Interesting Facts About Bradenton and Sarasota

Whether you’re new to the Bradenton-Sarasota region or have lived here all of your life, learning a little more about your community will help you enjoy it to the fullest. Here are some interesting facts about these communities that you may not know!

Fun Facts About Bradenton

1. Bradenton was originally spelled Bradentown and was settled by the Spanish.
2. Tropicana Products, one of the world's top producers and marketers of orange juice, has its production facility in Bradenton.
3. Bradenton's Village of the Arts is a unique place where artists use their homes as both a place to live and a studio/small business. First Fridays activities make it easy to enjoy these restored homes and shops in the Gulf Coast's largest arts district.
4. Bradenton's Manatee Players routinely win first place in the Florida Theatre Conference and the Southeastern Theatre Conference competitions.
5. McKechnie Field in downtown Bradenton is the spring training home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, providing residents the chance to enjoy Major League Baseball close to home.
6. The Robinson Nature Preserve is the Bradenton area's top attraction, and it's a great place to do some bird watching or take a nature hike.
7. Snooty, the manatee who lives at the South Florida Museum's Parker Manatee Aquarium, weighs in at 1,000 pounds and eats around 80 pounds of produce every day.

Interesting Facts About Sarasota

1. Sarasota has more than 30 golf courses close to its downtown, (golf was first introduced to the area in the late 1880s).
2. The Ringling family, famous for the Ringling Brothers Circus, played a role in turning Sarasota into a resort community and prime real estate investment when they made the community the winter home of the circus in the 1920s.
3. Sarasota boasts nearly perfect weather, with highs of 72 in the winter and 90 in the summer.
4. The Downtown Sarasota Festival of the Arts in February is one of the state's best arts festivals. The festival brings together local and regional artists on Sarasota's Main Street.
5. Hate traffic? You’ll love life in Sarasota. Traffic, even during rush hour, is rarely a challenge with the exception of the tourist traffic heading to the beach on summer weekends.
6. It took just 10 years for Sarasota to grow from a "town" to a "city" due to fast-paced growth in the early 1900s.
7. Sarasota has a plethora of arts venues and performing arts groups, including the Golf Coast Men's Chorus, Golden Apple Dinner Theatre and the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, among others.

What is your favorite fact about our Florida communities? Chime in using the comments to share the best about both Sarasota and Bradenton with the rest of the Springs Apartments community.