Charlotte County Timeline:

Photo provided Spanish explorers visit Charlotte Harbor area to open U.S. mainland to European settlement -- Ponce DeLeon 1513 and 1521, Hernando DeSoto 1539, and Menendez D'Aviles 1567.

1513 -- Ponce de Leon makes first authorized visit to Florida, anchoring nine days at Pine Island Sound and fighting with Calusa.

1521 -- Ponce de Leon starts to build first European colony in today's United States at Pine Island fatally wounded in fight with Calusa, colony abandoned.

1528 -- Juan Ortiz sent to Florida to search for Panfilo Narvaez expedition, captured by Timucua Chief Ocita at today's town of Charlotte Harbor, tied to grill for roasting but saved by plea of his daughter.

1539 -- Hernando de Soto lands at Ocita in Charlotte Harbor to begin epochal exploration of today's southeast United States. Ortiz joins expedition as interpreter.

1567 -- Pedro Menendez D'Aviles founds St. Augustine in 1566, then establishes mission-fort San Antonio among Calusa at their capital, Toampe, now Useppa Island, in San Carlos Bay, now Charlotte Harbor.

1702-10 -- Calusa and Timucua Indians decimated by war and Georgia slave raids. Creek Indians move into the area, calling themselves Seminoles, meaning "migrants."

1763 -- Britain acquires Florida from Spain.

1765 -- George Gould explores San Carlos Bay for Britain, finds 400 Spanish-Indian fishermen curing mullet for Cuban market.

1772 -- Bernard Romans surveys San Carlos Bay, renames northern estuary Charlotte after King George's queen. Romans' map engraved on copper by Paul Revere of Boston.

1783 -- Britain returns Florida to Spain.

1819 -- United States acquires Florida from Spain.

1832 -- Jose

Photo provided Billy Bowlegs -- chief of the Seminoles who migrated from Georgia about 1700 -- resisted American settlement but consented to relocate in Oklahoma after 1856 Battle of Peace River.

Caldez of Bardias wholesale fish company at Havana organizes Spanish-Indian "fish ranches." His headquarters at Useppa Island. Largest ranch of 60 people at Cayo Pelau.

1845 -- During Second Seminole War, Kennedy and Darling open trading post for Seminoles on east shore of Charlotte Harbor. Chief Bowlegs burned it in 1848 and site now known as Burnt Store.

1849 -- Chief Bowlegs and Indian Agent John Casey meet at Burnt Store site to arrange a truce in Second Seminole War

1850 -- U.S. Army builds Fort Ogden on east bank of Peace River to oppose Seminoles. Capt. John Winder builds fort on west bank of Peace River near Fort Ogden as refuge for settlers.

1856 -- Last battle of Third Seminole War fought on Peace River south of Ft. Meade. Chief Bowlegs, defeated, agrees to relocate with most Seminoles to Oklahoma.

1857 -- A breastworks named Camp Whipple constructed at today's Cleveland by Company H, Fifth U.S. Infantry, to monitor last of Seminoles lingering in the area.

1860 -- Rancher Jacob Summerlin and steamboat captain James McKay build a loading dock at Burnt Store for shipping cattle to Cuba.

1861 -- U.S. Civil War erupts. Union ships blockade Florida ports, including Charlotte Harbor.

1862 --

Photo provided Joel Knight and other ranchers build a dock at Hickory Bluff (now town of Charlotte Harbor) where cattle can be loaded secretly for run through Civil War blockade to supply Confederacy.

Summerlin and McKay abandon Burnt Store dock and build a new one at Hickory Bluff, today's town of Charlotte Harbor, with help of ranchers Joel Knight, Jockey Whidden and others. Six runs are made through the blockade before McKay's sidewheel steamer is caught and burned. Capt. Robert Johnson conducts several successful runs through the blockade with cotton carried to Charlotte Harbor by wagons from north Florida and Georgia.

1863 -- Union Rangers from Key West mount incursion into ranches between Myakka and Peace rivers to recruit converts from Confederacy. Rangers withdraw without success after two desultory skirmishes near El Jobean.

1865 -- A Confederate "Cow Cavalry" of Peace River cattlemen attack Fort Myers. A few cannon rounds are exchanged without effect.

1866 -- Manatee County, which includes today's Charlotte County, moves the seat to Pine Level, near Tater Hill, now Arcadia. Nathan Decoster, formerly a Union officer at Ft. Myers, locates at Hickory Bluff, now Charlotte Harbor town, to operate first sawmill south of Tampa. Later plats Harbor View.

1867 -- International Ocean Telegraph Co. builds line and parallel road just west of Babcock Ranch to Punta Rassa and thence by first undersea cable to Havana.

1869 -- John F. Bartholf, formerly a Union officer at Fort Myers, named Reconstruction clerk of courts at Pine Level, later superintendent of public instruction.

Federal troops ordered to leave Florida. John Lomans, only African-American in Manatee County who can read and write, is appointed "servant of the court" to serve on all juries.

Photo provided Rounding up cattle roaming on open range is foremost occupation of early Florida "crackers" who also cultivate orange groves which can be cared for between roundups.

1870 -- Ziba King sets up a store at Fort Ogden and begins to build largest cattle herd in the area. His cow path to Hickory Bluff dock, along an old Indian trail, is today's King's Highway.

