When you put it all together The Bishop is, quite
literally, the best of the best of the past, present and
future to be found in Southwest Florida.
The Bishop is also one of the state’s oldest
museums. It opened in 1947 in a different location,
on Memorial Pier in Bradenton. Back then, it housed
one of the most organized and prolifi c collections
of artifacts and information regarding Florida’s First
People. It is believed the man who donated the
artifacts, Montague Tallant, scoured at least 169 sites
throughout the state to fi nd the large number of
pieces, some of which are thousands of years old. The
exhibit also features a collection with some of the largest
number of metal artifacts from Florida First People in the
country.
“The Tallant gallery is such a valuable collection in terms of
history; we are always learning from it,” Gonzales said. “The other
half of that exhibition is in the Smithsonian in Washington. A lot of
the collection features pottery, but there is a fair amount of jewelry, too.”
The Bishop moved to its current location on 10th Street in Bradenton in the
mid 1960s, and it was renamed to honor a couple – Edward and Lillian Bishop – who played a
vital role in the museum’s success. While the new building was much bigger, it was soon fi lled
with everything from life-sized dioramas featuring Florida’s Native Americans, to a replica of a
Spanish village, to exhibits about our state’s natural wonders. Much of it wouldn’t have been
possible without the Bishop family, Gonzalez said.
Above, the museum in the mid 1960s.
Below, the museum renamed as it is now.
46 GASPARILLA MAGAZINE • March/April • 2021
“It was the Bishop family that was among the
first benefactors of the museum,” she explained.
“At first, we named just the planetarium after
them, but the family members have been such
generous supporters over so many years, when
we changed our name we decided to name the
entire museum after them.”
Remi Gonzalez
One of the most popular reasons The Bishop
is famous is for its former mascot, Snooty. It’s
hard to believe, but it was in 1949 when “Baby
Snoots,” a West Indian manatee, came to The
Bishop and stayed for decades. Snooty (as he
was known as an adult manatee) was moved to a
bigger pool when the fi rst move took place, but
when the Parker Manatee Rehabilitation Habitat
opened he had even more room to roam.
The 60,000-gallon pool he was moved to was
located in its own area and included the secondstage
medical facilities needed to house and
treat injured manatees. The wing was offi cially