The Changing Times…..Times Square Through the Decades

Ellie Bunting • November 17, 2022

The Pier and County Park

A black and white photo of a bridge with a palm tree in the foreground

A black and white photo of a beach with a pier in the background

A black and white photo of a road lined with palm trees

A pier is lit up at night with a sunset in the background

On an island such as ours, it is no surprise that a fishing pier would be a popular place to visit. Back in the 1920s and 1930s, the only pier on FMB was located at the Winkler Hotel (Beach Hotel) at the end of Pompano Street (across from the library). The first picture above shows the Winkler pier that was destroyed in the 1944 hurricane. The pilings from the pier are still visible today.

After 1944, the county built a new pier at the end of San Carlos Blvd (the future site of Times Square). When the 1921 bridge was constructed, a concrete road was built from the foot of the bridge to the beach where the road ended. From there, cars would drive on the beach to reach their destination. In the 1950s, the county purchased the land north of the pier for $16,000. This eventually became Lynn Hall Park. A children’s playground, more facilities, and some shelters were added to the park as more and more businesses began to pop up along Old San Carlos Blvd. The County Park in the 1950s was a popular place to be for fun in the sun.

A black and white photo of people laying on the beach

A black and white photo of people swinging on a beach

A black and white photo of people standing on a pier

A black and white photo of people on a beach.

A black and white photo of a park with palm trees

The Business District

Obviously, all of the people who were hanging out at the park and fishing on the pier would need to purchase food, beach items, and souvenirs. It was only natural that this area became the business district during the 50s, 60s, and 70s.

A postcard of fort myers beach with palm trees and cars

A group of people standing on a beach in front of a building that says ' coca cola ' on it

Cars are parked in front of a store that sells soda and drugs

A flag is flying over a pile of wood on a beach

The Tip Top Café (later called Breezy Freeze) was a popular hangout for the beach youth in the 50s and 60s. Located where the Dairy Queen once stood. The Tip Top sold sandwiches, hot dogs, hamburgers, and all kinds of ice cream.

Besides the Tip Top, other restaurants were operating in Times Square including the Shrimp Box, a popular take out restaurant that specialized in fried shrimp and fish fresh from the owner’s shrimp boats. This was our Friday night dinner for many years.

Garl’s Drug store was built in the early 1950s where Mango Bay is located today. Garl’s sold everything from prescription drugs to beach chairs and bathing suits. My very first job in high school was working the lunch counter at Garl’s. My best friend, Kathy Cantlon, and I worked as soda jerks Monday through Friday from 4 to 7 and from 9 to 5 on weekends. After a short time training under Betty Sanders, we were totally in charge of cooking and serving everything from hot fudge sundaes to bacon and eggs to fried chicken and steak. We got to know the regulars and had fun earning a dollar an hour.

Motels

A black and white photo of an emeralda hotel

A motel with a sign that says skyline motel on it

The first “modern” motels on the island were located in Times Square. The Island Motel was located on San Carlos Blvd across from Winds.

Old San Carlos Blvd

A black and white photo of a street with a rental service sign in the background

A black and white photo of a residential area from the 1990 's

San Carlos Blvd continued to the pier where the road turned into Estero Blvd. You can see the businesses that were around Times Square in the 60s and 70s. The second picture shows what San Carlos looked like in the 80s. Many different businesses that lined San Carlos catered to the local residents rather than the tourists.

An aerial view of a marina with boats in it

A black and white photo of a tornado 3 minute automatic car wash

A man is walking down a street with cars parked on both sides

A black and white photo of a pure gas station

Sometime in the 70s the traffic pattern changed allowing some traffic to flow directly onto Estero without going all the way to the pier. It was no longer necessary to drive through the Times Square area to get onto Estero. This helped a bit but did little to fix the traffic issues. The pier was condemned and closed to the public in 1975 until it was replaced as a prestressed concrete structure. The ramp entrance, souvenir bait house, and the “T” extension at the end, with benches and shade roof, were eventually replaced with the long lasting recycled “new wood”.

