A Century in the Making: New Book Chronicles the History and Transformation of Florida’s Schroeder-Manatee Ranch into the Thriving Community of Lakewood Ranch

Long before it became home to one of the nation’s most admired master-planned communities, the place known today as Lakewood Ranch supported a tapestry of Florida enterprise—from timber and cattle, agriculture, shell mining, and water management to recreation. This new book, Lakewood Ranch: A Legacy of Living with the Land, is a nod to Florida’s pioneering history, uncovering how American innovation and perseverance fostered intentional and careful growth, honoring what came before while building for the future.

The story begins in 1846, when the Uihlein family emigrated from Germany to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to establish a brewery that would later become part of America’s brewing heritage. Their journey eventually led them to Florida’s Suncoast, where the land that now encompasses Lakewood Ranch supported thriving timber, agricultural, and shell mining operations. Faced with threats of uninvited uses, including a new airport and landfill site, the family responded with foresight—developing a deliberate, long-term plan to transform the property into the nation’s leading multigenerational community.

Drawing from extensive archives, personal recollections, and behind-the-scenes insights from the owners, developer, and community leaders, the book offers a front-row seat to how vision, resilience, and respect for the land culminated in a modern-day success story. Through political challenges, market change, and early skepticism, Lakewood Ranch not only endured—it thrived.

“Lakewood Ranch represents a winning collaboration of the family, a very talented and dedicated team, and a series of creative public/private partnerships, as well as a great number of business partners and the residents themselves,” comments Rex Jensen, President and CEO of Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, in the book’s foreword. “Each of these key players has placed their own brushstrokes on the broad canvas that now depicts one of the best-in-class master-planned communities in the United States.”

Lakewood Ranch: A Legacy of Living with the Land, written in partnership with Advantage Books, is a limited-edition coffee table book that will appeal to anyone interested in Florida’s history, community building, and the enduring relationship between people and place. To learn more or to purchase a copy, visit the Lakewood Ranch Information Center on Main Street. The book can also be preordered on Amazon.