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Ft. Myers, Florida

Souvenir Folder of Fort Myers

1923

Fort Myers, The Gate City of the Tropics, is the County Seat of Lee County and is situated on the Southern bank of the beautiful Caloosahatchee River, fifteen miles from the Gulf of Mexico. It is 311 miles south of Jacksonville, 147 miles south of Tampa, and is 400 miles farther south than San Diego, California.

CLIMATE

The rapid growth of this city and territory is due, primarily, to its ideal climate. The climate of Fort Myers is the gateway to eternal Spring and for this reason it has become celebrated and much sought after. Because of our wonderful climate, one sees here in mid-winter a profusion of tropical growth similar to that in the West Indies. Tropical plants and flowers that grow only indifferently well elsewhere flourish in rioting luxuriance at Fort Myers. Frosts are almost unknown, as is evidenced by the tropical verdure. The tourist, upon entering North Florida, is not particularly impressed. with that fact, for the general character of the country and its products are the same as in Southern Georgia. In Central Florida there is little of a tropical nature to impress the tourist other than the extensive orange groves and occasional specimens of the hardier palms. It is not until one crosses the broad Caloosahatchee and enters Fort Myers that the stranger finds himself within the real tropics of Florida, where all manner of plants and flowering shrubs of a tender nature are found growing in riotous profusion in the open without any protection whatever. There are more than fifty varieties of palms grown at Fort Myers, including the rare Traveler, Date, Fishtail, Corkscrew, Fan Palm, India Sugar Palm, Royal Palm and many others. Many residences of the city are surrounded with grounds that are rare botanical gardens, rich in tropical color and fragrant with the perfume of many flowers. The golden Allamanda, red and purple Bougainvillea, Royal Poinciana, red and pink Hibiscus, and a multitude of other tropical flowers blossom with wonderful profusion throughout the year.

YACHTING

For yachts and launches there is probably no other city or town in Florida whose waters offer more delightful opportunities along its tropical bays and rivers. The route up the Caloosahatchee is one of the most beautiful trips in Florida, and the tourist coming south for the purpose of seeing its beauties should include the Caloosahatchee River in his itinerary, as it presents one of the grandest tropical trips in the State.

CALOOSAHATCHEE RIVER

The Caloosahatchee (Carlos-A-Hat-Chee) was named after Carlos V of Spain. It has the distinction of being the most beautiful river in Florida, and it is, also, the deepest stream in Florida. The Caloosahatchee River has its headwaters in the everglades section of Lake Okeechobee, and it is the only outlet for this immense body of water to the Gulf of Mexico. It flows seventy-three miles in a westerly direction, emptying into San Carlos Bay near Punta Rassa. From Punta Rassa to Fort Myers the river has an average width of one and one half miles. A few miles East of Fort Myers it suddenly contracts to a narrow stream not over a quarter of a mile wide, and its width gradually narrows until long before Fort Thompson is reached, the width from bank to bank is scarcely more than 150 feet and indeed, in places, less than this. Seagoing vessels are operated to Fort Myers, and light draft boats operate to Lake Okeechobee via Caloosahatchee River and State canals.

BATHING

Crescent Beach on Estero Island is the most popular beach in this section. The finest bathing on the West Coastal Florida is enjoyed at this point, which is forty-five minutes from the city by auto. Its seven miles of fine, hard beach affords excellent racing.

Source:
Excerpt from "Souvenir Folder of Fort Myers" Published by John H. Schwegler, Fort Myers, Fla. Postmarked March 13, 1923.

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