The American Cyclopædia (1879)/Manatee (county)

MANATEE, a S. W. county of Florida, bordering on the gulf of Mexico, touching Lake Okeechobee at the S. E. corner, bounded S. by the Caloosahatchee river, and watered by the Manatee river, Pease creek, and other streams; area, 4,070 sq. m.; pop. in 1870, 1,931, of whom 88 were colored. Along the coast are numerous low sandy islands, within which lie Sarasota bay and Charlotte harbor. The surface of the mainland is low and level, and not very fertile. The chief productions in 1870 were 12,727 bushels of Indian corn, 21,652 of sweet potatoes, 29 bales of cotton, 41 hogsheads of sugar, and 71,452 lbs. of rice. There were 330 horses, 44,970 cattle, and 5,197 swine. Capital, Manatee, or Pine Level.