Port Manatee is located on the southwestern shores of Florida's
Tampa Bay in Palmetto. It is just nine nautical-miles (16
kilometers or 10 miles by air) south-southeast of St. Petersburg
on the northern side of Tampa Bay. It is about 21 nautical-miles
(34 kilometers or 21 miles by air) southwest of Tampa. Manatee
County is home to almost 323 thousand people, while over 14
thousand people live in the City of Palmetto. When Hernando De
Soto explored what is now Florida in the 1600s, he found an
established settlement of Pohoy people's on the south shores of
Tampa Bay. By the early 1700s, nearly all Pohoy had been wiped
out by epidemics. Europeans did not visit the area again until
Josh Gates and his party of pioneers arrived at the shores of
the Manatee River in 1842. Manatee County was established in
1855. The waterways that provided excellent transportation
supported the rapid growth of the area. Later roads, bridges,
and railroads brought increased growth to Manatee County. Local
industry, fishing, and agric