Hi everyone! As you might know already, I am a historian at the Edison Ford Winter Estates in Ft. Myers, Florida. Part of my job is learning about these two men as much as I can. Last month, I went to nearby Punta Gorda for a couple of days because my girlfriend, Dr. Cindy Banyai, had a conference in Charlotte County. I spent the time while she was at the conference walking the small town. Upon visiting the Blanchard House Museum, an African American museum in the town proper, I found out from one of the volunteers on staff that Thomas Edison and Henry Ford passed through Punta Gorda, Florida on their way to Fort Myers. They traveled into the Punta Gorda train depot from up north and stayed across the Tamiami Trail from the depot at the Punta Gorda Hotel.
The Punta Gorda Hotel was one of the first buildings constructed in the town and opened in January of 1888. It was constructed in the style of Queen Anne. The three-story building had 150 rooms and faced Charlotte Harbor looking toward Port Charlotte across the Peace River. It stood within the empty lot of what is now surrounded by northbound Highway 41, W. Marion Avenue, Taylor Street and W. Retta Esplanade. During its first season it served over 3300 guests. The hotel had modern fixtures of the time such as gas lighting, electric bells, steam heat and open fireplaces. The grounds were landscaped with camphor trees and palms. The hotel attracted such famous dignitaries as Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, Theodore Roosevelt, John Wanamaker, and family members of the firearm manufacturer Samuel Colt.
During the early 1900s there was a period of decline. Ownership changes occurred and in 1924 Barron Collier, the largest Florida state landowner and namesake for Collier County, acquired the hotel, renamed it Hotel Charlotte Harbor, and expanded the grounds for beautification. Collier installed stucco on the exterior of the building, added a fourth-floor ballroom, new tennis courts, a boat basin, a 176 by 80-foot swimming pool, and arches to the porches, giving the hotel a look of Spanish Eclectic style. Under Collier’s leadership, the hotel flourished but it went thru hard times during the Great Depression. In 1944 Collier sold the hotel, which then went thru a few different owners, and in the mid-1950s it was briefly turned into a health spa called the Charlotte Harbor Spa. The building was destroyed by fire in August of 1959. The flames were so massive that they could be seen on the horizon in Fort Myers.
The second Punta Gorda railroad depot.
(Courtesy of Our Fascinating Past: Charlotte Harbor: Early Years.)
Punta Gorda’s second railroad station was where many famous people came through on their way to south Florida, including Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and Harvey Firestone. When the Collier bridge was built over the Peace River in 1931 for automobile traffic, the station went into decline and was briefly used as a bus station. The Punta Gorda station was finally torn down in 1967. Currently the land that the station stood on is now occupied by the Wyvern Hotel, which interestingly was where Cindy and I were staying and where her conferences were held.
Thanks for learning!
Chet Wallace
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