1873 -- Trinity Methodist Church, oldest in today's Charlotte County, is organized at Hickory Bluff . Superintendent of Public Instruction John Bartholf builds first school there. Frederick Howard is first settler on south shore of Charlotte Harbor.

1875 -- Nathan Decoster named county judge. He sells his sawmill to Thomas Williams who moves it north of Fort Ogden.

1876 -- Post office established at Hickory Bluff. Bartholf named postmaster and he names his post office "Charlotte Harbor" to indicate his service area.

1878 -- Capt. William Goff settles at Lemon Bay, today's Englewood, with his schooner "Nellie Bly." Later sparks settlement of Vineland.

1879 -- James Madison Lanier, hunter, and wife Sarah settle at what is today's Punta Gorda.

1880 -- John Cross founds Liverpool on Peace River south of Fort Ogden. Operates an ox-drawn drayage and general store.

1881 -- Hamilton Disston, wealthy saw manufacturer, buys four million acres of "swamp and overflowed lands" -- including shores of Charlotte Harbor -- for 25 cents an acre. In December, Disston sells the Charlotte Harbor area land to Sir Edward J. Reed, a member of Parliament and wealthy financier.

John Cross becomes local real estate agent for Reed.

Army Capt. Francis LeBaron survey's Peace River and discovers its phosphate deposits.

1882 -- The Rev. George W. Gatewood, a "licensed" Methodist preacher, comes to minister settlers and Seminoles.

1883 -- John Cross advertises cheap land at Charlotte Harbor in northern newspapers.

Col. Isaac Trabue of Louisville, Ky., sees Cross' advertisement and buys 30 acres from James Lanier through broker John Cross.

1884 -- Cleveland platted by Dr. A.T. Holleyman who also builds the Baxter House hunting lodge for himself, his partner W.J. Scott and friends. It burned in 1965.

Nathan Decoster plats Harbor View.

1885 -- Col. Isaac Trabue plats town of Trabue, today's Punta Gorda. He sets aside a city block for cultivation of pineapples, profits from which to buy gold medals for winners of an annual chess tournament there.

Trabue persuades Florida Southern Railway to extend its line from Bartow to his town.

Photo provided Florida Southern Rail Way reached uninhabited Trabue (now Punta Gorda) in July 1886 -- then the southernmost terminal in the country. Railroad built resort hotel to promote business.

1886 -- First train arrives at Trabue in July with 200 workmen who start immediately building a large Hotel Punta Gorda for wealthy winter visitors.

Railroad terminal is a "long dock" west of town where passenger and freight connection is made with the New Orleans-Havana line of the Morgan Steamship Company.

First church service -- a prayer meeting -- organized by Uncle Dan Smith, the African-American foreman for railroad surveyor Albert Gilchrist.

Gilchrist resigns from railroad to speculate in frontier land at the southernmost railroad terminal in the country.

First merchants arrive -- Ephraem "Abe" Goldstein (furniture) and Jacob Wotitzky (general merchandise).

Col. Trabue and wife Virginia take up residence in Lanier's old cabin, but he builds a small office from which to sell lots. The office has been restored and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Post office established at Cleveland in March. Alice Holleyman is postmaster.

Post office established at Trabue in August. Postmaster is Nannie Scott, probably a daughter or niece of W.S. Scott who helped Holleyman build Baxter House at Cleveland.

William L. Huckeby sets up sawmill at Cleveland.

John Cross buys tract on Lemon Bay to found Grove City. F.M. Durrance appointed Charlotte Harbor customs collector at Trabue.

School built at Harbor View.

Photo provided Discovery of phosphate in 1887 in the Peace River sparks a booming industry. Ore is transported by barges to docks at Punta Gorda for shipment to fertilizer factories

1887 -- George W. Scott, fertilizer manufacturer at Atlanta, buys 1,000 acres of phosphate-rich land along Peace River and then sells to the Comer-Hall Fertilizer Co. of Savannah, Ga., which organizes the DeSoto Phosphate Mining Co.

Col. Trabue builds a community hall for "unity" church services, school and social activities.

Western Union Telegraph Office locates between Trabue and Cleveland. Ellison White and wife Willie are managers and operators.

Citizens of Trabue meet at Hector's Hall Dec. 3 to draft a city charter and change the name to Punta Gorda. Then a group of signers walks all night to county seat at Pine Level 30 miles distant to register the document.

Post office opened at Grove City, Frank H. Hafer, postmaster. Office closed in 1910.

Daniel MacPherson buys a large tract at Myakka River for fish camp he names Southland, today's El Jobean.

DeSoto County, including today's Charlotte County" established from Manatee County. New county seat located at Arcadia.

Yellow fever epidemic rages throughout Florida.

1888 -- Punta Gorda starts a municipal school for elementary grades.

Former African-American state senator, the Rev. Robert Meacham, comes to Punta Gorda to organize the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church. The Rev. Thomas is first minister.

Peace River Baptist Convention organizes a congregation of nine members at Punta Gorda. It meets at roller skating rink over a livery stable.

Episcopalians organize and meet in hall over a Punta Gorda lumber warehouse.

International Ocean Telegraph Co. road vacated by DeSoto County when the state builds S.R. 31.

Albert Gilchrist surveys Gasparilla Island for the state and accepts land in payment for his services.

1889 -- Methodists organize a congregation, buy the Punta Gorda community hall and convert it to a sanctuary. Francis M. Durrance, a prominent cattleman, is licensed to preach.

