The Protein Products Corporation on Burnt Store Road - Where Burnt Store Marina is Now - Part 1

By Graham Segger

Readers of my book about the history and geography of Burnt Store Road may recall a reference to a business operating on the Burnt Store Marina property prior to the development of the harbor and the residential community. That company was the Protein Products Corporation which owned the land now occupied by the harbor. They operated trawlers which used large nets to haul in tons of  small inedible "trash fish" for processing into fish meal in a smelly plant.

Image 1 - Yucca Pen Creek and the Burnt Store Marina coastal area property ownership map of 1969 – Section 1, Township 43S, Range 22E

In early 2020 I discovered, in the archives of the Punta Gorda History Center, several aerial photos dating from the late 1960s which provide new detail of what the harbor looked like while this business was operating. The photos appear to originate from two different periods reflecting slightly different configurations of this business enterprise. The citation on one of the photos describes the operation as a “fish meal place for pet food”. I’ve been told by old time residents that the company would store the fish in shallow dredged ponds prior to processing. The first two photos reflect dredging operations in progress in both the channel and on shore.

Image 2 – View from the east 

Image 3 – View from the harbor

The next photo shows a more mature business operation with several large buildings for processing the fish and a trawler at the dock.

Image 4 – Protein Products Corporation fish meal processing plant

A recurring story which I have heard is that the plant was closed after five  employees tragically died in an industrial accident. The Protein Products Corporation was incorporated in Tampa on November 2, 1965 and was dissolved on July 11, 1972. The dissolution corresponds with the time period when Punta Gorda Isles, Inc. purchased the land and then registered the Section 22 subdivision development plat with Lee County.

Read the rest of the story here.

The three aerial photos above are from the Vernon Peeples Collection, Punta Gorda History Center. Graham’s book about Burnt Store Road titled Where Do We Live? contains many more early aerial photos and is available at local Punta Gorda book stores or by emailing wheredowelive.bsm@gmail.com. An eBook version is available at www.wheredowelive.com.