Florida Archives and Manuscripts Repositories

Collects, researches, preserves, and exhibit materials and artifacts relating to the history of Anna Maria Island through its museum, City Jail, Belle Haven [cracker] Cottage and the Mangrove Walk’s indigenous garden. Has local history books, T-shirts, vintage photographs, Island artwork by local artists, maps and an online exhibit with rare books, large basket, bowl,bottle and box collections and photos in a searchable database.

Natural and general cultural history museum documenting the region from the Pleistocene to the present. Includes fossil evidence of Florida’s earliest mammals and marine species and a collection of prehistoric and early post-contact archeological artifacts. Focuses on Florida’s ecology and bio-diversity,covers local maritime traditions, early 20th-century medical practices and Spanish exploration in the New World. Spanish Plaza has full-scale replicas of a 16th-century manor house, chapel and conquistador Hernando DeSoto’s birthplace.

Parker Manatee Aquarium, Bishop Planetarium are in the same location.

Hundreds of books on Florida and local history; maps, magazines, City directories, yearbooks, local newspapers, transcribed oral interviews and speeches. The Historical Image Digital Collection has over 30,000 images of Manatee County people, activities, and buildings from the late nineteenth century to the early 1980's. The digital collection can be found here: https://cdm16681.contentdm.oclc.org/. In addition to depicting schools, churches, hospitals, and means of transportation, the photographs feature many prominent local families and their important role in building and documenting Manatee County. Extensive genealogy collection.

The only black history museum located at a community/state college. A gallery and resource center for the study of African-American achievements. Exhibits include a timeline of significant events in African-American history, including slavery, fights for freedom, community building and education, the Harlem Renaissance, the Civil Rights movement, Kwanzaa, and the modern era in South Africa. There are also displays about the Underground Railroad and a collection of African masks.

Manatee County’s early governmental records dating back to 1856. Probate files, marriage licenses, tax records, voting registrations, and soldiers' and sailors' discharge books, city directories, Sanborn and plat maps, aerial photographs, early school attendance records, deed abstracts and newspaper/obituary files.