If all you know about the Powel Crosley Estate is from attending one of the approximately 120 weddings held on its bayfront grounds each year, you’re in for an educational treat.

The Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, which manages the estate on behalf of Manatee County government, is inviting the public to a free historical open house from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, March 10 and 11. It’s only the fifth such tour in the estate’s 91-year history.

The grand old Mediterranean Revival-style mansion, built in 1929 across from what is now the Sarasota Bradenton International Airport, was originally called Seagate by its owner, Powel Crosley. Crosley was an inventor of great renown, primarily for inventing and manufacturing inexpensive radios that brought the medium to everyday Americans. He also started WLW Radio/Cincinnati (“The Nation’s Station”), which sent network programming to NBC and Mutual in the 1930s, using the first experimental 750,000-watt transmitter.

Crosley is one of 183 members of the National Radio Hall of Fame, and several Crosley radios and other memorabilia will be on display at the open house.

The Powel Crosley Estate is located at 8374 N. Tamiami Trail in south Manatee County.