Luna the White Owl had twin in Punta Gorda 100 years ago.

Luna the leucistic screech owl courtesy Peace River  Wildlife Center

Luna, the leucistic screech owl ambassador for the Peace River Wildlife Center, isn’t the first white owl to be seen in Punta Gorda. As reported in the April 2, 1914 edition of the Punta Gorda Herald “a white owl was found in the store yesterday.”  It was placed in a wire basket covered by an old coat to keep the light out during the day. Many people stopped by the store to view this odd looking owl.

“Yesterday” happened to be the first of April and some who were skeptical did not take advantage of the opportunity to view the peculiar exhibit, expecting it to be an April Fool’s Day prank.

The white owl was released from the cage at night-fall despite the fact that someone had suggested having Mr. Kinsel, the taxidermist, fix it up for a place in a local museum. 

We can now imagine Luna as part of a 105 year long line of Punta Gorda leucistic owls.

By Marge Hall, PGHC Researcher and Docent 

Florida during the Revolution

After two centuries of Spanish rule, the British took control of Florida in 1763.  Spain lost Florida to the English in exchange for Havana and Manila, which had been occupied by the British.

The British separated the territory called Florida into two colonies, East Florida, with its capital in St. Augustine, and West Florida, with its capital in Pensacola. East Florida consisted of what is the modern boundary of the state, east of the Apalachicola River. West Florida included the modern Panhandle of Florida, as well as parts of what are now Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

In an attempt to bring settlers to East Florida, the British offered land grants to settlers who would come to farm and also defend the new British territory.  Many British brought enslaved Africans  with them to work the farms.

At the time of the American revolution the British had 33 entities in the Americas they considered colonies, including the 13 that were part of the rebellion.  Most of them were in the Caribbean and approximately sixty percent of their military were stationed there to protect their sugar interests extremely important in the global economy of the time.

Florida was fiercely defended by the British during the Revolution as a stronghold against the perceived sedition of the colonies north and concern of rebellion spreading into the Caribbean.  The East Florida colonists who had only recently been given lands were very loyal to the Crown when the  war broke out.  They also invited loyalists from the northern colonists to relocate in East Florida.

George Washington was well aware of Florida’s  strategic significance.  He authorized five separate invasions of East Florida between 1776 and 1780.  During a series of battles from 1779 to 1781, Spain was able to recapture West Florida from the British.  When the American Revolution ended in 1783, England losing interest in the colony returned East Florida to the Spanish to keep control of Gibraltar.

 Charlotte Harbour indicated on 1775 Map. 

It is said that Charlotte Harbor got its name from the British, renaming what was Carlos Baie to Charlotte Harbour for the wife of King George the 3rd.

Florida became a United States Territory in 1821, and was named a state in 1845.


Sources
Roger Smith, Doctoral Dissertation, University of Florida
Exploring Florida, Short History of Florida




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Early Punta Gorda Swimming Pools

Giant swimming pools are not a novel lure to this area of Florida. The earliest one was built by Punta Gorda’s founder at the early dawn of the town –  between the late 1880s, early 1890s. Punta Gorda's first swimming pool was constructed by Isaac H. Trabue at 30 feet X 60 feet and 5 feet deep. It was located in a 1. 5 acre park located in block number 49, which was between Olympia and Virginia and Chasteen and Berry.

Filled with sulphur water, the pool was advertised as a fountain of youth by the company selling land here. The Florida Commercial Company, the real estate arm of the Florida Southern Railway, called it “the most delightful bath in the world.”

The bathers in the photo are from left to right:

William Ogden

Frank Q. Brown of the Florida Southern Railroad

Frank Cooper (State Senator)

Col. Isaac H. Trabue

Albert W. Gilchrist

S. F. J. Trabue, (first County Judge of Charlotte County and nephew of founder)

From Burgettt Brothers Collection 

Another huge swimming pool was constructed in the 1920s. After Barron Collier bought the Hotel Punta Gorda (renaming it the Hotel Charlotte Harbor).  He extended the property by dredging a yacht basin on the Charlotte Harbor side of the hotel. On the reclaimed land, he constructed a swimming pool along with his tennis courts and a beach front. Late at night and in the off-season local Punta Gorda kids would go swimming in the hotel pool.

Punta Gorda a Pineapple Capital before Hawaii

It may surprise most living here today that pineapples were once grown in and nationally marketed from Punta Gorda long before they were a major crop in Hawaii.  The earliest settlers to southern Florida found the fruit under cultivation and reported on it as early as 1881 (Barthoff and Boggess brochure), and used the potential of earnings from pineapple growing to lure settlers to the Charlotte Harbor area.  It was possibly one of the draws for Isaac Trabue’s purchase of 30 acres of land he’d never seen south of Charlotte Harbor Bay.  Trabue also ended up setting aside a block in the town he created to grow the fruit and fund an annual chess tournament. 

Many of Punta Gorda’s early residents also invested in pineapples including Albert Gilchrist, Kelly B. Harvey, and Perry McAdow.  Sometime in the late 1890s a company was established for pineries east of town in Solona.  Its annual report in 1904 listed Perry McAdow as President and Charles Davis as General Manager. A new breed of pineapple, the Cayenne, a very large variety with smooth skin, was introduced there.     Over 2200 crates of pineapples had been shipped the previous year from the Pineapple Center.   A 1896 newspaper article indicated that “the finest pineapples were grown here at great profits.” 

There were ten families living and working the pineapple farms at the Solona-based center.  In addition, the company offered planting and cultivation of pineapples for investment to non-residents.  Some of these were locals like Ed Wotitzky, who owned a retail and shipping business and John Jack.  Others were northerners.  One William Whitten, who became a Charlotte County Commissioner and built the first bridge over Charlotte Harbor,  moved to his Solona Pinery in Punta Gorda in 1902.

In 1914 a new corporation was found to seek financial investors. T.C. Crosland, founder of the West Coast Fish Company,  was the President.  B.A. Wachob and C.G. Brown, major pineapple growers, were among the Board Members.  The corporation offered stock to fund the growing of the plant, which took two years to bear fruit. 

At its peak, Punta Gorda’s pineapple production was the largest in the nation and the industry was second to commercial fishing as Punta Gorda’s principal business.  But in 1917 a disastrous freeze hit the area and wiped out the pineries, and by then it was cheaper to grow the plant in Cuba. Also, unfortunately for Punta Gorda’s industry, around the same time, James Drummond Dole had established the Hawaiian Pineapple Company.  He bought the entire island of Lanai and made it into the largest pineapple plantation in the world. 

The era of the Punta Gorda pineapple was over. 

...Theresa Murtha

Sources: Lindsey Williams, Our Fascinating Past; Tampa Tribune, Sept 17, 1988; Clippings and Source Documents Vernon Peeples Collection, PGHC; Tampa Tribute, August 24, 1904. 

A Former Punta Gorda Mayor was part of Normandy Invasion

Seventy-five years ago Dana Burke, a 28-year old Princeton teacher of military history, entered the Army and then joined thousands of other American soldiers as part of the Normandy Invasion.   Later at 52, after a career as a sales manager in Canada, he came to Punta Gorda and immediately became civically engaged leading to a position on City Council from 1982 to 1986 as well as a term as the City’s mayor.  He also was President of the Punta Gorda Isles Civic Association, member of the School Board, and a volunteer tutor at local schools.

Burke, a Princeton graduate, was among those, who after serving their country and  having successful careers, came to Punta Gorda and shared their skills to help grow and improve the City.