Punta Gorda, Florida Punta Gorda, Florida Punta Gorda City Hall Punta Gorda City Hall Punta Gorda City Hall Annex Punta Gorda (/ p nt rd /; English: Fat Point) is a town/city in Charlotte County, Florida, United States.
As of the 2010 census the town/city had a populace of 16,641. It is the governmental center of county of Charlotte County and the only incorporated municipality in the county.
Punta Gorda is the principal town/city of the Punta Gorda, Florida Metropolitan Travel Destination and is also in the Sarasota-Bradenton-Punta Gorda Combined Statistical Area. Punta Gorda was the scene of massive destruction after Charley, a Category 4 hurricane, came through the town/city on August 13, 2004.
"Spirit of Punta Gorda" monument commemorating the landfall of Hurricane Charley The name Punta Gorda ("Fat Point") has been on maps at least since 1851, referring to a point of territory that juts into Charlotte Harbor, an estuary off the Gulf of Mexico.
It was in the late 1800s that early pioneer began to arrive in what is the present-day Punta Gorda area. Frederick and Jarvis Howard, Union Army veterans, homesteaded an region south of the Peace River near present-day Punta Gorda about a decade after the close of the Civil War.
Less than ten years after the first settlements in the area, barns s rolled into the town of Trabue in June 1886, and with them came the first territory developers and Southwest Florida's first batch of tourists. Punta Gorda became the southernmost stop on the Florida Southern Railroad, until an extension was assembled to Fort Myers in 1904, attracting the industries that propelled its initial growth.
Once Punta Gorda was officially incorporated, mayoral elections took place and a council was formed.
Phosphate was identified on the banks of the Peace River just above Punta Gorda in 1888.
Phosphate mined in the Peace River Valley was barged down the Peace River to Punta Gorda and Port Boca Grande, where it was loaded onto vessels for around the world shipment.
In 1896, the Florida Times-Union reported that phosphate quarrying was Punta Gorda's chief trade and that Punta Gorda was the greatest phosphate shipping point in the world.
The Punta Gorda Herald was established by Robert Kirby Seward in 1893 and presented weekly amid its early years.The journal veiled such affairs as rum running, other smuggling activities, and lawlessness in general. It underwent many shifts in both ownership and name over time, and today is known as The Charlotte Sun Herald. Early Punta Gorda greatly resembled the undivided civil climate of various classes living together and working together.
While the regal Punta Gorda Hotel, at one point partly owned by Cornelius Vanderbilt, reflected the upper class, Punta Gorda was a pretty rough town, as most frontier suburbs were.
Punta Gorda's locale at the end of the stockyards line spiked the crime rate, resulting in approximately 40 murders between 1890 and 1904. This encompassed City Marshal John H.
Punta Gorda in the 20th century still maintained steady growth.
Also in 1921, the first bridge was constructed connecting Punta Gorda and Charlotte Harbor along the brand-new Tamiami Trail.
Army air field was assembled in Punta Gorda to train combat air pilots.
After the war, the air field was turned over to Charlotte County. Today the old air field is the Punta Gorda Airport providing both commercial and general aviation. Punta Gorda's next intense expansion phase started in 1959 with the creation of a neighborhood of canal-front home sites, Punta Gorda Isles, by a trio of entrepreneurs, Al Johns, Bud Cole and Sam Burchers.
In 2004, a primary hurricane, Hurricane Charley, moved through Punta Gorda, damaging many buildings, but also creating an opportunity for revitalization of both the historic downtown and the waterfront.
During the first part of the twenty-first century, Punta Gorda has continued to expanded and improve, adding a new Harborwalk which continues to expand, a linear park which winds through the City, many new restaurants, and neighborhoods.
There are many historic places in Punta Gorda, including ten places on the National Register of Historic Places: Old First National Bank of Punta Gorda (also known as Old Merchants Bank of Punta Gorda) Punta Gorda Atlantic Coast Line Depot Punta Gorda Ice Plant Punta Gorda Residential District Punta Gorda Woman's Club Punta Gorda lies on the south bank of the tidal Peace River and the easterly shore of Charlotte Harbor, an arm of the Gulf of Mexico.
Unincorporated communities bordering Punta Gorda include Charlotte Park (nearly surrounded by the city), Solana to the east, and Charlotte Harbor to the north, athwart the Peace River.
Port Charlotte is to the west of Punta Gorda's incorporated residentiary neighborhoods Deep Creek and Suncoast Lakes, north of the Peace River.
Harbour Heights lies to the east of Punta Gorda's Deep Creek residentiary neighborhood.
Route 17 is in the center of Punta Gorda; the highway leads northeast 25 miles (40 km) to Arcadia and ultimately 1,206 miles (1,941 km) to its northern end in Winchester, Virginia.
Interstate 75 bypasses Punta Gorda to the east, with access via U.S.
Punta Gorda is home to five enhance schools directed by Charlotte County Public Schools: Charlotte High School, Punta Gorda Middle School, Sallie Jones Elementary School, East Elementary School, and the Baker Pre-K Center. Good Shepherd Day School is the only private undertaking school in Punta Gorda.
Florida South - Western Collegiate High School, positioned in Punta Gorda, is the county school district's only charter school.
Florida South - Western State College Charlotte Campus is Punta Gorda's institution of higher learning.
Roy Boehm (1924 2008), founder of US Navy SEALS; died in Punta Gorda.
Punta Gorda Airport (Florida) Punta Gorda Atlantic Coast Line Depot Geological Survey Punta Gorda 7.5-minute topographic map (2012) "Punta Gorda Chamber of Commerce: About Punta Gorda".
"Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Punta Gorda city, Florida".
"City of Punta Gorda History".
Punta Gorda in the Beginning 1865-1900.
"About The Punta Gorda herald.
(Punta Gorda, Fla.) 1893-1958 " Chronicling America " Library of Congress".
Punta Gorda.
"About Punta Gorda Airport".
"Punta Gorda Airport".
"Fishermen's Village - Punta Gorda, Florida".
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Punta Gorda, Florida.
County seat: Punta Gorda Punta Gorda Charlotte Harbor Charlotte Park Cleveland Englewood Grove City Harbour Heights Manasota Key Port Charlotte Rotonda Solana
Categories:
Punta Gorda, Florida - Cities in Charlotte County, Florida - Populated places on Charlotte Harbor - County seats in Florida - Cities in Florida - 1882 establishments in Florida
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