In 1902 the Seaboard Air Line Railway constructed a railroad bridge which spanned the Manatee River landing on the south bank at the town of Manatee (incorporated 1888). This pivotal accomplishment was of immense importance to the aspiring community affording the only direct rail service from the area south of the Manatee River to point's south such as Tampa and Plant City in Hillsborough County, and allowing connections through Jacksonville to the entire country. By 1903 the town was "growing like magic" boasting "more miles of shell streets than other towns in the county." Manatee was flourishing in the early years of the new century.

To accommodate the many visitors, who were arriving in Manatee in 1903, construction was begun on the Central Hotel only one block from the S.A.L. Station house. Completed in 1904 at the southeast corner of Manatee Avenue and Central Avenue (now 9th Street East), the Central Hotel Building had several shops on the main level and the 30 room hotel above.

William R. Whitaker was the owner of the property, known as the Stebbins Block, through the early years of operation. Later known as the Plaza Hotel and Centralia Hotel, it operated through the 1940s, though in later years, when Bradenton advanced to be the principal city and tourist center on the south bank of the Manatee River, it functioned as a rooming house offering apartments.

The L-shaped two-story brick building retains the original awning and balcony on any early commercial structure in the Manatee section of Bradenton. Though many of the storefronts are presently vacant, as are the rooms, the building remains in good condition. This is one of the best examples of early commercial buildings in Bradenton.