Did Al Capone spend a week on Fort Myers Beach back in 1929 or 1930? According to Jean Matthew, Capone and some of his lawyers may have stayed at the home of Dr. Baker Whisnant in Seminole Park. The group consisted of two attorneys and their families, including their children, and of course, Mrs. and Mrs. […]
Al Capone and FMB? Read More »
Introduction In the past week, I have watched two different presentations on the redevelopment of Times Square. On Tuesday, June 11, the owners of the properties in Times Square presented their plans for the area. On Wednesday, June 12, a group call Resiliency presented their ideas on different projects including Times Square, Old San Carlos,
Times Square Through the Decades Read More »
Did Columbus send a party to explore the West Coast of Florida that ended up dying on what is now San Carlos Island? Read on to learn more about this strange story.
Treasure and Dead Bodies Read More »
Yesterday I was surfing the Internet, and I came across an article about haunted restaurants. This article mentioned the Whale (formerly the Beached Whale and before that the Mermaid Club) as being haunted by the ghosts of Jim and Mary Galloway (I covered their murder in an earlier posting). Suddenly, I remembered reading about another
Haunted Restaurants of FMB? Read More »
For most of my life, Sargassum has been an elusive natural occurrence known by anglers as a “Weed Line.” These patches of Sargassum float offshore in the Atlantic providing food and shelter for bait fish as well as fish that live in the pelagic zone of the ocean which is neither close to the bottom
COVID, Ian, Red Tide, and now a Giant Blob of Seaweed: How much more can we take? Read More »
Tomorrow at 6 PM at Skip One Seafood, there will be a meeting to discuss the future of the Beach School. This school has been an integral part of our community since 1937. I attended the Beach School in the late 50s. My children attended the Beach School in the 90s. My mother taught at
As we hunkered down to prepare for the near freezing temperatures this weekend, I decided to do a little research into other times in our state’s history when the mercury dipped down into the teens. Over the past 150 years, numerous severe cold outbreaks have affected Florida. According to the Climate Center at Florida State
Has it Ever Snowed in Florida? Read More »
In January, the speaker for Estero Island Historic Society’s public meeting will be Martha Bireda, director of the Blanchard House Museum of African American History and Culture of Charlotte County. Ms. Bireda is the great-granddaughter of Queen Evans Andrews, a pioneer who came to Punta Gorda in 1897 from Charleston, South Carolina. She will share stories
The Gullah Heritage: From Sea Islands to Florida Read More »
“Fort Myers Beach is at a crossroads. In two decades, it has gone from a sleepy fishing village where everybody knew everybody to a popular Gulf resort with all the problems rapid growth brings.” This quote was published in the News-Press in 1975. Now, fifty years later, we find ourselves in a similar situation as
FMB at a Crossroads Read More »
As we prepare to run from another hurricane, it might be helpful to reflect upon the 1921 “Tampa Bay” hurricane which hit the Tarpon Springs/Tampa area on October 28, 1921 This was the first major storm to hit the Tampa area since the “Great Gale” of 1848. We can draw a few parallels between this
1921 Tampa Bay Hurricane Read More »
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
Who Was Jack DeLysle? Read More »
In the late summer of 1935, the citizens of the Florida Keys were in the depths of the Great Depression. Key West, once a prosperous port city, had declared bankruptcy. Residents were struggling to live on an average monthly income of $7. The city needed a plan to survive so it was decided to rehab
Labor Day Hurricane 1935 Read More »