Solana platted by Frederick Howard of Kinderook, N.Y.

Charlie Dishong establishes fish station at Palm Ridge, today's Manasota Key.

Nathan Decoster appointed postmaster at Harbor View.

John Cross builds Tarpon Inn at Grove City.

Spanish Town east of Punta Gorda assigned a post office.

1890 -- Summer P. Hinckley opens wholesale grain and "heavy groceries" business at Punta Gorda. He also acts as local cashier for Polk County Bank and outlet for El Palmetto Cigar Factory newly built on Virginia Ave.

Robert Meacham, former African-American state senator, accepts appointment as postmaster at Punta Gorda. He resigns in 1892.

Boca Grande Light House flashes on.

1891 -- Col. Isaac Trabue builds an ice factory at Punta Gorda, capacity 15 tons only during the mullet fishing season, making shipment of fresh fish possible to northern markets.

1892 -- Punta Gorda Baptists build sanctuary. The Rev. Thomas J. Sparkman preaches every other Sunday in tandem with Fort Myers Baptists.

Albert F. Dewey starts Charlotte Harbor Lighterage and Stevedore Co. with the little paddlewheel steamer "Mary Blue."

Fred Quedneau starts cigar company at Punta Gorda. He dies four years later. His wife, Minnie, converts the factory into a boarding house.

Charles T. Johnson opens a general store at Palm Ridge.

1893 -- Albert Gilchrist, Punta Gorda surveyor and real estate broker, elected state representative.

St. Mark Progressive Baptist Church established. Pastor is the Rev. G.W. Jones.

Cattleman Ziba King organizes the Punta Gorda Bank.

First issue of the Punta Gorda Herald, Robert Kirby Seward publisher.

1894 -- Nichols brothers -- Herbert, Howard and Ira -- buy land from John Cross and plat Englewood.

Killer frost devastates citrus groves.

Albert Gilchrist obtains post office for Boca Grande to serve fishermen, but it is closed five years later.

Caldwell Colt, heir to the Samuel Colt Arms Manufacturing Co. business and fortune, dies mysteriously at Hotel Punta Gorda. His mother donates the building cost of a new Good Shepherd Episcopal church in his memory. Sanctuary consecrated 1896.

Peter B. Bradley, president of the Weymouth (Mass.) Fertilizer Co., buys and incorporates all eight Peace River phosphate mining companies into the American Agricultural Chemical Company.

1895 -- Punta Gorda Ice and Power Co., capacity 25 tons organized by Lorenzo T. Blocksom, president of the Blocksom & Lewis wholesale fish company. The steam-electric plant operates throughout the year and sells electricity to residents at night.

With a dependable source of ice, a half-dozen wholesale fish dealers locate at Punta Gorda and recruit fishermen from Georgia and Carolinas.

Eleven Presbyterians organize a congregation and meet at Jack's Hall over a bakery. The Rev. C.E. Jones conducts services twice a month. The Rev. Clearance Ferran is called full time in 1897 and starts a drive for a sanctuary which is dedicated in 1901.

Frederick Remington, the famous painter and sculptor of western cowboys, spends the winter at Punta Gorda illustrating Florida cowboys for Harper's Weekly.

Capt. C.G. Davis introduces large, luscious Ceyenne pineapple cultivation at Solana and captures 90 percent of the U.S. market.

Seventh Day Adventists organize a school of 13 students at Punta Gorda.

Paddle-wheeler St. Lucie arrives at Punta Gorda to carry passengers and freight to Fort Myers.

Englewood post office established.

1896 -- Nichols brothers build Englewood Inn.

Punta Gorda municipal school expands to eighth grade. H.S. Lee is teacher.

Miss Norma Pepper starts a private school at Punta Gorda for older children.

Florida Southern Railway sends paddlewheel steamer "St. Lucie" to Punta Gorda to carry passengers and freight between there and Fort Myers.

1897 -- Col. Isaac Trabue's ice factory forced out of business when Florida Southern Railway removes its tracks to the plant following a dispute over rates.

Punta Gorda council organizes a volunteer fire department. All citizens to serve, when asked by one of three fire marshals, or pay a fine up to $50. Seven reservoirs dug to provide quench water.

Post office assigned to Vineland, today's Tringali Community Center. Discontinued in 1902.

Railroad dock built at King St. in Punta Gorda, and the Long Dock abandoned.

Punta Gorda council introduces gas lights for homes.

1898 -- Col. James M. Lewis, wealthy sportsman from Old Point Comfort, Va., builds hunting and fishing lodge at Gottfried Creek and sells home sites for New Point Comfort.

Chadwick brothers -- Steve, Clay and Hubbard -- buy and enlarge the Dishong fishery on Palm Ridge to employ 130 fishermen.

1899 -- Perry McAdow donates kerosene street lights to Punta Gorda. Town marshal assigned duty of filling and lighting.

1900 -- Albert Gilchrist donates royal palm trees on Marion Ave. at Punta Gorda.

1901 -- Western Union Telegraph Co. opens a telephone system of 50 lines at Punta Gorda. Service offered only in daylight hours. Mr. and Mrs. Ellison White are operators.

Mr. and Mrs. Steve and Laura Chadwick build a large home, now the oldest at Palm Ridge (today's Manasota Key).

