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| Punta Rassa may be small, but it's history is large. This image shows a structure there from the late 1800s. (Credit: WGCU Public Media) |
Punta Rassa is a small, flat piece of Florida with a big history. The waterfront land near Fort Myers in Southwest Florida has seen everything from cattle drives to cowboys, military troops and blockade runs to and from Cuba.
For a while, Punta Rassa was diverse before diversity. During the Civil War, troops stationed there came from all across the United States. They sometimes had trouble communicating because of their regional accents. The white New York City soldiers couldn't understand the Black soldiers from Virginia who couldn't understand the Black soldiers from Louisiana. As one historian says in the video linked in this post, at least they all knew they were on the same side.
According to Wikipedia, the name Punta Rassa evolved from the Spanish phrase Punta Rasca, which means smooth or flat point. It's an apt description for this sliver of Florida lowland.
Only about 1,500 people live in Punta Rassa today, on land that's less than five square miles in size. The area's big back story makes up for it. Enjoy this history video from Florida Gulf Coast University's WGCU Public Media: Punta Rassa, Untold Stories (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtTxUFq4u9Y)
This was George & Florida Shultz House, They owned the Punta Rassa Hotel that was in front of the House. He originally came down from New York for the Telegraph Company and seized Jacob Summerlin Place which was the abandoned First Fort build before the military moved 11 mils upstream on the Caloosahatchee River and built Fort Myers. a cable was ran from his Telegraph Office across to Sanibel Island and down to Key West and on to Cuba to establish the first Telegraph connection. We received news of the U.S.S. Maine sinking in Havana Harbor from him at Punta Rassa. Thomas Edison installed a Generator in the Basement of the Punta Rassa Hotel that burnt down 2 times. I have part of George Shultz Collection of photo's
ReplyDeleteHow fascinating! Thanks for sharing. Knowing people's names always make history more interesting to me and brings it closer. It makes it more human for me. And the information about the telegraph connection is amazing. I can picture people gathered to hear the news about the Maine. What an important piece of history. Thanks again.
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