Punta Gorda Herald provides community voice for 106 years
'In God We Trust, All Others Cash'

Photo provided Editor Adrian P. Jordan, far left, peruses a copy of the Punta Gorda Herald in the composing room on the second-story of the Marion Avenue and Taylor Street building in 1908. Also pictured are, from left, Ivan Pettus Jordan, Lillian Undine Jordan and Beatrice Bershaw.

By SUE STARKWEATHER

Staff Writer

The Punta Gorda Herald could be called the godparent of Punta Gorda. The local newspaper, founded by Robert Kirby Seward, literally watched the city grow up, starting with the arrival of the Florida Southern Railway, and has proudly reported its progress since 1893.

The first issue came out Feb. 17, 1893, eight years after Col. Isaac Trabue platted the town. Seward's press was foot-operated and produced two pages that were smaller than today's newspapers. Under the masthead was the slogan, "In God We Trust, All Others Cash." One paper cost 5 cents while a annual subscription was a dollar.

Punta Gorda was still part of DeSoto County, and Seward devoted much of the front page to Dr. Alfred T. Holleyman's descriptions of the city's beauty, isolation and promised growth.

The Charlotte County Visitor's Bureau couldn't have painted a prettier picture of paradise: "Situated at the mouth of the Peace River, with an open view of Charlotte Harbor, one of the most beautiful sheets of water and most perfect harbor in the state, surrounded by forests of pine trees, free from malaria and all other ills of a tropical clime, in but a few years it will stand among the largest cities of our Sunny South." Holleyman also wrote at length about the industry, railroad, businesses and surprising civility of a city sprouting in the wilderness.

Seward almost left this paradise when a fire in November of 1895 vanquished the print shop on the southeast corner of Retta Esplanade and Cross Street. The printing press was too large and cumbersome to move, so Seward was left with only a few cases of type and a small cabinet. After much encouragement and the financial backing of his brother-in-law, James Sandlin, and other businessmen, Seward rebuilt a home and office on the same site. He bought new equipment and boasted later that he never again missed publication.

At first news was derived from gossip and other newspapers, but as the town's population boomed, so did the story potential. Saloons, bordellos, cowboys and fishermen provided plenty of sensational fodder to balance out the slow news days. Articles were even made up, as was the case when Seward sold the Herald to Adrian Pettus Jordan in Sept. 1901.

Jordan made a name for the Herald through his "fish stories," wild yarns like the "singing fish" that enticed the unwary to a watery death in the Peace River, similar to the mythical Sirens of the Mediterranean Sea. Tales of sea monsters, a boy who used a "suckerfish" to stick itself to larger fish and even a ghostly encounter by two men on a buggy ride to Fort Myers peppered the paper. Jordan pulled plenty of April Fool's jokes on his readers, but he wasn't all fun and games.

Prior to buying the Herald, Jordan was known for his attacks on a railroad company that was acquiring land grants dishonestly. Then editor of the Orange Leaf weekly in Sumter County, Jordan's crusade brought about the Legislature's intervention in the affair. Jordan was also instrumental in getting Albert Gilchrist elected to state representative and later governor of Florida. There was even a failed assassination attempt

Photo provided In 1906, Adrian P. Jordan built a two-story brick building on the corner of Marion Avenue and Taylor Street. The office and printing presses were located on the second floor. The building still stands today.

on Jordan's life.

Jordan's contribution to the Herald extended beyond his journalistic infamy. He built the two-story brick building at Marion Avenue and Taylor Street. The newspaper office and printing press were on the second floor, but the noisy press threatened to bring down the walls. Jordan decided to construct the present-day Herald office at Taylor Street and Herald Court in 1913 to house the entire works.

The paper apparently outgrew the capability of one man, so in 1919 Jordan sold a half-interest to Paul Garrett. Jordan remained publisher, with Garrett as editor and general manager. Punta Gorda experienced a growth spurt around 1924-28, so Garrett reported on many real estate millionaires going bust in the Great Depression. Jordan died in April 1928, but his son, Adrian Crenshaw Jordan, assumed ownership of the paper until 1951.

It passed through several publishers -- the Fort Myers News-Press, St. Petersburg Times, the Thomson Newspapers chain -- and a few name changes, until Derek Dunn-Rankin, president and publisher of the Sun Coast Media Group Inc., bought the Daily Herald-News in 1989. Dunn-Rankin merged it with his Charlotte Sun newspaper to make the Charlotte Sun-Herald. Two years later the Punta Gorda Herald regained its identity and can be found every Wednesday inside the Charlotte Sun-Herald.

This article includes information from "Our Fascinating Past -- Charlotte Harbor: The Early Years" and "The Later Years," written by U.S. Cleveland and Lindsey Williams, and early editions of the Punta Gorda Herald.