Punta Gorda Herald sold to Adrian P. Jordan, a crusading publisher-editor.

1902 -- Ziba King and other ranchers build dock at Punta Gorda to load cattle for Cuba market.

Florida Southern Railway declares bankruptcy. Taken over by Henry B. Plant, principal stockholder, and added to his Atlantic Coast Line.

Paddlewheel steamboats "St. Lucie" and "Thomas A. Edison" race between Punta Gorda and Fort Myers for mail contract. The "Edison" wins.

Western Union Telephone at Punta Gorda merges with a new DeSoto Telephone company. Lines extended to Arcadia and Fort Myers.

Second story added to Punta Gorda's municipal school for grades 9 to 12. Total enrollment is 178 in all grades.

Philadelphia financiers form the Consolidated Ice, Manufacturing, Refrigeration and Fish Co. at Punta Gorda. A huge, four-story structure, the largest in Florida, is constructed. A test run of 96 tons of ice is produced, but the company goes bankrupt before any fish are processed. The abandoned building is demolished in 1914 as a safety hazard.

Perry McAdow and others start a large pineapple farm at Solana. Other large pineries follow to supply 90 percent of U.S. markets. Pineries destroyed by a killer freeze in 1917. Market abandoned to lower-cost Cuban fruit.

1903 -- State Rep. Albert Gilchrist sends Uncle Dan Smith, prominent African-American from Punta Gorda, to an educators' convention to find a black teacher for the first African-American school in DeSoto County. Benjamin Baker is hired and serves 37 years. He is first to receive a pension under the Florida Teachers Retirement act.

Punta Gorda Marshal John H. Bowman is assassinated. Isaiah Cooper is convicted of the crime and sentenced to hang. Execution is postponed on appeals until Albert Gilchrist is elected governor in 1908 and commutes Cooper's sentence to life imprisonment. Cooper escapes a turpentine work camp in 1913 and is never heard from again.

1904 -- Atlantic Coast Line Railroad track extended from Punta Gorda to Fort Myers.

Tarpon Inn at Grove City burns.

First automobile seen in Punta Gorda arrives from Bradenton en route to Fort Myers. Occupants stay overnight, giving local folks an opportunity to examine the vehicle. "Herald" reports "two mules went into hysterics."

1905 -- Former stockholders of El Palmetto Cigar Factory reorganize as the Punta Gorda Cigar Factory, Willard J. Emerson, president. Leading brand is the "Three Monkey" 5-cent cigar. The label reflects State Rep. Albert Gilchrist's campaign slogan: "Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil."

A great fire destroys most of downtown Punta Gorda. Council orders all new business structures of be constructed with bricks or concrete. Tin roofs become popular throughout town.

First automobile in Punta Gorda, a six-horsepower Rambler run-about, is purchased by Norman Hewitt, a hardware dealer. Maximum speed is 30 mph.

Area east of Punta Gorda opened to homesteading. Villages of Bermont, Sparkman and Bairdville spring up.

1905 -- Construction begins on Charlotte Harbor & Northern Rail Road to carry phosphate ore from American Agricultural Chemical mines on the Peace River to loading dock at Boca Grande.

1906 -- Perry McAdow granted a franchise by Punta Gorda to provide electricity from his DeSoto Manufacturing Company to residences.

First

Photo provided CH&N Rail Road builds line to Boca Grande in 1907. J.B. Moody builds a store along the tracks north of Charlotte Harbor town a year later. Sells to John Murdock in 1911 for a "farm colony."

Punta Gorda High School graduation consists of one person, Miss Ruby Hill.

1907 -- CH&N Railroad begins operation.

Southland -- today's El Jobean -- sold to CH&N which establishes a small station there.

CH&N also establishes a section workers' bunkhouse at confluence of Coral Creek and Placida Bay. Twelve cottages erected for fishermen at north end of Gasparilla Island to produce freight.

Post office awarded to Placida.

Harbor shore along Retta Esplanade at Punta Gorda is dredged for fill to stop erosion.

The Rev. Dr. Irenaeus Trout, rector of Good Shepherd Episcopal Church, also appointed missionary to Seminoles.

Punta Gorda businessmen organize the Board of Trade. Reorganize in 1921 as the Commercial Club, and in 1926 as the Chamber of Commerce.

Col. Isaac Trabue, founder of Punta Gorda, dies penniless. He is buried at Louisville Kentucky.

1908 -- Punta Gorda installs central water system and kerosene engine-electric generator for street lights.

Albert Gilchrist, Punta Gorda real estate broker, runs for governor of Florida. He advocates county decisions regarding public saloons. Carry Nation, nationally recognized prohibitionist, comes to DeSoto County to denounce him, but Gilchrist is elected handily.

First public library set up in rectory of Good Shepherd Church. So popular, it is moved to first floor of the Freemason Temple a year later.

Columbus McLeod, Audubon warden at Cayo Pelau, is murdered, following two others elsewhere. Their deaths climax a national drive to outlaw feathers on ladies' hats.

J.B. Moody builds a store at the CH&N station on a dirt road from Charlotte Harbor Town. Moody awarded post office named Charlotte.

1909 -- Englewood Inn destroyed by fire.

St. Mary Primitive Baptist Church organized at Punta Gorda, the Rev. M. Austin, pastor.

