FREE Take Me Read Us Online at Home IslandSunNews.com VOL. 13, NO. 38 From the Beaches to the River District downtown Fort Myers SEPTEMBER 26, 2014 Community Foundation New Exhibit To Open Fall Season Hope by Sandra Yeyati Art Walk Features Opening Reception At Arts For ACT Gallery oin Arts for ACT Gallery, located at 2265 First Street in downtown Fort Myers, on Friday, October 3 from 6 to 10 p.m. for the opening reception and Art Walk Jfor October’s featured artists, Disparate Forces by artist Danielle Branchaud Cash Only At Bonita Bill’s by Pam Brodersen and the photography of Sandra Yeyati. There is also a book signing with Marianne Cushing for Mahalas Lane. This exhibit continues through November 3. he Southwest Florida Community Foundation welcomes the fall season with The main gallery features Disparate Forces, an exhibition of selected works by a new 2014-15 Art & Community exhibition series featuring work from the Branchaud for Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Disparate Forces will try to con- TFlorida Artists Group and the Art Council of Southwest Florida. vey Branchaud’s work as contrasting forces within or without a person that affects The new exhibit includes varying mediums of art such as watercolors, acrylics, mixed the progress of our lives. Most of the artwork features the emotional and subcon- media and fused glass from artists Honey Costa, Muffy Clark Gill, Pam Brodersen, scious translation of such forces, be it violent and unbalanced or hopeful and uplifting. Cheryl Fausel and more. The exhibit will run through October 29 and is available for Regardless of where such reactions fall on the emotional spectrum, each is essential to public viewing hours Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. To schedule a tour, the development of the human spirit. call Kim Williams at the SWFLCF office at 274-5900. continued on page 16 continued on page 18 Craft Beer Fest Comes To Marina ZombiCon Tickets he Marina at Edison Ford announces the inaugural Fort Myers Craft Beer Available Soon TFest on Saturday, October 4. The et your advance sale of an all one-day festival will feature more than 75 access ticket to the long antici- craft beers from around the world and live Gpated ZombiCon 8, being held musical performances. Kick off will begin in downtown Fort Myers on Saturday, at noon with entertainment by Wilder Sons October 18. Advance tickets will be until 2:30 p.m., followed by Little Eddie available on October 3 for $10 each. and the Fat Fingers from 3 to 6 p.m., and This provides entrance to ZombiCon Deb and the Dynamics from 6 to 9 p.m. and into the themed feature area called There is no charge to attend the event. The Swamp. With your advance ticket Single craft beer tastings will be available purchase, you get immediate access and for $5, with all you can taste wristbands no waiting in line through a specific pre- selling for $30 in advance and $35 on the ticket entrance. day of the event. Advance wristbands can Tickets may be purchased on October be purchased at The Marina at Edison Ford through October 3. 3 at the following locations: The Pure Fort Myers grand opening festivities will also be on-site that day, featur- • Tincture Gallery, located at 1412 ing food from Texas Tony’s, a visit with members of the professional hockey team the Dean Street, Suite 100, downtown Florida Everblades team and cheerleaders, as well as a special appearance by Swampy, Fort Myers their mascot. River excursions will be running at 9 and 10:30 a.m., 12:30, 2:30, 4:30 • Halloween Megastore, located at and a sunset cruise at 6 p.m. 5120 S. Cleveland Avenue in Fort The Marina at Edison Ford is located at 2360 West First Street in downtown Fort Myers Myers. For more information, call 431-5504 or visit www.marinaedisonford.com. continued on page 16 2 THE RIVER - SEPTEMBER 26, 2014 Historic Downtown Fort Myers, Then And Now: Railroad Extension Goes Nowhere by Gerri Reaves, PhD ne hundred and thirteen years ago, bringing the railroad to Fort Myers Owas a steady preoccupation for town boosters. The commercial and practical advantages of railway service at the turn of the 20th cen- tury were obvious. It would boost tourism and facilitate the importing and exporting of prod- ucts, which had to be transported by water or over rough roads. Everyone from citrus growers, fishing guides, and hoteliers to merchants, tourists, and business travelers would benefit from rail service. Enter John M. Roach and Millard B. Herely of Chicago, who came to Fort Myers to investigate the feasibility of building a 150- mile railroad to the state’s east coast. In September 1901, a contingent of local interested