Who was Jack DeLysle? I had been reading about him in different articles as I was doing research on the early days on the island. I had come up empty except for one cryptic note I found that he “left the island under mysterious circumstances.” Yesterday, I was going through copies of the Sand Paper that were donated to the historic society and found an article by Jean Matthews that was about Jack DeLysle. This is what I learned about the mystery man who played a pivotal role in the early development of the island.
Jack and his brother, John, first appeared in Southwest Florida after their ship ran aground at the moth of Gordon’s Pass. When Sheriff Frank Tippins arrived to investigate the incident, he found 320 boxes of “Soap” that turned out to be whiskey.
The brothers had apparently picked up the moonshine in Alabama and sailed to Tampa, then Key West, and finally to Cuba. When they returned to Florida, they were caught in a storm and the ship was wrecked. “Captain” Jack DeLysle claimed he was in the British Army; however, he and John were arrested and turned over to the Feds. Both men were found innocent by a jury in Tampa and Jack returned to Fort Myers where he was into many different endeavors.
Although he wrote poetry that he published in the local paper, DeLysle is best known for his efforts to raise money to build a bridge to Fort Myers Beach. He joined the Crescent Bridge Road Company where he met E.E. Damkohler. Damkohler was trying to raise money to build a road from Miner’s Corner to the Island.
DeLysle saw potential in Crescent Beach ( old name for Fort Myers Beach)being developed into a tourist mecca like Miami Beach. He purchased property in Case Subvidision and built the Seminole Sands Casino. DeLysle’s casino had a game room with tables and slot machines, changing rooms, a dance pavilion, and a restaurant.
DeLysle had the casino ready to open when the bridge was finished in May 1921. The other casino was Thomas Phillip’s Crescent Beach Casino at the north end where the Gulf Shore and the Cottage were located before Ian.
People who wanted to visit Seminole Sands Casino would drive on the beach from Pompano Street where Estero ended. Jack was the ultimate marketer for his business. He hired a live band to play on weekends and had a bus service that would take people from Fort Myers to the casino. His business began to grow and everything was looking good for a successful season.
Unfortunately, in October 1921 the worst hurricane in a decade hit the island and the casino was severely damaged and needed to be rebuilt. Jack reopened and decided to serve only fresh vegetables at his restaurant, so he planted crops along Connecticut Avenue; however, this did not work out very well as Jack did not know how to protect his crops against the cold. Little is known whether Seminole Sands continued to be successful because the casino burned to the ground in 1924 after being empty for quite some time before the fire.
Delysle seemed to disappear after the fire. He tried to launch a newspaper called the Daily Palm Leaf, but was unsuccessful. An article in the News-Press indicated that DeLysle had been arrested in Tampa and extradited to New Bedford for to face a larceny charge.
