Untold Stories of Downtown Fort Myers

By watching the Untold Stories videos about Ft. Myers, I learned quite a bit about the area I now live in. Fort Myers was originally named Fort Henry and was a small military outpost for the second and third Seminole war and was also used as a Northern Fort in the War Between the States. The name was changed Fort Myers after a Lutenit Colonel who held the rank of captain and was engaged to the general’s daughter, so the fort was named for a man in love. Downtown Fort Myers is where the old fort once stood. The area was originally considered to be in Monroe County and the first permanent settlers to come to Fort Myers came from Key West in 1866. The first school was then built in the early 1880’s but a few kids decided to burn it down. In 1884 the first newspaper was established in and in 1887 the area became known as Lee County. Thomas Edison was one of the first famous people to come to the area in search of Bamboo and when he found it he immediately bought 13 acres of land and built his estate. Henry Ford then came to Fort Myers to visit his friend and mentor Edison. The first railroad system opened in 1904 and in the early 1920’s the movement from rail to trail began when the trailblazers created a trail from Tampa to Miami. Downtown was a very crowded and busy place on Saturdays when everyone had the day off. In 1947 the Edison estate was bought by the city for uses in education. Before the Second World War baseball teams came to Fort Myers for spring training, such as the Pittsburg Pirates, the Boston Red Sox, and the Minnesota Twins. In the 1950’s after the war many people came and settled in the area, mostly retirees, and the area became a real tourist market. After hurricane Donna came in 1960 the area was badly damaged and became a quiet town until after the repairs were made. Also in 1960 the movement away from downtown began when shopping plazas were built and the opening of Edison mall. Lee County was one of the last counties in the country to fully become integrated among whites and blacks. At this time Edison Community College was the first higher education in the county then in 1997 came the first four year university, FGCU. The Barbra B Mann Hall brings much cultural performances to the community and the children’s education. Also the Imagination used for teaching children about science and technology furthers the community’s tourism.

                I really enjoyed learning about the Edison – Ford estates in this video. I went there when I was in the fifth grade with my class for a field trip. Back then I did not pay too much attention to what was going on because I was more excited about not having to sit and read or write in the classroom. I was more excited about being on a field trip than to actually pay attention to what was around me. I would love to go back again now to fully understand what is like in the Edison household.