LEE COUNTY

Lee county occupies the southwestern corner of this state. It has an area of 4,081 square miles, more than four times that of the State of Rhode Island. Its population in 1890 was 1,414, in 1900 it was 3,071, and in 1910, 6,294, giving it a density of population of 1.5 to the square mile.

Included in this area is a considerable portion of the Everglade section, which contains immense quantities of cypress timber. Lee county was brought into existence under an act of the Florida State Legislature of 1887. It was cut off from the county of Monroe, of which Key West was the center of population. In its early history, Lee county was little known and its resources were unappreciated, but the vastness of its territory was its salvation. Although the population was scattering, the lands were in the hands of large corporations, and the tax revenues from these financed the necessary government of the county.

In the early days, and continuing until the present time, stockraising has been a leading industry. In the earlier days of the county, before it had a separate existence, it was the source of supply for much of Cuba’s beef consumption and this continued until after the Spanish- American war in 1898. In former times, some of the largest herds in the world ranged over its acres, but the gradual breaking up of the arable lands into smaller farms and plantations is threatening the existence of stock-raising on the range.

A splendid variety of soil in this county is particularly adapted to the raising of early vegetables and citrus fruits. Pineapples have been undertaken on a large scale in Lee county.

Fort Myers, the county seat, is situated on the Caloosahatchee river, eighteen miles from the gulf. It is an important point in Florida’s history, having been closely connected with the Seminole Indian wars. It was garrisoned by United States troops prior to 1850, and about 1857 Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock, then a young
officer, was in command of the fort.

Within recent years, Fort Myers and the surrounding country has become a winter home of a large number of prominent and influential northern citizens. Mr. Thomas A. Edison lias here a beautiful winter home, and many other people almost as well known spend a large share of each year in this vicinity.

Lee county has a longer coast line than any other Gulf county, and its waters are alive with many varieties of food and game fishes. More than two million dollars’ worth of fish were shipped from Punta Gorda under refrigeration to northern markets in 1912. Its climate is particularly desirable, and in spite of its extreme southerly location its variations of temperature through the year are surprisingly small.

Chapin, George M., FLORIDA 1513-1913, Past, Present and Future, Four Hundred Years of Wars and Peace and Industrial Development, (c) 1914, Vol. 1, Chapter XXX, Florida Counties, pages 592-593