Visitors have been drawn to South West of Florida for many years.  One of the earliest to discover this section of Florida, which we refer to as our part of Paradise, was Ponce de Leon.  His ships sailed into Charlotte Harbor in 1513 in the area of Pine Island where he attempted to establish what would have been the first European settlement in what is now the United States.  Had his “Colony” been successful, it would have pre-dated the Jamestown colony by nearly a century.  How history may have been changed.

The name of our subdivision is said to come from the burning of a Trading Post located on the road which is now Burnt Store Road.  It appears that a young Army Lieutenant by the name of Gil Hartstuff, while leading a group of surveyors, gave the few remaining Calusa Indians in the area cause to believe they were going to lose their land. 

In 1855, rather than give up their land without a fight, their leader Billy Bowleges lead an attack   Both Indians and settlers were killed in the attack and the Trading Post was burnt.  Billy Bowleges escaped and was hidden by his friend Old Salty, a recluse who lived by the harbor (Burnt Store Marina area) until it was safe for Billy to leave the area.

The developer of what is now the City of Punta Gorda was Isaac Trabue from Kentucky.  In 1884 its streets were laid out by a surveyor named Kelley B. Harvey under Trabue’s direction.  All waterfront property was originally designated to be parks.  The streets were named after Trabue relatives.

The city was named “Trabue” in 1885 but its name was changed to “Punta Gorda” in 1887.  Punta Gorda is Spanish for “Broad Point” and refers to how the land jutted into Charlotte Harbor.  The City of Punta Gorda was incorporated on December 7, 1887 and today is the only city in Charlotte County.

Events of Area Development:

1862   Charlotte Harbor settled.

1873   First school in Charlotte Harbor.

1876   First Post Office in Charlotte Harbor.

1886   First passenger train reaches Punta Gorda.

1886   The Hotel Charlotte Harbor was constructed (current Punta Gorda Mall area).   

1887   Punta Gorda was incorporated.

1888   First school opened in Punta Gorda.

1890   Boca Grande light house constructed at a cost of $35,000. 

1893   Punta Gorda has its own newspaper “The Herald”.

1901   First telephones came to Punta Gorda.

1906   Electric street lights were installed in Punta Gorda.

1909   Albert Glichrist, Punta Gorda’s most distinguished citizen, became Governor.

1914   First airplane lands in Punta Gorda (it was a seaplane).

1915   Coca Cola bottling plant was built in Charlotte County.

1921   First bridge was built across the Peace River.

1921   Punta Gorda became the county seat for Charlotte County.

1921   Florida’s oldest Scout troop was chartered in Punta Gorda.

1922   Punta Gorda purchased its first fire truck.

1926   Orioles came to Punta Gorda for spring training.

1928   Tamiami Trail from Tampa to Miami completed.

1929   Second bridge built across the Peace River.

1929   Florida land boom and stock market collapsed.

1944   Dedication of Army Air Base in Punta Gorda, now Charlotte County Airport.

1947   First hospital opened in Punta Gorda.

1958   Construction of Punta Gorda Isles was begun.

1959   The Hotel Charlotte Harbor burned to the ground.

1971   End of passenger train service in Punta Gorda.

1980   The “Eagles Nest” was purchased by the Elks (Lodge #2606).

Burnt Store Isles Events:

1968   Formation of Burnt Store Country Club.

1971   Developer purchased land for the construction of Burnt Store Isles.

1983   Burnt Store Isles Association established under the laws of the State of Florida.  The purpose of the association was to provide a means for residents and owners of property in Burnt Store Isles to jointly promote the continual improvement of the neighborhood, to protect the common interest of all residents, to foster good fellowship, to protect the health, safety and well-being of the residents and owners, to provide educational programs, and to cooperate with the other civic groups, owner associations and governmental agencies as they consider plans and programs for the area.  The first budget was $500 and there were 37 paid members as of   March 1983.

1984   By August 31, 1984 membership had increased to 217 paid member

1985      There were 136 various trees planted by the Special Projects Tree Committee.

1985   PGI, Inc., sold the Country Club to two hundred individuals who assumed ownership.

1986   On March 5th the City of Punta Gorda established the Burnt Store Isles Canal Maintenance District as petitioned by BSIA.

1986    As of May there were a total of 381 trees planted in BSI.

1987    As of May there were a total of 900 trees planted in BSI.

1988    Construction began on the shopping complex currently named “Colonial Promenade” and houses Publix and a number of other stores.

1992   In May of this year there were 334 BSIA members.  Over 1000 trees had been planted.

1994   In January of this year there were 391 BSIA members with a proposed budget of $9337.

1994   The city completed sidewalks on Monaco and Madrid.

1995   After many years of work by many organizations, dredging of Alligator Creek is complete.

1990   Addition to Country Club clubhouse was completed.

1996   The BSI sign on Route 41 and Monaco is constructed.

1997   Country Club greens were rebuilt.

2000   Country Club invests $2.2 million in course renovation and clubhouse modernization.

2000   The budget for this year is $13,556 and the members in August is 526.

2000   The Monaco entrance is widened by the city and a new sign is placed in the third island.    

2000   DEP approves the removal of the lock to Alligator Creek and a funding program is developed.

2000   The Walgreens Drug store was constructed at the corner of Monaco and Route 41.

Invitation:

Our area is one of the richest in history in our entire nation. Unfortunately, much of our history is not general knowledge.  If you wish to contribute to this listing of events regarding our area’s development, please contact the Burnt Store Isles Webmaster for inclusion on our history page.

Latest Historian's Report (Feb 2001):

"Shake Rattle & Roll"
John Varga, Jr., Historian