Whitfield, Manatee County, Florida

Whitfield Estates was formerly a wooded area that had been homesteaded by General John Riggin, aide-de-camp to Ulysses S. Grant. The property included the bayfront estate of Alfred Ringling. In 1924, the property was purchased from Richard T. Ringling, son of Alfred, by a corporation called Whitfield Estates, Inc., held by Louis Broughton Whitfield, D. G. Haley, E. H. Price, and E. S. Delaplane Jr., who were from Alabama. Louis Whitfield, a native of Montgomery, Alabama and president of the development, was founder and president of the Alaga Syrup Company and the W. W. Pickle Company. Many streets in the subdivision were named for the Whitfield family, including Broughton and Pearl. The original plan for Whitfield Estates called for a housing development, an 18-hole golf course, a hotel, a yacht basin, and man-made islands in the bay. Donald Ross was retained as the golf course architect. Sometime during late 1925 or very early into 1926, L. B. Whitfield abandoned the development and his interest was taken over by Adair Realty. The club was given its current name, "Sara Bay Country Club", in 1964. ==National Register of Historic Places==

The following districts and properties in the subdivision are listed on the National Register of Historic Places: Most of the above were listed as part of the 1996 Whitfield Estates Subdivision Multiple Property Submission (MPS). ==Geography==

Whitfield is in southern Manatee County, on the northeast shore of Sarasota Bay. It is bordered to the north by Bowlees Creek and the unincorporated community of Bayshore Gardens, and to the southeast by Sarasota–Bradenton International Airport. It is north of the center of Sarasota and the same distance south of Bradenton, the Manatee county seat. According to the United States Census Bureau, the Whitfield CDP has a total area of , of which , or 1.43%, are water. ==Demographics==

As of the 2000 U.S. census, there were 2,984 people, 1,244 households, and 878 families residing in the CDP. The population density was . There were 1,364 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 94.27% White, 2.98% African American, 0.13% Native American, 0.70% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 0.80% from other races, and 1.04% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.73% of the population. There were 1,244 households, out of which 21.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.0% were married couples living together, 9.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.4% were non-families. 20.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 2.75. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 17.9% under the age of 18, 6.2% from 18 to 24, 26.9% from 25 to 44, 28.3% from 45 to 64, and 20.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.3 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $51,536, and the median income for a family was $54,009. Males had a median income of $35,444 versus $24,375 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $25,408. About 3.3% of families and 6.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.3% of those under age 18 and 6.6% of those age 65 or over. ==References==