Lee County
Lee County
was founded in 1887 with 1,414 residents and named in
honor of General Robert E. Lee. Soon after its founding,
famous and important industrialists such as inventor Thomas
Alva Edison, automobile magnate Henry Ford and tire manufacturer
Henry Firestone called Lee County home, at least for the
winter. The beaches of Sanibel and Captiva Islands are
still considered among the best in North America today.
And these same beaches have long been ranked the third
best in the world for shelling, with more varieties found
here than anywhere else on the continent. The barrier
islands along the SW Florida coastline yield more than
400 species of shells, from the commonplace to the exotic.
Today, Lee County's population exceeds 300,000, attracting
twice as many seasonal residents and more than 1.5 million
vacationers each year. Though the county has grown to
meet modern demand, numerous historic homes and sites
have been preserved as reminders of the area's past.
Fort Myers
Fort Myers
began as a small outpost on the Calossahatchee River in
1850, established by Gen. David E. Twiggs in honor of
his future son-in-law General Abraham Charles Myers. Fort
Myers was among the first forts built along the Caloosahatchee
River as an operations base against the fierce Seminole
Indians. The fort was abandoned in 1858 and reoccupied
by Federal troops from 1863-1865. The Southernmost battle
of the Civil War (a skirmish between Northern and Southern
troops) occurred across the river in 1865, and is reenacted
annually at the North Fort Myers Cracker Festival. Only
ten families lived in the original town in 1876. Herds
of cattle were driven past the old fort grounds to Punta
Rassa and were then shipped to Cuba. Many pineapple plantations
flourished along the river and settlers began to move
away from the fort area.
By 1885 Fort Myers had a population
of 349, the second largest town on Florida's west coast,
south of Cedar Key. In 1885, Thomas Alva Edison stopped
to visit the village. Captivated with what he saw he built
his home and laboratory, and subsequently became Fort
Myers' most famous resident as well as a strong force
in its growth and development. In the building boom between
1898 and the 1920's, winter visitors from the north flocked
to Florida. The opening of the Tamiami Trail (US 41) linking
Fort Myers to Tampa and Miami added more to the growth
of the Big Boom of the 1920's. Growth radiated in all
directions, until the 1930s.
In the early 40s every county in
Florida had air bases. The Fort Myers area had Buckingham
and Page Fields, and the city was home to thousands of
servicemen, many of whom returned to become permanent
residents. In the years since World War II, the city has
grown along with Lee County and the rest of Southwest
Florida. Commercial and residential growth has pushed
development in all directions to create Cape Coral, North
Fort Myers, and Lehigh, as well as adding to the old coastal
settlements of Fort Myers Beach, Pine Island, Sanibel
and Captiva Islands, and Bonita Springs.
top
Cape Coral
Anyone who ever thought of living
on the water will find Cape Coral an affordable
dream come true. Hundreds of miles of picturesque canals
wind their way throughout Lee County's largest city,
offering boaters access to the Gulf of Mexico. On any
given day, you can find sunbathers strolling along the
pier by Cape Coral's Yacht Club and beach; Our incredible
climate brings in golfers year round, and families are
making the City's "Sun Splash Family Water Park" famous
across the state.
The "Cape" offers
festivals for practically every occasion, with dozens
of fine restaurants and more shops every year. Since
Cape Coral began in 1958, the community has raced to
join the ranks of fastest growing cities in the country.
Cape Coral currently has a full-time population of
close to 83,000 people. But that figure swells to 95,000
during the winter months. By 1998, city planners expect
our population to exceed 100,000 residents.
Each year, the City grows more
diverse. Cape Coral has a Council/Manager system of government,
with seven council members and a voting mayor. The City
Manager acts as the City's chief executive officer. The
mayor and council are elected to four year terms. With
so much to offer, and so much more room to grow, Cape
Coral truly is the rising star of Southwest Florida.
.top
Lehigh Acres
Lehigh Acres
no longer the retirement community it was planned to be,
sprawling Lehigh Acres continues to grow and diversify.
The more than 100-square-mile community east of Interstate
75 and north of State Road 82 is home to about 14,000
residents. Lehigh Acres was founded in 1954. Planned and
developed by Lehigh Corporation, this 60,000-acre community
offers lakes, ponds, and 175 miles of canals. The Gulf
of Mexico is just 30 miles to the west. Lehigh Acres is
situated on the highest ground in Lee County, averaging
27 to 30 feet above sea level.
Lehigh Acres was a 94-square mile
expanse of rangeland known as the Lucky Lee Ranch before
1954 when ranch owner Lee Ratner decided to exchange farming
and ranching for real estate development and created the
first planned community in Florida. The area was almost
too remote to attract growth until the early 1980s when
the opening of Interstate 75 made it easily accessible.
