The history of the post 15th and 16th centuries is interesting to share. There was never a Spanish settlement here but there were people of Spanish descent who frequented the area for many years.
The Cuban Fishing Ranchos on the Florida Gulf Coast started in the 1770s and lasted into the 1840s. At first the Ranchos were seasonable but became year-round hamlets, on the coast. The fisherfolk came from Cuba, gathered the fish of the bays then dried or salted them and brought them to Havana. People in Sarasota/Manatee remembered various Cuban fisherfolk by naming places after them – Perico Island and Phillippi Creek, for instance. Folks from Cuba came to fish the waters off the Gulf Coast and some stayed to create hamlets that led to the communities of Sarasota and Bradenton. All that is left are the names.
