Good Day to all! Did you know Captain Albert Dewey, one of early Punta Gorda’s leading citizens, was the victim of an attempted assassination? Born in Granby, Connecticut in 1857, Dewey operated a steamship and lighterage company in Savannah, Georgia, where he met and married Mary Fannie Rogers in 1884 when she was 15. In 1892, they arrived in…
Good Day to all! Did you know that during the mid-1800’s Thomas P. Kennedy was likely the most important trader on Florida’s west coast? Born in Philadelphia in 1812, he was raised by an aunt who placed him with a hardware merchant to learn the trade. As a young adult, he joined the Texas revolt against Mexico, where he…
Good Day to all! Unfortunately, the Charlotte County Historical Society’s annual Florida Frontier Days festival has been cancelled for this year. Hope to see you there in 2026! Did you know that in addition to seven sons of a well-known Punta Gorda family serving their country in several branches of the armed forces during World War II and the…
Good Day to all! This column fulfills a recent request. Did you know, of the two rivers emptying into Charlotte Harbor, it took the most time to settle on a name for the longest? The more westerly Myakka flows south from near the Hardee-Manatee County line for 68 miles and drains 235 square miles. The Peace begins northeast of…
Good Day to all, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Happy Holidays! Did you know the first record of Christmas celebrated locally can be found in Jarvis Howard’s journal? Howard arrived from New York with his wife Brenda and their three children in January 1874, along with his brother Frederick and family. Their intent was to homestead land on…
Good Day to all! Did you know that although three men, George Battersby, Dick Windham, and Isaiah Cooper, were arrested for the murder of Marshal John Bowman and one even convicted, the killer’s true identity remains a mystery? When the marshal was shot, a group of boys were playing around a stable near the Bowman house and one,…
Good Day to all! What a stressful three weeks! Hope everyone is doing okay. I’ve lived here almost 73 years and have never experienced anything like it. Sorry I was unable to get a column out two weeks ago. Did you know Punta Gorda has not always been the peaceful town folks see today? Around 1900, just 13…
Good Day to all! Since I mentioned the Calusa in my “Ponce” columns, thought I’d provide a bit more information on them in this and my next column. Did you know that in the early 16th century, this area’s indigenous people were the most powerful in all of south Florida? When Juan Ponce de Leon’s fleet entered the Charlotte…
Good Day to all! Did you know that over 500 years ago this past March 3, an expedition sailed from San Juan Bautista (Puerto Rico) eventually reaching the shores of what we know today as Florida? Juan Ponce de Leon was born, it’s believed in the early 1470’s, in the Kingdom of Castile and Leon. His home village, Santervas…
Good Day to all! Did you know Charlotte Harbor was the site of a military skirmish during the Civil War? With the fall of Vicksburg, Mississippi and Port Hudson, Louisiana in July 1863, Union control of the Mississippi River became uncontested. Consequently, cut off from its western states, the Confederacy came to rely even more heavily on Florida to…
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