.top
Sanibel and
Captiva
Sanibel and Captiva
offer visitors more than just sun, sand and shells. The
islands are ideal for the outdoors-oriented visitor and
also offer a surprising diversity of cultural events.
The first human beings on these shores were probably Caloosa
Indians. Artifacts discovered in Indian Mounds in the
Wulfert area of Sanibel put the arrival here of these
Native Americans between 500 B.C. and 1 A.D. The Caloosas
built these mounds some as high as 40 feet - of sand and
shells from the seafoods which were a staple in their
diet. A highly developed civilization, the Caloosa nation
prospered until the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores
around 1513. The Spaniards were driven off, but more explorers
followed. By 1800 the Caloosas had been decimated by disease,
slave traders, and war.
There is a possibility that the
islands were hide-outs for a group of pirates. Tales of
buried treasure, beautiful female captives, and life on
Gasparilla Island (named for the best known of the pirates,
Jose' Gaspar) have found their way into area history.
Captiva gave birth to her sister island of North Captiva
when a hurricane in 1921 separated them with a waterway
known as Redfish Pass. Blind Pass, separating Captiva
and Sanibel Islands, has closed and opened at least six
times between 1859 and 1961.
Homesteading on
Sanibel was withdrawn in 1878 and a lighthouse reservation
was established. By the time the light was activated
in 1884, the entire island had become a reservation
by executive order. Except for the eastern end, the
island was reopened to homesteading in 1888, and by
the early 1890s, the Wulfert area had become an active
farming community complete with a schoolhouse - built
in 1892 at a cost to Lee County "not to exceed
$75".
In 1894 the Bailey family settled
on the islands. They established the Sanibel Packing Company,
which today is Bailey's General Store. In 1963 the Sanibel
Bridge and Causeway was opened, beginning the massive
migration by visitors, developers, and new residents.
The lure of the islands draws thousands of visitors and
will undoubtedly continue to do so.
| *The
history-shrouded Sanibel Island Light Station
was completed and became operational when its
lantern went on continuous duty at dusk on August
20, 1884. After many years of neglect by the
U.S. Lighthouse Board, the small but busy Port
of Punta Rassa was finally served by a landfall
light by which seamen could locate the entrance
of San Carlos Harbor. Navigation in the near-shore
waters was much easier and safer after the Sanibel
Lighthouse was built. |
|
Originally, the lamp atop the Sanibel
light tower was fueled by kerosene. The tall-chimney lamp,
similar to a modern hurricane lamp, was housed inside
a nearly six foot tall and very expensive French-made
third-order Fresnel lens. The focal plane, or center of
the light source, of the Sanibel Lighthouse is elevated
98 feet above sea level. The original 1884 lens rotated
around the stationary lamp. Prisms spaced around the lens'
circumference generated the bright flashes. The frequency
of flashes is known as the characteristic of a lighthouse.
It was customary that each lighthouse in a District had
its own particular characteristic. Navigators could determine
their position whenever they came within the optical range
of a lighthouse by recognizing the light's characteristic.
Initially, two lighthouse keepers
were assigned to the Sanibel Lighthouse and took turns
tending the light. At dusk the keeper on duty would pick
up a full fuel can and climb the narrow spiral stairway
inside the tower's tube. Protective curtains were removed
from inside the glass outer wall of the lantern room and
the lamp was topped-off with fuel. A special crank-up
clockworks was turned by hand to lift the heavy counter-weight
up into position. When engaged and released, the slow-moving
gear assembly began the rotation of the lens-much like
the workings of a cuckoo clock. The light keeper remained
on duty at the top of the tower all night long. Periodically
during his shift, the timing of the characteristic would
be checked, the lamp refueled when necessary and the clockworks
rewound on schedule.
In 1923, the first lens was traded-out
with a fixed lens, one that didn't rotate. At the same
time a complex timer/burner assembly was installed and
the fuel source was altered to acetylene gas. The explosive
gas was automatically ignited by a pilot light. In 1962,
the second lens was replaced with a much smaller drum
lens and at the same time the light was electrified. This
lens remained in use through most of the 1980's. This
drum lens, the third lens used at Sanibel, is on loan
to the city and will soon be on exhibit at the Sanibel
Historical Village.
Today's small
lens, which produces the faithful flash coming from
the Sanibel Lighthouse, is made of plastic. The last
full-time lighthouse keepers left Sanibel in 1949,
but today the Sanibel Lighthouse continues its dutiful
coded blink and continues to be an operational, automated,
and unattended aid to navigation. It remains under
control of the U.S. Coast Guard Aids to Navigation
Team in St. Petersburg. The City of Sanibel manages
the land and buildings. *from
the book Sanybel Light by Charles LeBuff..
.top
|
