Fort Myers, Florida is a sunny retirement community located in the Southwest part of the state.

Fort Myers FL History

Seminole Indians once lived along the banks of the Caloosahatchee River, where Fort Myers is located. Long before the Seminoles arrived, powerful Native Indians known as the Calusa, built earth and shell living mounds along the river. In the 1830’s, the United States Army chose this location for a military fort.

After the Seminole Wars, Confederate blockade runners and cattle ranchers moved to the area. Trade with the remaining Seminoles and the incoming Union soldiers was prosperous. Captain Manual A. Gonzales settled with his family in the abandoned Confederate garrison known as Fort Myers. Gonzales operated the town's first trading post. Eager to trade for tobacco, beads and gunpowder, friendly Seminoles brought in bundles of otter, bobcat, deer and alligator hides.

In 1881, Hamilton Disston of Philadelphia came to the Caloosahatchee Valley. Disston's goal was "to drain this worthless swamp you people call Everglades." By dredging through shallows where the Indians had once traveled on canoe trails, Disston connected Lake Okeechobee with the Caloosahatchee River. Steamboats churned the waters from the Gulf of Mexico to Lake Okeechobee and up the Kissimmee River. The town of Fort Myers incorporated in 1885.

Fort Myers Florida – Gateway to the Tropics

Because of its location, Fort Myers Florida is known as the “Gateway to the Tropics”. Seniors especially enjoy the area, making the city a large retirement community and senior vacation destination.