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From spring through early fall, mullet feed and fatten in protected waterways and backwaters of Southwest Florida’s brackish coast. |
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Photo taken Wednesday as the "Old Timers" group of Punta Gordans who have lived in the area 25 years or more, donated $11,000 towards a new History Center for Punta Gorda to be housed in the old human services buidling near the highschool. Among those in the photo are Linda Wilson, 1st left front, Gussie Baker 2nd left front, Edna Jane and Vernon Peeples (front center), Lee Swift front last right; Stephen R. Deutsch 2nd row left, Nancy Prafke center third row, Howard Kunik, back row 2nd, Gene Murtha (President PGHC) 2nd to end right last row, Bruce Laishley last row right end. |
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Marion Ave. Between Taylor and 41 North. Turtle Club (which is said to be opening again the Fall) in the foreground. |
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According to "Historic Houses and Buildings in Punta Gorda, Florida" distributed by the Punta Gorda History Society, this house was built in 1883. Their write-up labels it Florida Land and Improvement (which makes sense as the land's owner at that time), however, it indicates that the building was built by the Consolidated Ice, Refrigerating and Fish Co. This company according to records wasn't started under 1901 -- a puzzlement. City records indicate a building date of 1920, but the PGHS booklet indicates that it was embellished at about that time. The mystery goes on. If the Ice and Fish Co. did build it that was likely to have been significantly before 1920, but not as early as 1883. I suspect that it may have been a small one room building built by the Florida Land and Improvement Co. in the 1880s during the time that they were selling land in this area -- when Issac Trabue in fact bought the land for "Trabue" now Punta Gorda. |
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Punta Gorda 1st Baptist on Gill Street. The Congregation dates back to 1889 with the original church built on Olympia at Cross Street (41 South today). The remnant of that church was destroyed during Hurricane Charley -- at that time it was a bridal shop. |