A palm tree lined street with cars parked on the side of it

A white suv is parked on the side of the road

The first photo here shows what San Carlos Blvd looked like back in the day. This area did not become a pedestrian walkway until the late 1980s when the Streetscape project was born. Next to Garl’s Drug was the Islander Store, a doctor’s office, a barber shop, and a beauty salon. The Calypso Lounge was a popular bar located where Winds is today. This later became Nick’s Liquors and then Winds.

Leaving Times Square

A black and white photo of a bridge over a road.

The swing bridge was the only way off island until the Big Carlos Bridge was built in the mid 60s.

A black and white photo of a street with palm trees

A black and white photo of a building that says san carlos marina

Times Square Makeover

Today’s “Times Square” was born when the previous “drive through” at the business district roadway at the foot of the bridge was closed and resurfaced. A vibrant pedestrian plaza was added in the late 1980’s with restaurants and additional shops gave the area a new life. The walking district attracted street performers with a new energized focus on outdoor living. In addition, the old San Carlos streetscaping picked up the beat to the hub of beach life at this popular pier and Times Square setting.

The walking district attracted street performers with a new energized focus on outdoor living. In addition, the old San Carlos streetscaping picked up the beat to the hub of beach life at this popular pier and Times Square setting.

An american flag is flying in the wind in front of palm trees

A colorful street with palm trees and buildings on a sunny day

An aerial view of a city near the ocean at sunset.

Times Square before and after Ian

I walked around Times Square for the first time yesterday. Much work has been done since Ian first came to visit. The streets are cleared of debris. People were enjoying drinks and eating at the two restaurants that are now open (Yucatan and Wahoo Wilies). Life is slowly returning to this area. It will take time and patience as we move forward to reimagine what we want this area to look like in the future. As I sat and watched a beautiful sunset, I realized that the greatest asset we have on this island is still standing strong. The beautiful sunsets will not be dimmed by any storm.

The sun is setting over the ocean with a pier in the foreground.

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The Gullah Heritage: From Sea Islands to Florida

By Ellie Bunting • December 27, 2024

In January, the speaker for Estero Island Historic Society’s public meeting will be Martha Bireda, director of the Blanchard House Museum of African American History and Culture of Charlotte County. Ms. Bireda is the great-granddaughter of Queen Evans Andrews, a pioneer who came to Punta Gorda in 1897 from Charleston, South Carolina. She will share stories of the Gullah culture and of her visits with the Gullah people who live on James and Johns Islands. Having just visited the Georgia and South Carolina Coasts, I thought this might be a good time to do a bit of research into the Gullah culture in anticipation of our January meeting.

1921 Tampa Bay Hurricane

By Ellie Bunting • October 8, 2024

Repairing the St. Pete pier after the storm. Florida Archives. As we prepare to run from another hurricane, it might be helpful to reflect upon the 1921 “Tampa Bay” hurricane which hit the Tarpon Springs/Tampa area on October 28, 1921 This was the first major storm to hit the Tampa area since the “Great Gale” of 1848. We can draw a few parallels between this hurricane and what we are now facing with Milton. In 1921, the weather forecasting was not what it is today; rather, the forecast was based on observation sites which reported breezy and cloudy conditions around a low pressure system that was organizing off the coast of Honduras on October 20 and 21. By October 22 and 23, the area of low pressure began to intensify. Winds reached tropical storm force at the observation sites. The sites reported thunderstorms and cloudiness across the Caribbean.

Labor Day Hurricane 1935

By Ellie Bunting • September 1, 2024

Searching for survivors on Upper Matecumbe Key after the storm. Photo Credit: Creative Commons In the late summer of 1935, the citizens of the Florida Keys were in the depths of the Great Depression. Key West, once a prosperous port city, had declared bankruptcy. Residents were struggling to live on an average monthly income of $7. The city needed a plan to survive so it was decided to rehab the old buildings and re-create Key West as a tourist destination. The government saw this as a way to help the jobless World War I veterans who had been affected by the economic downturn. The vets would be paid $30 a month plus free room and board to come to the Keys and build the bridges and roads that would be needed to support the Key West plan. The men were housed in flimsy shacks built on the shoreline. Residents of the Keys warned that this housing would never survive a hurricane, but their warnings were not heeded. The government plan in case of a storm was to send a special train from Miami to evacuate the vets if a storm approached. Like many plans, this one was not thought through very well. The railroad officials insisted that they would need several hours of lead time to get a train ready and on its way to the Keys. It was in late August 1935 that a tropical wave came off the coast of Africa heading across the Atlantic towards the Caribbean. At this time, predicting storms was not a science. With no satellite images or hurricane hunter planes, meteorologists were pretty much shooting in the dark with only a newly developed radar to help them predict when or where a storm would hit.

