Sunday Favorites: The Last Remaining Railroad Town

Knox 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 on 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, schoolhouse, office building, depot (the first to open on the railway line), two sawmills, 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 an 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 the 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 ground sugarcane. The evening always culminated with everyone having a glass of 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.

The President of the East and West Coast Railroad had just estimated that there was enough virgin timber in Myakka City to keep 25 mills in business for 50 years or 50 mills busy for 25 years – he was wrong.

Within a few years of shipping timber overseas to fulfill the need during WWI, the timber had run out, according to the article ”To the Wilderness they Came,“ by historians Joe and Libby Warner.

Other businesses were not fairing so well either. In March of 1916, R.E. Dowling’s warehouse was destroyed in a fire. It had provided storage for groceries, mill feed, and fertilizer and housed the office of the Southern Express Co, according to the Warners,

In 1921, another natural disaster occurred – the great Tampa Bay Hurricane hit the area. The Category 4 storm caused an estimated $10 million in damage and Myakka City was no exception. Although the inland city was spared of the devastating wind damage that plagued the coastal areas, the Myakka River rose several feet spreading to .75 of a mile wide and causing many homes irreparable flood damage.

During the 1920s, the real estate boom reached the area inspiring Myakka City founder Frank Knox to develop a southern plat and expand the city. He changed the name of his company, Myakka Farms to Bradenton Suburban Company in order to appeal to a more modernized market. He also changed the names of the streets from the original plat – the ones he had named after his friends. The streets took on more enticing titles that reflected the area like Sarasota, Manatee, Arcadia, Grove etc.

As quickly as the boom had come to Florida, it dissipated in a disaster leaving all land development at a standstill. The Great Depression followed, leaving businesses bankrupt all over the state. One of Myakka City’s most appealing features, the East and West Coast Railroad, halted the operation for good; even the tracks were removed.

The railroad supplied lumber to two sawmills without supply (they had already used up all the timber in the area). The turpentine still also closed down. These losses meant the departure of more than 40 families that had family members working in the industries. Housing was provided to them but the closing of the plants meant they would need to move on. Their modest houses were either sold or torn down, according to the Warners.

Myakka City, the town that had grown into a city over the course of a year, was depleted to its original population just as quickly, with only a handful of permanent settlers remaining.

The city has of course experienced gradual growth since the decline of the 1930s, but it has retained its small-town charm. Knox’s dream of a large suburban metropolis is only now coming to fruition with the eastern expansion the area has experienced in the last 20 or so years. Will it ever become what he envisioned? Only time will tell.