Looking north toward Atwood Groves (ManaVista)
Open turnstile, looking west (1902 SAL Railroad bridge in the distance)
Once upon a time, the only bridge spanning the Manatee River was located way up the river near present Rye Bridge and the old Rye community at the end of Upper Manatee River Road. Otherwise, you took the ferry, had your own boat, or swam between old Braidentown and Palmetto…
In 1910, Capt. C.H. Davis opened the bridge he had just finished building. It cost 10 cents to cross, and it was only one lane wide with turnouts. A bridge tender had to go out, fire up an engine, and cause the turnstile to turn so that boats could navigate up the river.
It stretched from the foot of 9th Street East in the Village of Manatee across the river toward the Atwood Citrus Groves (ManaVista) a bit east of Palmetto. When the wooden Victory Bridge was completed in 1919 (near the present Green Bridge) it directly linked Bradenton & Palmetto–making the Davis Bridge obsolete.
Davis tore down the bridge in 1920, and the iron truss turnstile sold to the county. It was used to build the first bridge across the Cutoff to Snead Island. The bridge you see in the background was built by Capt. Davis in 1902 for Seaboard Airline Railroad–and was not demolished until 1968. One can clearly see the piling bed outline across the river in aerial views in Google Maps:
The remaining RR bridge spanning the river was built by Atlantic Coast Line Railroad at the same time the Victory Bridge was being built in 1919. It is still in service.
In 1926, the wooden Victory Bridge was severely damaged by a hurricane and closed. That and what happened next is another story…
“Images Courtesy of Manatee County Public Library Historical Digital Collections.”
