Retta Esplanade Park

C1887

Bayshore Lodge

The Bayshore Lodge is captured in this mural at 1900 N. Tamiami Trail Office Building.   It once stood on the harbor of Punta Gorda near where the PG Waterfront Hotel & Suites is today.  The house was built in 1897 and was the largest and finest home in town and occupied what was known as the most beautiful location in all of Punta Gorda.  When staying at the Hotel Punta Gorda, he decided to make this his new home and worked out a deal with the City Council to build a home in Harvey Park (Harvey & Cross Streets) with the agreement that it would revert back to the city upon his death.  The house was completed in 1897, was two stories with large verandas and was said to have cost 

$10,000.  He brought his wife, Marion, to live there in the winter of 1897.

Perry W. and Marion McAdow lived in a large home in Retta Esplanade.  Perry was a very wealthy gold miner who was confined to a wheelchair and he and his wife, Marian, retired to Punta Gorda.  Perry McAdow's business manager in most of his Florida businesses was Mr. Farrington.  His wife, Sadie Farrington, was best friend to Marion McAdow and after her husband died, she moved to a home closer to the McAdows to be closer to her friend.  The McAdow house is no longer standing.

401 West Henry Street, Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd/St. James Mission

Consecrated on Jan. 25, 1896, as the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd.  The church began as St. James Mission in 1892 when Mrs. Virginia Trabue, wife of Isaac Trabue, founder of Punta Gorda,  requested Bishop William Gray to organize Episcopal services in the young town.  For sixty-six years it was a mission.  Albert Gilchrist donated the site and Mrs. Samuel Colt, contributed the funds to construct the building.  The Colt’s only son, Caldwell Hart, drowned in 1893 and this tragedy may have increased Mrs. Colt's interest in the local church.  The name of the church was changed at her request and she added a beautiful Tiffany chancel window in memory of her son.  The original structure circa 1919 served until 1980, when a new building was erected at Henry and Shreve Street.  

    

The first image is believed to be one of the first known photos of the Church of the Good Shepherd taken shortly after its completion in 1986. The second is the church as it looked in 1920, looking north from Cross Street. This view shows the rear of the sanctuary as well as the famed Tiffany Glass window. 

215 Goldstein Street

The first dedicated all grades school in Punta Gorda was built on this site in 1896.  Originally a one-story structure, a second story was added in 1902. The first year of high school was in 1903, the first graduating class was 1905.  It served as both an elementary and high school until 1911 when a new school was built on Taylor as the high school-age population grew.  In 1927 it became the town’s s first hospital. During the 1920s, the Chadwick brothers remodeled it for an inn, “The Chadwick Inn.” Later in the 1930s it became an apartment house.

Added Information provided by Lynn Harrell:

The assistant principal at the Goldstein Street School was Prof. Ulysses S. Whiteaker; he designed the larger brick school on Taylor Street when the student population outgrew this one. U.S. and Nora Whiteaker's daughter, Jean Pauline, was also a teacher. She taught at the one-room Harbor View school across the bay. In 1914, Jean Whiteaker married Cleve Henry Cleveland. They lived in Boca Grande until 1921, when their oldest son, Gerald, reached school age and the Cleveland family moved to Punta Gorda. Jean then taught at the Taylor Street school, and Cleve went to work for the City as the manager of the City-owned electric power plant. In 1922, The City acquired its first fire truck and appointed Cleve as the first City Fire Chief. He was the first fire chief to be put on the City payroll; earlier firemen were volunteers. He was paid $25 a month and kept the position until 1931. During his tenure, Chief Cleveland and his crew were lauded for saving the "Chadwick Inn" - the former Goldstein Street School - and the surrounding buildings! They were able to restrict the fire to the upper floor of the Inn, which was later rebuilt. And btw, Jean Whiteaker Cleveland also went to work for the City. When the youngest Cleveland son, Max, was a toddler, Jean took a job as Deputy City Clerk. She would later become the first female City Clerk in Punta Gorda's history, a post she held for 8 years, before retiring in 1956 after 31 years of service at City Hall!

110 Gilchrist Street

The Burland House was the home of Dr. W. H. Burland and his family.  It was also known as the Jorgensen House Burland was a doctor and also the first mayor of the City of Punta Gorda.  The Burland's purchased the land in 1898 and lived there until 1907.  This house is a Victorian sub-type known as a shingle home.  Unlike most 19th century styles, the shingle home does not emphasize decorative detailing at the doors, windows, corners, porches, or on the wall surfaces.  Instead, it aims for the effect of a complex shape enclosed within a smooth surface to unify the irregular outline of the house.  An interesting feature of the shingle home is the lack of interruption at the corner:  There are no corner boards.  Note also the patterned wood shingles in the front gable area, a tell-tale feature of Victorian architecture.  In 1889 Jacob Wotitzky purchased this property for his wife and son who were awaiting him in New York.  He leased a box car to transport his wife, Rosa and son, Edward, then 13 who would help run the store to Punta Gorda.  Ed married Celia Hart, daughter of Gustave and Dora Hart who operated a ship chandlery on Retta Esplanade.  Ed and Celia were the parents of Leo and Frank Wotitzky, prominent Punta Gorda attorneys.  The Wotitzky daughter Laura, married Kirby Seward who founded the Herald in February 1893.  

Jacob Wotitzky died of a stroke in his bedroom over his store.  His body is interred in a Jewish Cemetery in New York.  His obituary was published in the Herald in 1903.  Ed carried on the family business until he was discouraged by two disasterous fires.  He then was elected justice of the piece until his death in 1941.  He was also legislative assistant to State Representative Albert Gilchrist.  Celia died in 1979 and they are buried togeher in Indian Springs Cemetery.