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Fort Myers, Florida
Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in and the county seat of Lee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 86,395; it was estimated to have grown to 95,949 in 2022, making it the 25th-most populous city in Florida. Together with the larger and more residential city of Cape Coral, it anchors the Cape Coral–Fort Myers metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses Lee County and has a population of 834,573 as of 2023.
Fort Myers is a gateway to the Southwest Florida region and a major tourist destination within the state. The winter estates of Thomas Edison ("Seminole Lodge") and Henry Ford ("The Mangoes") are major attractions. The city takes its name from a local former fort that was built during the Seminole Wars. The fort in turn took its name from Colonel Abraham Myers in 1850; Myers served in the United States Army, mostly the Quartermaster Department, in various posts from 1833 to 1861 and was the quartermaster general of the Confederate States Army from 1861 to 1864.
Fort Myers has substantial African American and Latin American populations. Centennial Park downtown along the Caloosahatchee River, the IMAG History & Science Center, Calusa Nature Center and Planetarium, and other historical sites are among the attractions.
According to some historians, the Calusa capital was located near Fort Myers. Following European contact, Spain had colonial influence in Florida, succeeded by Great Britain and lastly the United States.
During the Second Seminole War, the U.S. Army operated Fort Dulaney at Punta Rassa, at the mouth of the Caloosahatchee River (see the Battle of the Caloosahatchee). When a hurricane destroyed Fort Dulaney in October 1841, army operations were moved up the Caloosahatchee River to a site named Fort Harvie. Fort Harvie was abandoned in 1842, as the Second Seminole War wound down. After the Paynes Creek incident in 1849, the Army returned to the Caloosahatchee River in 1850.
Major David E. Twiggs, then stationed at Fort Brooke (present day-Tampa), gave orders for two companies of artillery to "select a suitable place for the establishment of a post and immediately throw up such light works as may secure [their] stores, and remove from the Indians any temptation to which [their] isolated position may give rise." The new Fort Myers was built on the burned ruins of Fort Harvie.
The fort was named for Brevet Colonel Abraham Charles Myers, quartermaster for the Army's Department of Florida and future son-in-law of Major Twiggs. It covered about 139 acres (56 ha), and soon had 57 buildings, including a two-story blockhouse that was pictured in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, and a 1,000-foot-long (300 m) wharf at which ships could dock. Irvin Solomon notes that Fort Myers was described "as 'one of the finest and largest' forts of the Seminole Wars". It was abandoned in 1858, at the end of the Third Seminole War.
During the American Civil War, Confederate blockade runners and cattle ranchers were based in Fort Myers. These settlers prospered through trading with the Seminole and Union soldiers.
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Fort Myers, Florida
Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in and the county seat of Lee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 86,395; it was estimated to have grown to 95,949 in 2022, making it the 25th-most populous city in Florida. Together with the larger and more residential city of Cape Coral, it anchors the Cape Coral–Fort Myers metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses Lee County and has a population of 834,573 as of 2023.
Fort Myers is a gateway to the Southwest Florida region and a major tourist destination within the state. The winter estates of Thomas Edison ("Seminole Lodge") and Henry Ford ("The Mangoes") are major attractions. The city takes its name from a local former fort that was built during the Seminole Wars. The fort in turn took its name from Colonel Abraham Myers in 1850; Myers served in the United States Army, mostly the Quartermaster Department, in various posts from 1833 to 1861 and was the quartermaster general of the Confederate States Army from 1861 to 1864.
Fort Myers has substantial African American and Latin American populations. Centennial Park downtown along the Caloosahatchee River, the IMAG History & Science Center, Calusa Nature Center and Planetarium, and other historical sites are among the attractions.
According to some historians, the Calusa capital was located near Fort Myers. Following European contact, Spain had colonial influence in Florida, succeeded by Great Britain and lastly the United States.
During the Second Seminole War, the U.S. Army operated Fort Dulaney at Punta Rassa, at the mouth of the Caloosahatchee River (see the Battle of the Caloosahatchee). When a hurricane destroyed Fort Dulaney in October 1841, army operations were moved up the Caloosahatchee River to a site named Fort Harvie. Fort Harvie was abandoned in 1842, as the Second Seminole War wound down. After the Paynes Creek incident in 1849, the Army returned to the Caloosahatchee River in 1850.
Major David E. Twiggs, then stationed at Fort Brooke (present day-Tampa), gave orders for two companies of artillery to "select a suitable place for the establishment of a post and immediately throw up such light works as may secure [their] stores, and remove from the Indians any temptation to which [their] isolated position may give rise." The new Fort Myers was built on the burned ruins of Fort Harvie.
The fort was named for Brevet Colonel Abraham Charles Myers, quartermaster for the Army's Department of Florida and future son-in-law of Major Twiggs. It covered about 139 acres (56 ha), and soon had 57 buildings, including a two-story blockhouse that was pictured in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, and a 1,000-foot-long (300 m) wharf at which ships could dock. Irvin Solomon notes that Fort Myers was described "as 'one of the finest and largest' forts of the Seminole Wars". It was abandoned in 1858, at the end of the Third Seminole War.
During the American Civil War, Confederate blockade runners and cattle ranchers were based in Fort Myers. These settlers prospered through trading with the Seminole and Union soldiers.