Who Was Jack DeLysle?

By Ellie Bunting • September 1, 2024

Who was Jack DeLysle? I had been reading about him in different articles as I was doing research on the early days on the island. I had come up empty except for one cryptic note I found that he “left the island under mysterious circumstances.” Yesterday, I was going through copies of the Sand Paper that were donated to the historic society and found an article by Jean Matthews that was about Jack DeLysle. This is what I learned about the mystery man who played a pivotal role in the early development of the island. Jack and his brother, John, first appeared in Southwest Florida after their ship ran aground at the moth of Gordon’s Pass. When Sheriff Frank Tippins arrived to investigate the incident, he found 320 boxes of “Soap” that turned out to be whiskey. The brothers had apparently picked up the moonshine in Alabama and sailed to Tampa, then Key West, and finally to Cuba. When they returned to Florida, they were caught in a storm and the ship was wrecked. “Captain” Jack DeLysle claimed he was in the British Army; however, he and John were arrested and turned over to the Feds. Both men were found innocent by a jury in Tampa and Jack returned to Fort Myers where he was into many different endeavors. Although he wrote poetry that he published in the local paper, DeLysle is best known for his efforts to raise money to build a bridge to Fort Myers Beach. He joined the Crescent Bridge Road Company where he met E.E. Damkohler. Damkohler was trying to raise money to build a road from Miner’s Corner to the Island. DeLysle saw potential in Crescent Beach ( old name for Fort Myers Beach)being developed into a tourist mecca like Miami Beach. He purchased property in Case Subdivision and built the Seminole Sands Casino. DeLysle’s casino had a game room with tables and slot machines, changing rooms, a dance pavilion, and a restaurant.

Al Capone and FMB?

By Ellie Bunting • July 3, 2024

Did Al Capone spend a week on Fort Myers Beach back in 1929 or 1930? According to Jean Matthew, Capone and some of his lawyers may have stayed at the home of Dr. Baker Whisnant in Seminole Park. The group consisted of two attorneys and their families, including their children, and of course, Mrs. and Mrs. Capone. Matthews states that the two lawyers who were with Capone rented a beach cottage at the same time they rented the home in Fort Myers. Rumors began spreading around town that Capone and his gang had been seen hanging round in downtown Fort Myers. The cook who worked at the Seminole Park house while the gang was staying there stated that every morning a strange man would appear and eat breakfast at the house, arriving from the beach. Was this mysterious stranger really the infamous Al Capone? The cook’s description of the man sounded like Capone who also had a deep scar on the left side of his face. The strange man never went out during the day. He would stay home and play with the children until evening when he would leave. Other people in town also recall this stranger who may have been the famous gangster. A young gas station attendant who was working at the Standard Oil station on McGregor waited on the stranger. When he was caught staring at the gangster, Capone is reported to have told him, “You know who I am, but kept it under your hat.” Mrs. Whisnant, the owner of the Seminole Park home, said that the group acted strange from the beginning. They didn’t register at a hotel. They immediately sought out the realtor who was in charge of the rental and were brought to the home immediately. They took only a brief time to look over the house before asking to move in in immediately. They didn’t want a phone. They asked about the mail but insisted that their business was all transacted by telegraph. When the group left, and the owner was cleaning up her house, she found many cases of empty liquor bottles. The residents of Seminole Park told her that the renters were not very friendly and stayed to themselves. After reading this in the Sandpaper, I decided to do a bit more research to get to the truth about Al Capone’s visit to Southwest Florida.

