Rye Graveyard Preserves Lost Past
By Jessica Klipa, The Bradenton Herald, Fla.
Mar. 18–EAST MANATEE — Nature lovers appreciate Rye Preserve for its nature trails, picnic areas and freshwater access points for fishing, canoeing and kayaking.
What some may overlook, however, is the Rye Family graveyard, dating back to shortly after the end of the Civil War.
It is the only tangible reminder of a once-thriving Rye settlement that included a post office, sawmill, school and more.
The Rye Preserve was named after Erasmus and Mary Rye, who established a homestead there.
The Upper Manatee River served as a watery thoroughfare for 72 families who built stores and a gristmill.
Steamships were able to access the river after the federal government dredged the river from Tampa Bay to Rye in 1910.
The settlement’s success was short-lived. As cars and trains became more common, steamship travel diminished. By the late 1920s, the settlement was again closed off to the outside world and unable to survive.
Little remains of the settlement save the cemetery marked by gravestones of Erasmus, Mary and presumably their adult relatives and children, some who died not long after birth.
Structures left standing up until the late 1980s were lost to a suspicious fire. Now only rusted remnants of the building are surrounded by the shrubs and trees, including a a rusted bed spring pinned in place by trees that had grown through the frame.
Sharon Tarman, greenways and trails coordinator for the Manatee County Conservation Lands Management Department, gives tours along the river and trails and is also working on the county’s plan to clearly mark trails for distance, difficulty and direction.
“It’s no big deal for us but for somebody who doesn’t know where they’re going, it’s a pretty scary thing because you can get lost,” she said. “We’re trying to make it as user-friendly as possible.”
Roland Sibert and his wife, Jeanne, managed to wind their way around to the Rye family cemetery Monday without a map. But they’re well-practiced on taking unfamiliar trails.
“Most people talk about Florida where ‘there’s so many people’ — not where I go,” he said. “Until you find a county park or a some preserve, you don’t really see Florida.”
The couple, who has come to Florida over the last 30 years, just moved to the area earlier this month. Each year, they travel about 50,000 miles and are always looking for outdoor activities when they stop.
“I want to see the dirt. A city is a city . . . but the country, I haven’t seen anything the same,” Sibert said.
The county offers free recreational and educational programs to get people acquainted with Florida’s rugged outdoors.
On March 28, an evening event is scheduled at Rye Preserve to help kids ages 6 and older safely search for nocturnal animals native to Florida, roast marshmallows around a campfire, and hike to the Rye family graveyard.
Jessica Klipa, Herald reporter, can be reached at 708-7906.
Rye family graveyard in preserve is last remnant of once-thriving riverfront settlement
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