William Luther Koon and wife, Elsa lived here for many years. He was a local cattle baron, owner of Bee Branch Cattle Co. He built this house in 1901. It had an entrance on Sullivan St. and a side door on Charlotte. A separate 'garage' was built to house the oxen used to pull the chuck wagon on cattle drives. The building was moved to its present site in 1999. W. L. Koon was also president of the Punta Gorda State Bank and used his own funds during the Great Depression to quell the depositors' panic. This was the only one of the three banks in Punta Gorda to survive the depression. Mr. Koon was uncle to Sallie Jones, the well-known educator in honor of whom the elementary school is named (Narranj St., Punta Gorda). She became one of the first women in Florida to be a Superintendent of Schools.