John Densten builds store at intersection of CH&N line and dirt road from Englewood to a cattle dock at Myakka River. Area platted as McCall and Densten appointed postmaster. Post office closed in 1927.

1910 -- Hurricane blows Punta Gorda Methodist sanctuary off its foundation. Members start drive for new church.

1911 -- CH&N and American Agricultural Chemical Co. plat Gov. Albert Gilchrist's land at Boca Grande and builds Gasparilla Inn to attract wealthy winter visitors.

William and Dempse Goff install sawmill at intersection of CH&N line with dirt road between Englewood and the cattle dock on Myakka River. site platted as McCall.

First movie theater started at Punta Gorda by Vernon and Julian Jordan.

First Punta Gorda High School opens.

Women's Civic Improvement Association formed at Punta Gorda to lobby for fences to keep free-roaming cows and hogs out of town.

John M. Murdock of Chicago buys land and Moody's general store at Charlotte Station to start a "farm colony." Builds a two-story headquarters and hotel for prospective customers.

1912 -- CH&N leases Southland pine trees to Hall Naval Stores Co. for turpentine still and camp operated with leased convicts.

CH&N

Photo provided Buchan's store encouraged development of Englewood. Upstairs converted to dance pavilion later. Mr. and Mrs. Peter Buchan at left. Casino at the end of the dock sold whiskey during Prohibition.

Railroad builds a two-story depot at Charlotte station and renames it Murdock. Post office transferred to John Murdock and renamed for him.

Merchants' Bank chartered at Punta Gorda.

Peter Buchan, clerk in Chadwick's 1908 store at Englewood, buys the business as the town begins to grow. Builds a dance pavilion on second floor.

1913 -- Punta Gorda Cigar Factory builds a larger factory in February. However, it burns in December, and the company gives up.

Fine, new soda fountain of liquid carbonic type installed by Cochran's Drug Store.

Board of Trade organizes at Charlotte Harbor town.

Ferry between Charlotte Harbor town and Punta Gorda in daily operation with two gasoline launches. Fitted to accommodate automobiles. J.E. Bowdain owner-manager.

John M. Murdock awarded contract by DeSoto County to dig three drainage canals from his development to Charlotte Harbor.

1914 -- First airplane lands at Punta Gorda. It is a Benoit flying boat piloted by Tony Janus of Tampa. He is killed in 1916 when his plane crashes in Russia.

Lumberman Edward V. Babcock of Pittsburgh buys two townships east of Punta Gorda along Telegraph-Cypress road for a hunting preserve and cattle ranch he names Crescent B. Timber rights leased in 1931 to the Roux Crate and Lumber Co. of Bartow. It sets up a complete village that is dismantled after the lease expires.

Hotel Punta Gorda closes.

Dr. George Stone of Punta Gorda authorized to supervise construction of a sea wall along Retta Esplanade to create upscale home lots. Residents sue successfully to prevent buildings on land dedicated for parks by Col. Isaac Trabue. Land dedicated as a park named for Trabue. It is renamed for Albert Gilchrist in 1921.

Whiteaker Cigar Co. and Charlotte Harbor Cigar Co. open at Punta Gorda. Whiteaker ceases production in 1918, and Charlotte in 1930.

Work begins on Tamiami Trail by Barron Collier with his own money in return for a large tract of state land which he organizes as Collier County.

1915 -- Punta Gorda's municipal railroad dock and fish wholesale houses at the foot of King Street badly damaged by fire.

Coca-Cola bottling plant opens at Punta Gorda.

1916 -- Punta Gorda Methodists move into their new church constructed from bricks salvaged from the abandoned Consolidated fish company ice plant.

Kelly B. Harvey, surveyor who platted Punta Gorda in 1885, hired by Barron Collier to project Tamiami Trail across the Everglades.

Former president Teddy Roosevelt comes to Punta Gorda to catch a manta ray "devil fish." Largest was 16 feet 8 inches.

George Brown, a prominent African-American, builds the Cleveland Marine Steam Ways, largest in Southwest Florida, to repair large boats. Mixed force of whites and blacks work together harmoniously.

Punta Gorda and Charlotte Harbor Town -- persuaded by County Commissioner John Hagan -- issue $200,000 in bonds to build a bridge across Charlotte Harbor. Construction begins but halted when contractors default because of rising costs occasioned by war in Europe.

1918 -- United States enters the European War. Many young men of both races volunteer or are drafted for military duty. Augustine Willis of Charlotte Harbor town is killed in action. Raleigh Whidden, of Punta Gorda, sustains a severe head wound in France but returns home to die of the injury in Jan. 20, 1920.

Two U.S. Army Airfield centers -- Carlstrom and Dorr -- open west of Arcadia to train American and French pilots.

Punta Gorda Golf Course opens.

Punta Gorda Boy Scout Troop 1 chartered, but falters to be replaced by Troop 5 in 1921.

Lemon Bay Mothers' Club formed by Euphemia and Dr. Mary Green. Name changed to Womans' Club and club house built in 1921.

Deadly influenza strikes down many people.

Arthur C. Frizzell and wife Patty come to Murdock as telegraph operators for the CH&N Railroad. They buy the Murdock store and many worked-out turpentine tree lands for back taxes, install a sawmill and pasture cattle on the cleared land.

War ends Nov. 11. DeSoto county citizens celebrate with dynamite explosions, discharges of guns and impromptu speeches.

