railroad. The town was officially opened April 26, 1915 – the same day as the railroad grand opening.

The town was an instant success. In only 10 months, the venture had attracted three retail stores, a wholesale warehouse, post office, hotel, school house, office building, depot (the first to open on the railway line), two saw mills and a turpentine plant, according to the Manatee River Journal.

Ads in the paper invited residents in Bradenton to enjoy a short ride into the city. However, during celebrations flatbed cars were added to accommodate and influx of passengers. Because the railroad cars were uncovered, people often arrived in Myakka City dressed in their Sunday best, but also covered in soot from the smokestack, according to the Warners.

Despite the smoky conditions, the railway was the only real means of travel. Low-lying areas surrounding the city made it almost impossible to reach via oxcart or carriage. Hannah Slough, a halfway point between Bradenton and Myakka City, was known as a conveyance boneyard, with many forced to abandon their carts after becoming hopelessly stuck in the muck.

A road committee was quickly formed with the purpose of advocating for a loop on the up-and-coming Dixie Highway. The committee was successful in securing a portion to run from Sarasota Road to the Desoto County line with a pass by Myakka City.

A popular pastime in the city was what locals referred to as a cane-grinding celebration. There was an array of food, a large bonfire and a sing-a-long while horses grinded sugarcane. The evening always culminated with everyone having a glass of the sweet nectar.

During WWI, Myakka sawmills contributed to the lumber shortage by shipping as much pine as they could process via railway overseas. The president of the East and West Railroad estimated that there was enough virgin timber ”to keep 25 mills in business for 50 years,“ according to the Warners.

We’ll find out if his prediction was right in the second part of this series.