Long Description:This tour can take you a duration of 20 minutes to 2 hours,
depending on the time spent examining the interior and exterior of
the structures. This is a small park with a total walking distance
under .5 mile. Tours for the interior of the structures, which are
museums, can be scheduled with the Punta Gorda Historical Society
(941) 639-1887
(P) Parking: History Park Parking lot
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The tour begins with a safe place to park. The park is accessible
from a protected entrance off a side street just off Shreve St. A
gardened buffer allows visitors a feeling of peace, tranquility and
nature amidst the bustle of busy Punta Gorda.
(1) Cigar Cottage
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From the parking lot, walk west into the park along the hand-placed
cobblestone walkway, towards the white house facing the parking
spaces. Hibiscus bushes decorate its front porch and dual front
doors. This is the Cigar Cottage.
El Palmetto Cigar Company provided quaint cottages for their
employees during the company's success during the 1890's. After the
company went out of business, the cottages were purchased and
moved. Current owner Mike Nickelson was kind enough to donate one
of the cottages and it now resides in History Park.
The interior of the Cigar Cottage is a museum.
(2) Hotel Charlotte Harbor Fountain
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Exit the Cigar Cottage facing South to see a decorative fountain
surrounded by a full flowerbed. This is the Hotel Charlotte Harbor
Fountain.
This fountain was the centerpiece in the middle of the
landscaped lawn of the beautiful Hotel Charlotte Harbor. When the
Hotel Charlotte Harbor burned to the ground in the 1950's, the
Punta Gorda Mall was built in its place. The landmark building
graced Punta Gorda's waterfront at the site of the Punta Gorda
Mall. When the Punta Gorda Mall was destroyed by Hurricane Charley
in 2004, the fountain was protected and eventually transferred to
History Park.
The fountain has been restored and is in full working order.
(3) Trabue Law & Land Sales Office
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Look South beyond the Charlotte Harbor Fountain to the white house
facing the cobblestone path. Its green trim adds a charming aspect
to this former business office.
Col. Isaac Trabue and his wife, Victoria, were pioneers to the
Charlotte Harbor area. Col. Trabue purchased 30 acres and intended
to incorporate the area as a city, named after himself. He
convinced the railway to extend the railroad across the Peace River
to stop at his settlement so industry could flourish, and it did.
When a group of prominent citizens incorporated the city and named
it Punta Gorda, Col. Trabue became bitter and moved back to
Kentucky in his later years. His wife is buried in Indian Spring
Cemetery in Charlotte County, but he refused to have anything more
to do with Punta Gorda.
The structure has moved around the Punta Gorda area quite a bit
in search of a location that was in its best interests for
preservation. When History Park was established, the Trabue Law
& Land Sales Office found its permanent home.
(4) Gilchrist House
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Exit the Trabue Law & Land Sales Office and follow the path
west towards the brown house positioned at the end of the path.
There are several landscaped oasis areas with seating along this
path so visitors are able to enjoy the park for as long as is
desired.
One of the homes owned by former Florida Governor and Charlotte
Harbor pioneer Albert W. Gilchrist, it was restored and transformed
into an Inn for travelers to be introduced to the rich history and
comfortable hospitality of Punta Gorda. It is presently under
construction. It is being restored and transformed into a
museum.
(5) Calaboose
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Exit the Gilchrist House and walk South off the cobblestone
pathway, past the butterfly garden. A caged structure is set below
the shading oak trees. This is the Calaboose.
The Calaboose was an early jail in Punta Gorda. The roof is
solid metal, two bunks fold down on either side, and the metal
doors were padlocked. The walls had been set in concrete and were
cut off when moved. Until 1921, Punta Gorda was part of DeSoto
County and the county jail was first in Pine Level and then
Arcadia. According to Charlotte County's local historian, the late
U.S. Cleveland, no one worse than the town drunk was ever
imprisoned in the town calaboose.
The late Byron Rhodes remembers it in 1905 near where the old
courthouse is now, alongside a holding pen for cattle caught
roaming within city limits.
Vernon Peeples - whose family arrived in 1935 - remembers it in
the same location. It was later moved to the Parker family ranch on
Washington Loop and used as an animal pen; they donated it to the
History Park in 2001.
(Z) Zork Bonus:
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One of very few occassions, at least personally known to this
WayTour poster, that the opening lines in Zork I are
experienced.
(P) Parking: History Park Parking lot
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Rejoin the cobblestone path heading North and follow it towards the
parking lot.