A one-story frame vernacular residence featuring an H-shaped plan with two forward facing steeply pitched gables. The roof is clad with five V crimp metal and foundation is concrete block piers. A one-story rear addition projects from the east elevation centered between the gables. Based on workmanship and materials, the addition appears to be circa 1930. The exterior fabric is a drop tongue and groove siding. Fenestration is double-hung wood sash windows with two over two lights. Very few houses of this vintage and construction remain hence its architectural integrity is to an unusually high degree. 8CH1769 and 8CH1768.
One story bungalow residence features a low-pitched front-gabled roof with exposed beams and rafter tails as well as front facing and side gable extensions. It has a gabled entry porch supported by battered piers and is located along the south elevation wrapping around to the west where it meets a chimney. An irregular plan and is situated on a brick pier foundation. Exterior fabric is of simple drop siding and fenestration consists of double hung wood sash windows with four over one lights. The current owner, Clark Keller, is the second building located on the property which was once a part of the 160 acre homestead of David Youman, a citrus grower. Clark Keller is currently restoring the house. Building has only been slightly changed hence integrity is of high level and makes the building a rarity in unincorporated Charlotte County. 8CH0409.
The El Palmetto Cigar Manufacturing Company was organized in 1891. On the southeast corner of Virginia Avenue and Cochran Street, a wood frame factory and a row of cottages for workers were built. Each building housed two families. In 1901 the cigar factory industry in Punta Gorda moved to Tampa and the buildings were sold to D. H. Huckeby, who moved this building to Brown Street. On October 25, 1924, Cleve Mays purchased the building for $50 and his stepdaughter, Mrs. Elnora Puckett, lived in the home for many years. The building was purchased by Mike Nickelson in 1997. He donated the building to the Historical Society for placement in the History Park at 501 Shreve Street. In October 1999, this was the first building moved to the park.
In 1913 the Merchant's Bank was erected and later changed the name to First National Bank. After its failure in 1931 during the Great Depression, it was occupied as a medical office for many years by Dr. Walter Clement*. In the late 1980's it was remodeled for a private home and later it was reconverted for office use. In addition to its neoclassical columns and faux pediment facade the original vault and marble bank lobby remain intact. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places #8CH230.
J. K. McClelland built this two-story structure during the boom years of the 1920's. Hollow tile, a fired brick smaller than that used today, shows in portions of the building. Mr. McClelland used the space for a bookstore. Both new and used schoolbooks were sold here on consignment after WWII. Sundries included old postcards for collectors and many other odds and ends. Mr. McClelland built and lived in the house next door with his wife and children. When the two-story space was needed for another business in the 1950's the left-hand part of the downstairs was used as a garage for a hearse, and the right-hand space was a casket showroom and an office for the funeral personnel. The second floor space was divided into living quarters and rented to winter visitors.
In the early 2000s, the Pressellers purchased the building and operated a popular delicatessen and gallery. Later it was occupied by several restaurants including Table 209, Carmelo’s, and Mint Thai.
The Florida Land and Improvement Corporation was formed in 1881 and registered in Jacksonville, Florida. In 1883 the Consolidated Ice, Refrigerating and Fish Co. purchased the land and built this "Dusk to Dawn" one room house. Workmen came in at dusk and went back to work at dawn. The one room had a fireplace to rest for the night. The fireplace is still intact. By 1924 a second story and more rooms on the ground floor had been added. The house was partially restored in 2000 and was flooded in 2001.
The Methodists were the first to organize a congregation in Punta Gorda on July 3, 1887. Early services were held in the Community Hall* at this site on Marion built by Colonel Isaac Trabue early in 1887. The original Hall served as a church for multiple denominations. The Methodist congregation purchased the property for a sanctuary in 1889 for $250. In 1910 a hurricane badly damaged the Community Hall building and forced the congregation to plan for a new structure.
In February 1913, J. Heid and Major Wells donated 40,000 bricks from the old power house, an abandoned ice factory on Berry Street. The church shell was finished on June 1, 1915. Despite the lack of windows and interior fixtures, the building was used immediately by the congregation. Later that year stained glass windows were installed and the interior was finished as funds became available. It is estimated that the church cost approximately $10,000 to build.
*Lindsey Williams' in a 1993 newspaper article, indicated that the original Community Hall structure was the second building to be constructed in Trabue, Punta Gorda. Part of the building that was the original sanctuary was discovered to have been moved in 1914 and incorporated into a large home being renovated at 233 Harvey St. The remnant of the old bell tower, choir loft and sanctuary were identified after a storm when the interior walls were stripped.
Punta Gorda's first city hall was a one-story concrete block building erected on this site on land deeded by Virginia Trabue, aged widow of the town's founder, IsaacTrabue, in return for abatement of taxes and life tenure of her nearby home.
The neoclassic design is dominated by a full height porch with a roof supported by classic columns. The building was extensively damaged during Hurricane Ian and is still undergoing repairs a full year after.