1919 -- American Legion Post organized at Punta Gorda. Named for Augustine Willis and Raleigh Whidden. Charter expires for insufficient members and a Veterans of Foreign Wars post is formed named for Willis and Whidden. It, too, is suspended for lack of members. American Legion Post 103 is chartered in 1926, and named for Dr. David Norman McQueen who had served with the 2nd Infantry Medical Detachment and recently died.

1920 -- National Prohibition of alcoholic beverages effective Jan. 29.

"Moonshiners" and "rum runners" spring up in Charlotte Harbor to fill demand for whiskey.

Punta Gorda adopts new city charter.

1921 -- Charlotte, Glades, Hardee and Highlands counties are established out of DeSoto County on April 20. Punta Gorda chosen for county seat by public referendum. Name Charlotte chosen by public vote from a dozen suggestions. Gov. Hardee appoints first rosters of county officers.

Newly appointed County Commissioner William M. Whitten advances his own money to complete construction of first bridge across Charlotte Harbor. Bridge opened July 4 with a free fish fry at Trabue park renamed after Albert Gilchrist for the occasion.

Margaret "Madge" Densten appointed postmaster at Southland. The post office is described as "about the size of an outhouse."

1922 -- Punta Gorda buys first fire truck, a British built Seagrave. Cleve Clevand appointed fire chief to operate it.

1923 -- Florida Legislature bans leasing of convicts for private labor in turpentine camps.

Stephens Brothers turpentine camp at Southland suspends operations and sells its large acreage to the Boston-Florida Realty Co. for a community development named New Boston under the management of Joel Bean.

Great Florida Land Boom gets underway.

Harry Chapin buys Buchan store and pavilion at Englewood, builds Royal Casino at end of pier for dancing, gambling and illegal liquor.

1924 -- Lots at New Boston not selling well so Joel Bean renames the town El Jobe An -- an anagram of his name -- to give it a "romantic" sound. He builds a hotel for prospective customers and obtains permission to rename the post office. Years later the name was shortened by the Postmaster General to El Jobean.

1925 -- Barron Collier buys the old Hotel Punta Gorda, enlarges it, adds modern plumbing and renames it Hotel Charlotte Harbor.

Town of Cleveland incorporates. Dr. Vernon Jordan, dentist, elected mayor. Charter rescinded after the 1929 collapse of the Great Florida Land Boom.

Englewood incorporates. Charter rescinded in 1930.

Road to Fort Myers paved.

Barron Collier starts bus service over Tamiami Trail, including a station at Punta Gorda. Route later sold to Trailways.

Punta Gorda Rotary and Kiwanis clubs organize.

National Federation Woman's Club formed by merger of the Fortnightly Literary Society, Married Ladies Social Club, and Women's Civic Improvement Association.

1926 -- Chadwick Brothers sell their wholesale fish business to West Coast Fish Company and begin development of Chadwick Beach at Palm Ridge.

First bank organized at Englewood. Isa Rigdon president.

DeSoto Manufacturing sells its electricity plant at Punta Gorda to Florida Power and Light Corp. The DeSoto ice plant adjacent on King St. today is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Baltimore Orioles baseball club holds spring training at Punta Gorda.

Albert Gilchrist dies May 16 at age 68, in New York City from complication of surgery to remove a tumor in his left leg. The Florida Legislature names a new county in his honor. Among his bequests is $5,000 to the Punta Gorda Lodge of Freemasons as a perpetual trust to provide free ice-cream for children at Halloween.

Hurricane blows all the water out of Charlotte Harbor and then blows it back. Two people killed in Charlotte County. Bell tower of Good Shepherd Church blown down.

Punta Gorda installs brick streets.

Lions Club organized.

Henry Smith, a Punta Gorda baker and proprietor of the Bayview Hotel, builds the first shopping arcade with a half-dozen shops and the post office fronting on a central corridor. He lost everything during the Great Depression a few years later. The Baker Arcade has been beautifully restored and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Seaboard Air Line Rail Road builds a line through Cleveland in a race with Atlantic Coast Line to reach Naples first. By working its crews around the clock, SAL pulls in 11 days ahead of its rival. Seaboard's "Orange Blossom Specials" from New York City became the inspiration for a great fiddle tune.

1927 -- Grand "re-opening" of Hotel Charlotte Harbor.

At request of Barron Collier, hotel's owner, the municipal railroad dock at King Street is demolished and a new municipal dock built at Maud Street. Old Ice Factory railroad spur re-laid to the dock.

Trabue Park at Punta Gorda is landscaped and named in honor of Albert Gilchrist.

Charlotte High School opens. W.E. Riley principal.

Chadwick Brothers build first bridge to Palm Ridge. Contractor is Thomas C. Crosland, a partner of the West Coast Fish Co. at Punta Gorda.

Roux Crate and Lumber Co. builds an extensive railroad logging system at Crescent B Ranch and connects with the Seaboard Air Line rail road at a junction called "Saline" (contraction of Seaboard Air Line) south of Cleveland.

Punta Gorda's present city hall built.

1928 -- Worst hurricane in Florida history ruptures Lake Okeechobee dike and kills more than 2,000 people by actual count, hundreds unaccounted for. Little damage in Charlotte County. Residents here mount massive assistance program of money and supplies.

Tamiami Trail opens.

Charlotte County Court House completed.

