Our Current View
July 20, 2010
THE VIEW FROM MAIN STREET
The expansion of the Florida Southern Railway to Punta Gorda in 1886 was a move inspired by politics and good luck.
Charlotte Harbor (once know as Hickory Bluff) was actually settled at least 10 years before Punta Gorda had its first permanent residents. By 1879, plans were being made to bring the railway south, with Charlotte Harbor being mentioned as the most southern terminal. They were buying land and laying tracks coming down from Lakeland, and the direction of the railway was hotly contested. It was a make or break situation for the towns along the line. If the railroad went through your town, you had growth; if you lost out and didn’t have a railroad depot, your town was likely to fade away into history like Pine Level did in Desoto County when the depot ended up at Arcadia instead.
These decisions about where to locate the stations were made all along the line, and towns grew or died as a result of them. Charlotte Harbor had become a booming cow town, on the north side of the Peace River. Punta Gorda was just being platted on the south side, with Colonel Isaac Trabue as the principle property owner. The decision of whether to bring the railroad line down the northern or southern side of the Peace River would make many fortunes, and leave others destitute because they bought land along the wrong route. Pine Level (then in Manatee County) would disappear from most maps, while the towns of Bartow and Fort Meade, where depots were located, would survive and thrive.
The railroad made separate deals with each town it was to go through and put a depot in. The deals were all different, but you can be certain that the most profitable offers from the towns got the depots – the railroad was out to make money wherever it could. The railroad exercised a lot of power by determining not only the route it would take, but also which town would have a depot and where that depot would be built.
In other places, the Florida Southern built their tracks and depots, and then named the town that would grow up around the area. This happened in the case of Wauchula and thus people settled there because of the railroad depot being built.
In 1886, the railway reached Arcadia, and then construction stopped for several months, even though the roadbed had been prepared to go on to Fort Ogden, which was the largest town in Manatee County at the time. More politics. This gave Arcadia time to grow, and there was still much controversy over where the new county seat would be when Desoto County was created out of Manatee County. If the railroad had continued on to Fort Ogden, and built their depot there after completing the line to Arcadia, Fort Ogden would have had a good claim at becoming the county seat. The few months that the Florida and Southern waited before opening the line on through to Fort Ogden gave Arcadia a chance to build and grow and when Desoto County was created in 1887, it became the new county seat. Fort Ogden finally got their railway depot, but it was built about a half a mile outside of the town, and growth in that area never was able to keep up with the growth in the Arcadia area.
The decision originally was to bring the railroad down the northern side of the Peace River to Charlotte Harbor, but Isaac Trabue made an arrangement and agreed to deed one-half of his holdings at what was then called “Trabue” to the railroad to get the railway to come here. The Florida and Southern Railroad agreed, and that is how the politics of the day helped bring the railroad down to Punta Gorda, which remained the southern-most station for many years.
This shifted the driving of the cows down Marion Avenue and out to a long dock built by the railroad about where the Isles Yacht Club is today, and with the incorporation of Punta Gorda as a city in December of 1887, the growth of our city was assured.
The politics of where the tracks would be laid, and the trains would run, along with the positioning of the railroad depots would affect the development of the Peace River area for many years into the future.
We at Main Street Punta Gorda are diligently preparing for our annual Florida Main Street conference, which will be held here September 15 – 17. With over 200 people expected to attend, we are looking forward to showcasing our beautiful city and hosting this prestigious event.
Volunteers are always needed, so if you have some free time, give me a call or check our website for a Volunteer Application Form. Main Street is all about historical preservation and economic development so if you want to help us make a difference, just let me know. Our web address is Mainstreetpuntagorda.org.
See you soon around Main Street!
Jan Sidebottom is Program Manager of Main Street Punta Gorda. Give her a call at 941-575-9099 or contact her at jansidebottom@mainstreetpuntagorda.org.
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