23084 Seneca Avenue - Trinity United Methodist

 

The first church to form a congregation in  the Punta Gorda region was the Trinity United Methodist in Charlotte Harbor.  The church, originally located at what was then called Hickory Bluff (thought to have been near current day Melbourne St. ) was chartered in 1873 as a member of the Tampa Methodist Episcopal District.   This was years before Isaac Trabue bought the land across the river that would become the town of Punta  Gorda in 1887.  

The current structure is the fourth church sanctuary.  The church moved to its present location at Seneca and Parmely in 1889 on a lot provided by Mathieu and Mary Giddens.  A two-room school was also built next to it. This second church building was destroyed by a hurricane in 1910, and a third structure was severely damaged to yet another storm.  The 1926 Miami hurricane, which flooded the streets of Punta Gorda, blew the church off its foundation.  While it was recovered at that time, in 1944, a strong wind caused the building to badly sway.  

So finally a fourth building was erected of masonry construction, third on the current site, and dedicated on Nov. 9, 1950.

(Information from article by Frank Desguin, Charlotte Sun) 

264 Marion Ave.

Abe Ephraim Goldstein was the first merchant in Punta Gorda to build a small furniture store on this site.  In 1887, he also persuaded carpenters working on the new Hotel Punta Gorda to devote one day to building a two-story home next door for his wife and son who were arriving unexpectedly the next day.  The present structure is constructed of patent stone concrete blocks with rusticated faces to mimic stone.  This was the first store constructed with masonry as opposed to wood.  

Over the years many retail establishments have occupied the building including Vasco Peeples’s IGA store during which time Mr. Peeple’s family lived in the upstairs apartment.  Later businesses included a bakery and an ice-cream sandwich shop (Cubby’s).  Cubby's closed in 2023 and a new establishment called Punta Gorda Deli Co. and Mercantile opened in 2023.   As a result of Hurricane Milton in October 2024, This building has been determined to be too damaged to reopen.  

621 Retta Esplanade

Harry (Pete) and Reba Gaskill Goulding called this house home for many years.  Harry was widely known as he was comptroller of the Punta Gorda Fish Company.  This structure is typical of the many built between 1887 and 1900 to provide quick and inexpensive shelter for fishermen and their families.  Commonly called "dark to dusk" or "up and down" houses because a team of two carpenters could build one in a single day from sunrise to sunset.  The house is constructed of 1' x 12' planks of hard pine planked vertically instead of horizontally.  The cracks are coved with narrow strips of pine forming a "board and batten" siding.  The inside walls are board and batten also.  This construction was the dominant pre-railroad folk housing throughout most of the Southeastern United States.  It was easy to build and provided a sturdy and inexpensive home for the working man.  After Pete's death a new owner added to the structure.

233 Harvey Street

The central part of the house was built in 1887 by Col. Isaac Trabue as a community hall for school classes and church services.  Methodist trustees bought the building in 1889.  After the Methodists built a new church in 1917,  Mr. W. M. Mayes bought the structure and moved it to the present location.  Eighty years later, Mark and Cecelia Neese purchased the then condemned apartment house and during restoration discovered they were the owners of the original historic community center which included a church's sanctuary and chancel area.  There is a bell tower in the rear.  

565 West Retta Esplanade

This house was built in 1887 by S. P. Hinkley who came to Punta Gorda with the lumber company that supplied the wood for the Hotel Punta Gorda. In addition to being one of Punta Gorda’s first bankers, he was also engaged in the fishing, real estate and cigar industries. After he passed away in 1894, his widow married Kelly B. Harvey, the surveyer that Trabue had hired to plat the town. Harvey lived with her in the house for many years. Mattie Hinckley Harvey died in 1899. Kelly Harvey remarried and his new wife, Elva, bought the property from Mattie's family. She owned the house until 1938 when she died and it was lost to taxes. The turret was added by Kelly Harvey and it served as his office until he left for the University of Florida in 1938.