Through the years, Manatee County has had its share of eccentric characters.
One of the most colorful was Major Alden Joseph Adams, a descendant of a brother of the second president of the United States, John Adams.
The Union Army veteran came to the then-thriving community of "Braidentown" in 1876 at the age of 33 in search of a homesite where he could recuperate from Civil War wounds in the warm weather.
He purchased 400 acres along the river between the present-day First Street and Ninth Street East and began constructing a 16-room concrete castle near the river -- close to where Manatee Memorial Hospital is now located.
The major began to populate his estate, which he named Villa Zanza, with a menagerie of exotic animals, including monkeys, deer, tropical birds, peafowl, and guinea fowl, along with the more common geese, pigeons, chickens, ducks and dogs. A herd of horses also were kept in the pastures of the estate that grew to more than 300,000 acres.
After his death in 1915, the castle was sold and eventually demolished.
-- Information from “The Singing River,” by Joe Warner.
No comments:
Post a Comment