Site of Asa Lamb's 1910 House

The house was Lamb Manor, the home of Asa Lamb, the son of a Mississippi banker who settled in Palmetto. This Queen Anne style home was moved to Ruskin in 2006 where it is a privately owned residence and recently resold in 2020 for $1.6 million. The original home was three stories, 5,000 square feet, and weighed 220 tons.

Asa (A.M) Lamb, the youngest of the 16 children raised by S.S. Lamb, helped print and soon owned "The Palmetto News", Palmetto's perennial weekly newspaper that was founded in 1894. He was also the Vice President of the Manatee County State Bank and a notary. In 1918, he was also President of Guarantee Abstract Company and in 1921, he was working in a clothing store as a men's outfitter.

His home became known as Lamb Manor. It appears that the house was built about 1910. Manatee County Tax Records and the 1910 census confirm this date and state that Asa Lamb’s address was on Central Street - Central Street (now 9th Ave W) ran on the west side of the property. By 1916, the address had changed for the Lamb Manor to 204 East Riverside Drive and the directory shows the occupants as Asa and Kate J. Lamb. In 1921, Asa M. Lamb sold the house to Polina Abbe Courtney, Vice President of the Palmetto State Bank. In 1921, the address had changed again, now to 2204 East Riverside Drive.

The last address for this home at this location was 834 Riverside Drive. In 2006, the home was slated for demolition. It was saved after being purchased and relocated by barge to Ruskin where it was restored and now sits on a five-acre parcel on the Little Manatee River.

This entry was created by Palmetto Historical Park staff using Palmetto Historical Park’s records and photos.