Manatee County was formed in 1855 and named after Florida’s species of the “sea cow.” As the county grew to its present size of over 340,000 people, it built increasingly larger government buildings. The area’s earliest courthouse was constructed in 1860 and is preserved at Manatee Village. The next one opened in 1894 and can be found near the law enforcement memorial. It was replaced by a third in 1914. Nearly 100 years later, that courthouse received an extensive renovation. It can be visited across the street from this County Administrative Building which contains nine floors and was finished in 1989.
