• The county was created in 1855 and named for the West Indian manatee, Florida's official marine mammal

  • Manatee County covers about 893 square miles. About 743 square miles are land, and 150 square miles are water.

  • One of the longest recorded restoration periods for the county, where roughly 80% of customers lost power. It took approximately 8 to 10 days for FPL and Peace River Electric to restore power to the most severely impacted rural sections of Manatee County.

  • The first public school in manatee county was named Dame School for Boys established in the 1840's by a lady by the name of Electa Arcotte Lee (1808-1871)

  • The district fire department wasn't founded till 5 years after manatee county's original founding

  • The first hospital in Manatee County was the Larrabee Hospital, established by Dr. Charles William Larrabee and his wife Dovie in 1920

  • Manatee county is the 16th congressional district of Florida

  • One of the first planned subdivions in manatee county was called Bayshore Gardens, originally constructed on tomato fields it was one of the biggest land deals since the 1920's

  • One world record held by Manatee County is the fact that manatee county once housed one of the oldest manatee in recorded history. Born on July 21st 1948, Snooty the official manatee county mascot, snotty lost his life on July 23rd 2017 at the age of 69 years old.

  • Along with the manatee world record, Manatee County holds the world record in fastest high school relay, recycling record and tallest teen.

  • Manatee County has a 53% natural disaster risk score, with many incidents linked to hurricanes.

  • The worst hurricane to hit Manatee County is hurricane Milton in 2024

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