311 Retta Esplanade - Freeman House

A.C. Freeman built this house in 1903, originally on land he purchased from Albert Gilchrist, after migrating to Punta Gorda in 1889.  Freeman owned a hardware store and a citrus grove, among other ventures. He served in various city government positions from 1896 to 1904, including tax collector, councilman and treasurer as well as mayor during the later four or five years. He was the first elected mayor in 1900 and served as the sheriff of DeSoto County (from which Charlotte County was derived) for eight years.  During the 1902 mayoral campaign he was described as "'Industrious, frugal and obliging... well-to-do, but probably not a millionaire'".  

The house is currently owned by the City of Punta Gorda. In 1985 it was slated for demolition.  A major community effort coordinated by the Medical Center Foundation relocated the house from its original East Marion address, where Kays Ponger Funeral home is today, to 639 Hargreaves Street.  Ultimately, the house was relocated to its current location on Retta Esplanade and 41 South, serving as a familiar gateway into the city. The City assumed ownership of the building after Hurricane Charley struck in August 13, 2004.  It was then moved to its present location.  

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.

400 West Retta Esplanade - Gilchrist Park

 

Col. Isaac Trabue* platted his town in 1885 and he dedicated the waterfront for public parks out of the navigable channel.  The shoreline was originally close to the edge of today's Retta Esplanade.  The City constructed a seawall in 1914 and backfilled it to create building lots for luxury homes.  After several lots were sold, the City discovered the dedication clause in Trabue's original plat and bought back the sold lots.  The site was landscaped and known simply as City Park.  In 1950 the park was named for Albert W. Gilchrist, one of Punta Gorda's original developers.*  He served as governor of Florida from 1909-13.  The Gazebo on Old Punta Gorda Point was built to replace an earlier Gazebo, built by OPG in 1985 , as part of a planned Living History Museum.  That Gazebo was torn down by the City to prepare for development of the area where the City Marina is now located. * See Hall of Honor in Punta Gorda History Center.

Gilchrist Park provides approximately twelve (12) acres of Charlotte Harbor waterfront just west of US 41 hosting a variety of active recreation opportunities, including, basketball, pickleball, tennis, and a children’s playground area.  Additionally, passive recreational activities include picnic pavilions, waterfront gazebo, and a fishing pier. 

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.

413 Retta Esplanade

In 1909, after the death of her husband, Sadie Farrington and her son, Henry,  moved from their large home on 109 Gill St. to this home on the corner of Durrance St. and W. Retta Esplanade. This move allowed Sadie to be closer to her best friend, Marian McAdow.  Perry McAdow was a wealthy goldminer and wheelchair confined.  Henry Farrington was McAdow's business manager and assistant in most of his businesses. 

Sadie was only 35 and had three children to support.  Henry left assets consisting only of their home, the four logs and 50 shares of DeSoto Manufacturing Co. stock.  Perry McAdow told her not to worry about the mortgage and she had a small quarterly income from the stock but not enough to live on.  She worked at the New Southland Hotel as manager.  She managed her personal affairs well and put Helen and Henrietta through Florida State University and saw them both well married.  In 1925 Sadie sold her home to George E. Truett for $12,500.  In turn he sold it to Rev. S. F. Stephens and he to the Maxwells.  Upon Sadie's death she was cremated and buried alongside her husband in Georgia.  As of 2006 the home is owned by Mr. and Mrs. Jeff and Janeen Wiler and they have restored it and enjoy the same views Sadie enjoyed.

401 Retta Esplanade

The original owners were James L. and Mary Lula Seward Sandlin.  James was a member of the first City Council and also mayor of the new city.  Of their six children born in the new city a baby boy lived only 3 days and their second child, Felix, died at 12 years old in 1902.  James Sandlin was an orphan who came to the area with the Morgan family prior to the town of Trabue platting and first settled on Alligator Creek.  He was here to see the first train arrive and soon was engaged in real estate, mercantile, citrus and coastal shipping businesses.  The "widow's walk" on the home enabled Sandlin to check ships at the nearby dock.  He died in 1903.  The house was purchased by Daniel Frank Smoak and also a mayor of Punta Gorda.  Judee Vee Smoak Moore is his daughter and her son Ricky Moore has contributed to this information.

321 Retta Esplanade

 

Built in 1932 by the Greenwald family from Black Rock, NC as a winter fishing retreat known as Horn House  Lena Greenwald, daughter of the original owner, married a local horticulturist/nursey man named Ed J. McCann.  McCann owned a nursery and hybridized amaryllis lilies.  He also served as mayor of Punta Gorda. 

Retta Esplanade - Hotel Punta Gorda

 

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.