Recently, my husband and I took our motor home to the WP Franklin campground. Located in Olga, the campground has 29 RV sites and 8 boat sites with 50 amp electric and water hookups. There is a boat ramp and a fishing pier which makes access to the river easy if you bring a boat. […]
Who Was WP Franklin? Read More »
What’s in a name? According to Shakespeare, “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” It wasn’t that easy for the early developers of Fort Myers Beach. In the 1920s, Estero Island was known as “Crescent Beach.” The name was a logical choice because the island is, indeed, shaped
What’s In a Name? From Crescent Beach to Fort Myers Beach Read More »
This is the first in a series of stories I plan to publish celebrating the individuals that have shaped our island’s history over the past 200 years. For the most part, in the late 1800s, Fort Myers Beach was uninhabited except for a few brave souls who decided to take advantage of the Homestead Act
Fort Myers Beach History Spotlight: Hugh McPhie Read More »
As we begin yet another hurricane season, I thought I would write a post taking a look at the storms that have affected Southwest Florida over the past century. 1921 Storm with No Name On October 17, 1921, a low pressure system was observed in the western Caribbean. By October 22, a Cat 1 hurricane with
Southwest Florida Hurricane History 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 of 1935 Read More »