An electrifying arrival: The Manatee Light & Traction Co.

As part of the Powel Crosley Jr. Community Exhibition, Manatee Village staff put together an exhibit that is set in the 1912 Stephens House. This is a contrast-and-compare experience, and it considers how Crosley’s innovations affected home life. Many of his innovations ran on electricity, while others catered to those living in rural communities like the Stephens family, who lived without electricity until 1946.

Working on this exhibit, I began to ponder what it was like when electricity arrived in Bradenton. Of course, it came along sooner here than in rural Ona, where the Stephens Homestead was located. The year was 1903, to be exact.

That year, resident John M. Graham’s dreams of an electric power plant in Braidentown would become a reality. At a cost of over $100,000, what became known as the Manatee Light and Traction Co. was constructed on the north side of present-day Third Avenue and 10th Street West, where the Manatee Chamber of Commerce is now located. It would furnish electricity for the first time to the Town of Manatee and to Braidentown. Later, in 1912, the power plant would extend its service to the City of Palmetto.

While its main purpose was to furnish electricity to the community, its dual purpose was to give electricity to operate Graham’s trolley line. According to the 1903 Braidentown Board of Trade Advertising Folder, the power house was a brick structure, 50 feet by 100 feet, with a slate roof and cement floor. Adjoining this was an imposing 100-foot smokestack and spacious car barn to house the trolley cars. The power was generated by two Babcock & Wilcox water-tube boilers of 500 horsepower each, two DeLaval steam turbine engines of 400 horsepower each, and two Bullock generators of 800 kilowatts each. The Manatee Light and Traction Co. opened for business on Dec. 14, 1903.

As the trolley line progressed, several rafts of ties for the track were brought down the Manatee River from Rye, where they had been especially cut for the project. They were landed at the foot of Main Street, as were several cars for the line that also arrived by steamer. The main track of the trolley line was six miles in length, costing $8,000 per mile. It extended from Braden Castle in the east, west to Fogartyville. Both freight and passenger business were handled from the steamers arriving along the river.

Regularly scheduled service began on Christmas Day, 1903. A grand opening celebration drew a crowd estimated at 1,000 to 1,500 from all reaches of the county, and even visitors from across the state. Streetcars ran at 15-minute intervals from 6 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. A trip from Braidentown to Manatee was 15 minutes; 30 minutes between Braidentown and Fogartyville. The fare was 5 cents per person occupying a seat; children not occupying seats rode for free. Not unlike the airlines of today, there were baggage fees. For one passenger with one piece of luggage, not to exceed 150 pounds, the fee was 25 cents. Excess baggage was charged at 20 cents per 100 pounds, or any fraction thereof.

The Manatee River Journal, the local paper of the day, lavished praise on Graham. An article devoted to the impact the project would make on the community stated, “No event in the past history of the towns was so fraught with real and lasting benefit, nor can we imagine anything for the future which will do more to advance our interest and place us in the front rank of real live progressive towns.” It went on to note how Graham, sometimes at great personal expense, would alter the chosen route for the streetcar, in order to avoid antagonizing any member of the community who objected to its placement.

The trolley line only lasted three winter seasons before sand roads, the lack of business and the arrival of the automobile put it out of business. But the power plant furnished electricity to the residents of the area for many years after the street-car line failed. Southern Utilities bought it from Graham, and eventually would sell it to Florida Power and Light as the land boom of the early 1920s approached.

If you’re interested to learn more about how Floridians lived prior to this “electrifying” arrival, come visit the 1912 Stephens House at Manatee Village Historical Park and take in the special exhibit “Powel Crosley Jr.: His Life. His Work. His Impact” going on now through Sept. 30. If you want the whole scoop on Crosley and his innovations, be sure to visit the Manatee County Agricultural Museum, Palmetto Historical Park, Manatee County Historical Records Library, South Florida Museum, and opening in June, the Manatee County Central Library.

Phaedra Carter, supervisor at Manatee Village Historical Park, enjoys bringing local history to life for visitors of all ages. Contact her at phaedra.carter@manateecler.com or 941-749-7165.

This story was originally published May 17, 2016 at 12:53 PM with the headline "An electrifying arrival: The Manatee Light & Traction Co.."