1929 -- Atlantic Coast Line Rail Road builds a new Punta Gorda depot near site of old Florida Southern Railway station.

Stock market crashes.

Great Florida Land Boom collapses.

Banks close. Savings accounts wiped out or depreciated.

A national Great Depression is underway.

1930 -- Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church dedicated at Punta Gorda.

1931 -- Barron Collier bridge completed across Charlotte Harbor to replace the narrow first bridge. Again, the event is celebrated with a giant fish fry -- including moonshine whiskey and beer ignored by police for the occasion.

1932 -- Macedonia Baptist Church organized at Punta Gorda. The Rev. Andrew J. Warren pastor.

1933 -- John Foster Bass Jr. establishes a marine laboratory at New Point Comfort. First full-time such facility in Florida.

Charlotte County buys Chadwick Bridge and beach, renames latter the Punta Gorda Beach.

1934 -- Work Projects Administration, a national Great Depression recovery program, builds new sea wall for Gilchrist Park. Still strong today.

Charlotte County votes for homestead exemption of property taxes, and repeal of Prohibition.

1935 -- Charlotte County starts mosquito control program.

Harbor front from bridge to Nesbit St. sea-walled and filled to provide parking for "tin can" tourists.

1937 -- Miss Sallie Jones elected superintendent of Charlotte County schools. Served 16 years. Introduced lunch rooms. Retired 1953 after 32 years as an educator.

New municipal water plant at Punta Gorda.

1938 -- Good Shepherd Church closes as a consequence of Great Depression and World War II problems. Reopens in 1945.

1939 -- Municipal fish dock burns. Only Punta Gorda Fish Company reopens.

1941 -- U.S. declares war against Japan and Germany, "Axis Partners," after Japan bombs Pearl Harbor Dec. 5.

Military draft of men begins. Joyce Hindman, later mayor of Punta Gorda, is first inducted from Florida.

Meat and gasoline rationed to conserve for war effort.

Fred Babcock assembles 63,000 acres for Babcock-Webb Wildlife Management Area in east Charlotte County.

1943 -- County Commission assembles acreage for a U.S. Army Air Corps training field near Punta Gorda. More than 5,000 pilots graduated. Facility deactivated immediately after World War II. Commission builds a new hangar in 1956 for a commercial airport, and appoints an Airport Development Authority to manage it.

1944 -- Hotel Charlotte Harbor at Punta Gorda sold. Refurbished as Charlotte Harbor Spa.

1945 -- World War II ends with surrender of Japan after two atomic bombs. Fifteen Charlotte County fighting men killed in line of duty.

1947 -- Charlotte Hospital of 12 beds built by Punta Gorda Rotary.

County builds bridge to replace the old Chadwick structure. Named for State Representative Leo Wotitzky.

Veterans of Foreign Wars chartered in Charlotte County. Expires in 1950. Re-chartered as Cooper-Cochran post in 1956.

1950 -- U.S. is dragged into Korean War when China invades. Truce ends fighting in 1953. Six Charlotte County soldiers died in action. Korea divided between North and South. Both sides still guard the border.

1953 -- Dial system of 1,000 telephones switched into service at Punta Gorda. First call is made by Mayor E.J. McCann to his sister in New Jersey.

1954 -- Cattle baron A.C. Frizzell sells 82,000 acres of his Charlotte

Photo provided Mackle Brothers, later organized as General Development Corp., begin construction of Port Charlotte in 1955. The tower in the foreground enabled buyers to spot lots.

County range to Yellowknife Bear Mines, Ltd., and Chemical Research Corp. of Canada -- in partnership with Mackle Brothers Construction Co. of Miami.

1955 -- Mackle Brothers clear land and build four model homes along Tamiami Trail north of Charlotte Harbor. Investors reorganize as General Development Corporation. Development named Port Charlotte. Advertising blitz launched in northern and foreign cities offering $600 home lots for $10 down and $10 a months. Sales skyrocket.

1958 -- Alfred M. Johns and Wilber H.

Photo provided Alfred Johns and Wilber Cole in 1958 dredge Punta Gorda sand flats for upscale homes on saltwater canals. John is at right end of first row, Cole stands next. Others are salesmen and executives.

"Bud" Cole buy sand flats at Punta Gorda. They dredge 55 miles of canals for fill to raise ground level four feet while providing saltwater access for boaters. Deed restrictions spur upscale construction at Punta Gorda Isles and Burnt Store Isles.

Punta Gorda library moves into its own building, now the Adventure Museum.

1959 -- General Development starts development of North Port.

Charlotte Harbor Spa, a central facility at Punta Gorda since 1886, is burned under suspicious circumstances.

1960 -- First U.S. troops sent to take part in Vietnam civil war. Hostilities end 1973. Six Charlotte County fighting men killed in action.

Hurricane Donna, ravages most of U.S. eastern seaboard and does considerable damage in Charlotte County. First Presbyterian Church wrecked and burns during reconstruction efforts. Congregation builds present sanctuary in 1962.

Punta Gorda adopts a new charter.

Senior citizen Cultural Center in Port Charlotte organized by General Development Corporation.

1961 -- Charlotte County Art Guild organizes.

Charlotte County board of education agree to participate in establishing Fort Myers Junior College, name changed to Edison Community College in 1971.

1962 -- Punta Gorda dams Shell Creek to create reservoir for municipal water supply.

