Half of Bayshore Gardens’ homes were built after 1973
More historic than 9% of U.S. towns · #357 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
Most of Bayshore Gardens was built recently: 0.6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1973. Below: maps from 1947 on and the census since 1990.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bayshore Gardens is more historic than 9% of U.S. towns, #357 of 638 in Florida. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bayshore Gardens’ overall grade.
Few Florida towns list much on the Register (a typical Florida town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Bayshore Gardens’ 0.0 sits below most of its state (33% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±0.8 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: our sources. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Bayshore Gardens’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In 1955, a New York syndicate led by developer Sydney R. Newman purchased the area now known as Bayshore Gardens on the west side of U.S. 41 along the eastern shore of Sarasota Bay, just north of the Sarasota/Manatee county line, and platted an area between what was dubbed Bayshore Gardens Parkway running from U.S. 41 to 26th Street West and Sarasota Bay that would become Bayshore Gardens. The property was purchased for about 2 million dollars, making it the most expensive land purchase in the area since the 1920s. The 3,200-acre (1,300 ha) area, once fields for growing tomatoes, would include recreation areas and a marina, schools, churches, shopping centers and medical facilities as well as homes in the popular style of that time, now called mid-century modern.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bayshore Gardens. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1947Bradenton sheet · 1:24,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bayshore Gardens.
People over time
Bayshore Gardens, census by census
Between 16,323 and 19,904 people in every census since 1990.
4 censuses, 1990–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bayshore Gardens’ Wikipedia page.
Famous people
Famous people close to Bayshore Gardens
Nobody well known was born in Bayshore Gardens itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Bayshore Gardens is more historic than 9% of U.S. towns, #357 of 638 in Florida. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in Bayshore Gardens?
0.6% of Bayshore Gardens’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1973.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