parties met with John M. Roach and Millard B. Herely of Roach was president of the Chicago Traction Company and the Chicago Traction Company. Presumably, those with white ribbons on their lapels had a direct role in the Herely the traffic manager. decision making. Locals among those pictured are Nathan G. Stout (left, second row steps) and Frank C. On September 19, 1901, the front page of the Fort Myers Alderman, Sr. (third from right). The location is unknown. Press announced the proposal: a company had been formed “to courtesy Southwest Florida Historical Society construct a railroad from Punta Rassa to Ft. Pierce on the East Surveys continued into mid-November. Coast Railway, about sixty miles north of Palm Beach.” (Later, Stuart was mentioned However, the Southern Florida & Gulf Coast Railway never was built. as a possible end point.) In any case, Roach did not sever his connections to the area, which were already At some point during that September, this historic photo was taken in an unknown substantial by 1901. He had bought Useppa Island in 1894 (dates vary) and developed location. it as a tarpon fishing resort, thus helping to make Southwest Florida the world-class Engineer George T. Donohue was part of the Roach-Herely team. About 60 years sports-fishing destination it became. In fact, the railroad project’s offices were located after his trip to Fort Myers, he sent this photo to Nathan G. Stout as a reminder of the on Useppa in Roach’s winter home. (Barron G. Collier subsequently purchased the group’s visit. In 1901, Stout was the proprietor of the Press and a strong supporter of island circa 1911 and expanded it into an exclusive resort.) the project. Roach was one of the several men Walter G. Langford assembled to organize the Notably, the project did not require land donations, as did some other Florida rail First National Bank of Fort Myers in 1908. projects. Roach and Herely wanted land to remain in private hands while the project And, the two men also partnered in developing Deep Lake, extensive citrus groves focused on developing it. about 13 miles north of Everglades City. P. John Hart was in charge of the company’s affairs locally, and Herely was sec- Roach also became an active member of the Fort Myers Accelerator Club, formed retary and treasurer of the newly formed Southern Florida & Gulf Coast Railway in the 19-teens to promote the growing city and county. Company. Walter G. Langford also took charge locally when Herely had to return to Although the Roach-Herely project never came to be, it wasn’t long before railroad Chicago for business reasons. boosters at least got an extension from Punta Gorda. By September 19, the notice of incorporation was published, and procedures to The Board of Trade, organized in 1903, achieved that in 1904, when the Atlantic secure a charter from Florida’s Secretary of State were underway, the article read. Coast Line Railroad debuted on Monroe Street. Project momentum increased after that, but in fact, the plan had been in the works Visit the Southwest Florida Museum of History at 2031 Jackson Street, where you for several months. can learn more about railroad history while walking through a 1924 rail-passenger To give him credit, Herely did his homework. Wanting to see the terrain at its depot. worst, he had traveled by wagon from Fort Myers to Fort Pierce during the previ- For information, call 321-7430 or go to museumofhistory.org. Hours are 10 a.m. ous summer, a trip through floods and hammocks that even the hardiest of cowboys to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. dreaded, the article reads. Then continue your history exploration at the Southwest Florida Historical Society, Surveying began in October, more on-the-ground action that supported the Press’s located at 10091 McGregor Boulevard on the campus of the Lee County Alliance for contention that the project wasn’t just one more railroad scheme, but an “earnest busi- the Arts. ness undertaking” worthy of the newspaper’s boosterism. The all-volunteer non-profit organization’s hours are Wednesday or Saturday In October, the paper published a letter from a citizen of Alva that recounted an between 9 a.m. and noon or Wednesday from 4 to 7 p.m. Call them at 939-4044. open meeting that Herely held there. Reported comments such as “you can run Sources: Archives of the Southwest Florida Historical Society, the Story of Fort through my front yard if you so desire, only give us the railroad” and “may it be a dead Myers by Karl H. Grismer, the Fort Myers Press, floridamemory.com, gianttarpon. surety and a grand success is our wish” indicate the general acclaim for the project.