St. Joseph-Bon Secours Hospital opens at Port Charlotte.

1963 -- Charlotte County library system established for Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte and Englewood.

Beverly Mackle, daughter of Robert Mackle, is kidnapped and buried alive in Georgia in a ransom extortion. Abductor Gary Krist flees with the ransom to Hog Island in Charlotte Harbor where he is captured. Miss Mackle rescued.

1964 -- Federal Department of Transportation approves extension of Interstate-75 to Naples after appeals from Charlotte County civic leaders and others. Construction moves slowly in segments.

1965 -- Cultural Center operations transferred to Charlotte County adult education department.

1966 -- Part of Babcock-Webb Wildlife Management Area set aside for secret training of Cuban exiles for aborted Bay of Pigs invasion.

Charlotte Hospital purchased by Medical Center Hospital.

U.S. 41 highway, Tamiami Trail, expanded to four lanes.

1967 -- Florida Legislature approves parimutuel betting, with proceeds to be allocated to counties. Charlotte county authorizes expenditures for a War Memorial Auditorium (completed 1969) and a public health center at Punta Gorda, 500 feet of gulf beach at Englewood, and $200,000 for a new Cultural Center at Port Charlotte (completed 1968).

1969 -- Seventh-Day Adventists given control of Medical Center Hospital.

1970 -- Weekly Punta Gorda Herald goes to six days a week.

1971 -- Atlantic Coast Line Rail Road discontinues passenger service.

1972 -- CH&N Rail Road suspends operation. Abandons right-of-way 1988.

1974 -- Edison Community College establishes Charlotte County branch in rented rooms over Sunny Dell shopping center stores. Provost is Claude Pridgen.

Fred Babcock, owner of Crescent B ranch, commissions sculptor Peter Toth to carve an American-Indian figure from a dying monkey ear tree in parking area of a Punta Gorda motel.

Youth Museum opened in vacated Punta Gorda library building. Named changed later to Adventure Museum.

Fawcett Hospital opens at Port Charlotte.

1976 -- Albert Gilchrist and new Barron Collier bridges opened over Charlotte Harbor.

1977 -- Construction begins on I-75 section and harbor bridge in Charlotte County.

Punta Gorda Fish Company, last of the wholesale fish companies, ceases operation.

City leases the municipal dock to radio personality Earl Nightingale for Fishermen's Village consisting of restaurants, shops, time-share apartments and marina.

1978 -- First class (nursing) of Vocational Training Center convened at St. Joseph Hospital. Full-course building and campus open 1980. Tom Wagonor director.

1979 -- Charlotte Sun newspaper started at Port Charlotte by Derek Dunn-Rankin.

1980 -- Good Shepherd Episcopal Church builds its present sanctuary in Punta Gorda.

1981 -- I-75 bridge completed over Charlotte Harbor and Charlotte County accesses opened.

County commissioners move administration offices to new building in Murdock.

1983 -- Old Barron Collier bridge over Charlotte Harbor replaced with a twin of Gilchrist Bridge and restricted to north-bound traffic.

1985 -- Charlotte County Art Guild builds Visual Arts Center at Punta Gorda.

Englewood Community Hospital opens.

Victorian-style home -- built at Punta Gorda in 1904 by DeSoto County sheriff A.C. Freeman -- is moved and restored by volunteers, then listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

1987 -- Charlotte County Stadium opens in cooperation with the Texas Rangers for spring training and regular-season farm team games.

1989 -- Trailer homes on Punta Gorda's municipal waterfront moved out. Contract for public-private development awarded to Classic Properties of New Orleans. A recession puts construction on hold.

County's largest shopping mall, Port Charlotte Town Center, opens at Murdock.

Charlotte Sun and Punta Gorda Herald-News merge as full daily Charlotte Sun Herald under leadership of Derek Dunn-Rankin.

County administration building at Murdock is enlarged with five-story annex.

Florida Correctional Institution opens on Oil Well Road.

1990 -- School Board administration moves from Punta Gorda to Murdock.

Punta Gorda Council and County Commission appoint a Community Redevelopment Authority to manage waterfront development.

World headquarters of Improved Manageability, Profitability and Control (IMPAC) --a large management training company -- is located at Punta Gorda. High-tech offices and teaching facilities constructed 1994.

1991 -- Oldest residential and business area of Punta Gorda declared a National Historic District by the U.S. Department of the Interior and listed on the national register.

Col. Isaac Trabue's land-sales office -- oldest building (1886) in Punta Gorda -- is moved by Old Punta Gorda, Inc. from its original Cross St. location to the corner of East Marion Ave. and Nesbit St. for restoration.

1993 -- County Commission designates Town of Charlotte Harbor as an historic district.

American Forestry Association declares the live oak trees at Charlotte Harbor town the "Historic DeSoto Grove" and offers seedlings for replanting. Many scholars believe the Spanish explorer Hernando DeSoto landed there in 1539.

1996 -- Fred Babcock donates the old Atlantic Coast Line depot to Old Punta Gorda, Inc., a non-profit organization, for restoration. The structure is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

1997 -- Edison Community College opens its all-courses campus on Airport Road. Dr. Richard Yarger is provost.

1999 -- New courthouse and justice center at Punta Gorda Harbor waterfront development opens in June.

Construction of private condominiums and office building begin at Punta Gorda Harbor.

Construction begins on new jail at Airport Road.