(1) If you take this tour on a Thursday, you can stop by the Downtown Fort Myers Farmer's Market. Open year round every Thursday; Nov. thru April 0700-1400 (7AM-2PM) and May thru Oct. 0700-1300 (7AM-1PM)The Fort Myers Market is a "green market" where consumers may purchase fruits, flowers, vegetables, native plants, palms, flowering plants, baked goods, local seafood, and ethnic specialities.
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Parking is free. From the parking area head southwest past the playgroud and continue on to the restroom area.
(2) From the rear of this building you can look out on the Caloosahatchee River and see the area that used to be the Fort Myers Pleasure Pier from 1927-1943. Furhter along in your tour you will see a building that used to be part of this complex.
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Stroll East along the waterfront.
(3) Your next stop will be at The W.W.II Vets of China, Burma, India Memorial Flag Pole. Dedicated to all China, Burma, India Veterans by the South West Florida Basha of Fort Myers, Lee County, Florida, who served their country during W.W.II, in the interest of freedom for all mankind.
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To your right you will see another memorial with an airplane propeller on it.
(4) This is The Buckingham and Page Army Air Fields Memorial, Honoring the service of the men attached to Page and Buckingham Air Fields 1942-1945.
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Continue strolling East along the waterfront and enjoy the pleasant breeze that comes off the Caloosahatchee River.
(5) As you start admiring boats at the docks you will have entered the Fort Myers Yacht Basin. The Yacht Basin was an undertaking of the WPA (Works Project Administration) that took two years to complete, employing local workers during the Depression.
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Across Edwards Drive from the Yacht basin Entrance you will see a building that is boarded up and awaiting news of its new fate.
(6) This is The Hall of Fifty States. This building was once part of the Pleasure Pier Complex erected in 1927. The pier pilings were deemed unsafe in 1943 so the building was barged upriver in two sections and placed here. Since then it has served as headquarters for the USO, Civic Center, Tourist Center and Chamber of Commerce. It is slated to be moved again but it's new hpme has yet to be determined.
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Continue East on Edwards drive until it intersects with Fowler St. (Old US41) A right turn and one block up you will reach Palm Beach Blvd.
(7) On the South side Palm Beach Blvd. is Murphy-Burroughs House. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this house was built for John T. Murphey in 1901, after he won a coin toss to obtain the corner lot. It became the Burroughs Home in 1918.
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Directly across Palm Beach Blvd. there is a large "Prarie School" House.
(8) This is the Langford - Kingston House. The residence was originally constructed in 1919 by Mr. Walter Langford, a prominent figure in Fort Myers’ banking and railroad industries. Mr. Langford died one year later. The house was then sold in 1925 to the inventor of the Kingston carburetor, George Kingston. It remained with the Kingston family until it was sold to the First United Methodist Church in 1953. The church operated a day care there until 1996. In 2001 the church donated the home to the City of Fort Myers. The house was moved from the lot across Fowler Street in May of 2003, to it's current location. I watched the move and it was just amazing!
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End your tour by taking First Street back west into downtown. There are numerous shops,eateries, gallery's and wamarks to explore.