Times Square Through the Decades

By Ellie Bunting • June 14, 2024

The Tip Top was a popular hangout for teens back in the day.

Hurricane Season is Upon Us: Predictions

By Ellie Bunting • June 3, 2024

As we are all still recovering from Hurricane Ian, the news from NOAA that was released this week is a bit intimidating. Forecasters estimate 17- 25 named storms this season with 8-13 reaching hurricane strength. Of these, forecasters predict that 4-7 would be considered “major.” This is not great news, and it gets worse. Florida has a 96% chance of being impacted by one or more of these named storms. If we look at only hurricanes, the probability of a hurricane hitting the sunshine state drops to 75%. This drops even more to 44% when we look only at a ‘major’ hurricane hitting our state.

Preserving Our Environment: The Battle for Estero Bay

By Ellie Bunting • May 7, 2024

While doing research for Lost Icons, I came across a quote in the News-Press that I have cited several times in other articles and presentations. Written in the late 1970s, this quote seems to bring the past and the future together quite nicely: “Nobody really wants to stop progress, but there is an increasing awareness that the island is in danger of becoming a polluted paradise.” Over fifty years ago, the paper stated that Fort Myers Beach was at a crossroads. The 70s were a time of rapid, uncontrolled development with over 68 condos being developed in a single decade. This led residents to vote to incorporate the town so we could control our own destiny and stop the over-development of our island. The newly born town elected its first town council who worked very hard to create a comp plan that would guide our development and preserve our island lifestyle. This plan was completed in 1995 and had served us well until Hurricane Ian damaged every building on the island. Now that we are in the rebuilding mode, we are once again at a crossroads: Do we stick to the comp plan and turn down the developers who want to build higher and bigger? So far, the council has been carefully considering all arguments and is making logical decisions trying to keep as close to the comp plan as possible. The council and residents need to tread carefully to make sure, in our efforts to build back, we spend time anticipating the unintended consequences of building back bigger. One very good example of this is the recent attempt of two legislators to take back 225 acres that are part of the Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve. (More on this in another post). This was not the first time our beautiful back bay was threatened. Let’s go back to the 1960s when a group of concerned residents decided to take action to preserve the beauty of our back bay. Back to the Future

Home Buying Today

By Ellie Bunting • April 27, 2024

Is It Getting More Affordable to Buy a Home? Over the past year or so, a lot of people have been talking about how tough it is to buy a home . And while there’s no arguing affordability is still tight, there are signs it’s starting to get a bit better and may improve even more throughout the year. Elijah de la Campa, Senior Economist at Redfin, says : “ We’re slowly climbing our way out of an affordability hole, but we have a long way to go. Rates have come down from their peak and are expected to fall again by the end of the year, which should make homebuying a little more affordable and incentivize buyers to come off the sidelines.” Here’s a look at the latest data for the three biggest factors that affect home affordability: mortgage rates , home prices , and wages. 1. Mortgage Rates Mortgage rates have been volatile this year – bouncing around in the upper 6% to low 7% range. That’s still quite a bit higher than where they were a couple of years ago. But there is a sliver of good news. Despite the recent volatility, rates are still lower than they were last fall when they reached nearly 8% . On top of that, most experts still think they’ll come down some over the course of the year. A recent article from Bright MLS explains : “ Expect rates to come down in the second half of 2024 but remain above 6% this year. Even a modest drop in rates will bring both more buyers and more sellers into the market.” Any drop in rates can make a difference for you. When rates go down, you can afford the home you really want more easily because your monthly payment would be lower. 2. Home Prices The second big factor to think about is home prices . Most experts project they’ll keep going up this year, but at a more normal pace. That’s because there are more homes on the market this year, but still not enough for everyone who wants to buy one. The graph below shows the latest 2024 home price forecasts from seven different organizations :

Treasure and Dead Bodies

By Ellie Bunting • April 26, 2024

Did WC Zimmerman Discover a Lost Treasure on What is Now San Carlos Island? Although I really enjoy researching and writing about local history, I am also a sucker for local legends and lore, so when I was given an article taken from a 1897 issue of a newspaper called Fisherman and Farmer, I knew I had to do a deeper dive.