Good Day to all! Except for the stormy weather a week ago Sunday, the Hibiscus Festival was a great time. Thank you to all that made it so! Did you know the names of many thoroughfares in Punta Gorda memorialize friends and family of founder Isaac Trabue? Thanks for asking Eileen! Trabue purchased about 30 acres, records indicate for…
Good Day to all! Did you know the 21st Annual Hibiscus Festival, presented by the Charlotte County Historical Society and the Shively Charitable Foundation is coming up May 2, 3, and 4, in Gilchrist Park? Visit thehibiscusfestival.com for details. Consequently, here is my associated column on one of Punta Gorda’s and Charlotte County’s most colorful “favorite sons”. I also…
Good Day to all! Charlotte County Historical Society’s annual Hibiscus Festival is coming up May 2, 3, and 4th at Gilchrist Park. Hope to see you there for a great time! As you know from my previous column, 1902 was not shaping up as a good year for Captain Albert Dewey. In July he’d lost the Mary Blue,…
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…
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