Pine Level, FL, Pine Level was established and designated the county seat of Manatee County, Apr. 29, 1866, becoming the first County Seat of DeSoto County on May 19, 1887.
At that time, DeSoto County was created from Manatee.
Pine Level remained the county seat for 18 months, until the city of Arcadia was appointed to serve as county seat on November 6, 1888.
Local regionas that included Fort Ogden, Brownville, Nocatee, Punta Gorda, Pine Level, and Arcadia had been contenders for county seat–with Nocatee as the favorite. When several communities were quarantined because of yellow fever, voting was postponed. On August 4, a second vote did not result in a majority choice.
A third vote in November chose Arcadia. In 1921, DeSoto County was divided into the present-day counties of Charlotte, DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, and Highlands. *Source: DeSoto County Historical Society.
The original Pine Level Townsite was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on Sept. 17, 2014.
For more information about Pine Level and its current community, go to Facebook.com/PineLevelCommunity.