Verna is an unincorporated area in

Manatee County Manatee County is a county in the Central Florida portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 US Census, the population was 399,710. Manatee County is part of the North Port-Sarasota- Bradenton Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its county ...

and

Sarasota County Sarasota County is a county located in Southwest Florida. At the 2020 US census, the population was 434,006. Its county seat is Sarasota and its largest city is North Port. Sarasota County is part of the North Port–Sarasota–Bradenton, FL ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

, United States.

History

The town of Verna was a small community from 1915 to 1930 built from a stop located on the East and West Coast Railroad which ran from

Bradenton Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698. History Late 18th and early 19th centuries A settlement established by Maroons or escaped sl ...

to Arcadia in Desoto County. Today its location is marked by the intersection of what is now State Road 70, Verna Bethany Road, and Verna Road. The community was established in 1915 on the former Posey Farm and was originally called St. Claire. Early advertisements for the railroad use this name. However, the name was changed a year later by John Posey, owner of the land and future clerk of the city. He named the community after his daughter, Verna Posey. The post office was established there in February 1916. In 1915 the land deed for the St. Claire School was approved by the Manatee County School Board and by 1918 Verna School opened under teacher Lois Bond. By 1923 there were 16 homes in Verna. By 1925, there was a grocery store owned by F.E. Albritton, garage, post office, hotel, restaurant, train depot, and gas station in the town. The Verna Methodist Episcopal Church was erected in 1926. During the real estate boom of the 1920s, expansion was planned. John Posey and business partner Frank Golden, along with other Bradenton developers such as C.H. Ballard platted new communities adjacent to the town. Subdivisions including Verna Heights, La Verna, and Verna Courts were advertised in newspapers from

Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough C ...

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

. However, these projects did not come to fruition due to a major economic depression which began in Florida in 1926. In June 1925, the town of Verna was incorporated, but it was not long-lived. In 1927,

Florida State Legislature The Florida Legislature is the legislature of the U.S. State of Florida. It is organized as a bicameral body composed of an upper chamber, the Senate, and a lower chamber, the House of Representatives. Article III, Section 1 of the Florida Cons ...

ordered the city to be abolished, which was completed in 1929. The Verna Post Office closed in January 1930 and the school closed at the end of that spring. The community was unofficially absorbed into the neighboring Myakka City. Today the area that was once Verna is home to agricultural businesses, small residential neighborhoods, and the Myakka City Fire Department.

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Manatee County, Florida Former municipalities in Florida Unincorporated communities in Florida