Myakka River State Park is a Florida State Park, that is located nine miles (11 km) east of I-75 in Sarasota in Sarasota County and that includes portions of southeastern Manatee County. A small portion (1,920 acres) of the park was the gift of the family of Bertha Palmer to the state, being a portion of her massive property holdings in Florida. The park is named after the Myakka River.
During the early 20th century Bertha Palmer was the largest landholder in the region and one of the greatest developers and promoters of Florida, especially of Sarasota, where she established a resort, her winter retreat, and her extensive farms and ranches that revolutionized the two industries in the state.
Practices she developed and established enabled the Florida farmers and ranchers who followed her to enter the national market with their farm products and cattle.
When the area of the park was owned by Bertha Palmer it lay entirely within Manatee County, because Sarasota County did not exist. It was not carved out of parts of Manatee until 1921. She died in 1918. By the time her sons donated 1.920 acres to the state, the land that was purchased for the park straddled the new county boundaries and today, the park area covers portions of both.
Consisting of 37,000 acres (150 km²), this is one of the state's largest and oldest parks. It was delineated in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps.
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