Manatee History Matters: Dr. Charles Ballard played key role in Bradenton's early development
Dr. Charles W. and Annie Ballard came to Manatee County from Albert Lea, Minn., in 1887 for their health. After leasing a small cottage for the winter, Dr. Ballard soon began purchasing much of the land to the west and south of Braidentown in the area of Prospect Avenue (15th Street) south along Wares Creek to Central (9th Avenue) east to Fairview (14th Street).
The land was divided into lots and Ballard joined the real estate game, selling property and loaning money. At the time there were no banks in Manatee County. The lots were advertised as "5 minutes to the post office, stores, courthouse, church and steamboat landing."
In 1889, he began construction of his residence on Wares Creek; the bungalow had 200 feet of verandas with a view toward the river. On the property he built a small office, grew citrus, built a bathhouse on his dock, dug channels for water runoff and improved the property by shelling the walkways around this house. (The location is currently the parking lot of the Presbyterian Church.)
In 1896, George Pimbley began construction of Ballard's "iron build-
ing" on the southwest corner of Manatee Avenue and Main Street. The building had an iron façade and a wooden sidewalk on two sides covering the deep drainage ditches, the building was 48 feet square divided into two stores with a public hall and four other rooms on the second floor. The building also gave Ballard an office "in town."
The block was one of the first outside of the city center of Main Street and the city dock, built on the south side of Manatee Avenue. It led to more construction in the area of south Main Street opposite the courthouse square.
The Ballards were known in the area for their many philanthropic donations. Wanting a church near their home and being devote Presbyterians, on Jan. 21, 1899, they donated the land where the Presbyterian Church now sits on Manatee Avenue and 15th Street. Dr. Ballard was also involved with the campaign to build the first courthouse on Courthouse Square.
They gave a block of lots to the Trustees of the Braidentown School district on March 2, 1893. The land was at the point where Prospect (15th Street) and Academy (8th Avenue) meet, the current location of a small park and shuffleboard courts. Two schools would be built at this location: the primary school and high school.
The high school would be converted to a grammar school when the new high school was built on Manatee Avenue in 1912. They also contributed four lots to the high school and 15 lots to the primary school. The Ballard Elementary that we know was built in 1922, and was large enough for 500 students with 16 classrooms and an auditorium, and named for Dr. Ballard. The building was extensively remodeled in 2001.
Dr. Ballard was elected in 1894 as state representative for this area.
Dr. Ballard was very proud of his heritage. In an 1896 article in the Manatee River Journal, he mentions one of his treasures, a 150-year-old oil painting called the "Wiley picture" of his great-grandparents, Major and Mrs. John Wiley.
The painting bore the mark of a bullet from a Hessian gun fired during a raid in Jamaica, Long Island, during the Revolutionary War. The painting was so important to him that it is the first thing listed in his will. It was to be inherited by Major William H. Wiley, one of his relatives. Dr. Ballard stated in his will that his ancestor would approve of this gift. Ballard also gave the major the family records, snuff box and spectacles. The remainder of the estate went to his wife, Annie, as the couple had no children.
Dr. Ballard died in 1901 of heart failure at age 76 while returning home from the post office. Mrs. Ballard died in July 1914 at age 84 in Sarasota; both are buried in Fogartyville Cemetery.
Cindy Russell, librarian with the Manatee County Historical Records Library, enjoys sewing, genealogy, needlework and all kinds of puzzles. She can be contacted at Cindy.Russell@manateeclerk.com or 941-741-4070.
This story was originally published April 7, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Manatee History Matters: Dr. Charles Ballard played key role in Bradenton's early development ."