Read on for 10 fun facts about Southwest Florida. Photo courtesy of Adobe Stock- Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León is credited as the first European to reach Florida in 1513. He returned in 1521 with two ships, 200 men, and cattle, landing along the Southwest Florida coast and releasing the cows into the scrubland. De León was fatally injured when the explorers were attacked by the native Calusa people who ruled a wide range of Southwest Florida. The Spaniards’ abandoned cattle drew resourceful settlers and became a vital commodity during, and following, the Civil War.
Thomas Edison statue at the Edison and Ford Winter Estates. Photo © The Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau- Inventor Thomas Alva Edison bought a winter home in Fort Myers on the banks of the Caloosahatchee in 1885. He publicly professed his love of the community, announcing: “There is only one Fort Myers in the United States, and there are 90 million people who are going to find it out.”
- Southwest Florida is a top birdwatching spot. In Collier County, Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is a significant nesting ground for the endangered wood stork. In Lee County, J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Preserve on Sanibel Island supports an array of wading and migratory birds. There are 26 sites in both counties along the Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail.
- In 1923, Collier County was named for Barron Gift Collier Sr., who at one time was reputed to be the largest landowner in the state. The New York City advertising mogul and real estate developer agreed to complete the construction of the Tamiami Trail (its name derived from its Tampa-to-Miami route) from Naples to Miami. Collier County was carved from Lee County and is the largest county in the state by geographical size.
- Big-game sportfishing was born when William Halsey Wood landed a 93-pound tarpon (known as the “Silver King”) near Sanibel Island on March 25, 1885, with an ordinary rod and reel—news that traveled around the world and made the region the epicenter of the brand-new sport.
- The islands of Sanibel and Captiva boast more than 400 species of shells—more shell varieties than anywhere in North America—according to the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum.
Opening of the Tamiami trail in 1928.- Since the 1990s, Southwest Florida has claimed the No. 1 spot in the nation for golf holes per capita. With some communities featuring two and, in some cases, three 18-hole courses, Collier and Lee counties boast more than a combined 150 courses.
- Time-honored community traditions include the annual Swamp Buggy Races held since 1918 in Collier County, where the unique vehicles were invented for the rugged backcountry, and the Edison Festival of Light Parade in Fort Myers, which began in 1938 to honor Thomas Alva Edison. The Izaak Walton Tarpon Tournament was founded on Useppa Island circa 1908, and is the oldest tarpon tournament in the United States.
- For paddlers, Lee County’s Great Calusa Blueway encompasses 190 miles through three distinct regions of the Gulf of Mexico coast. Collier County’s Paradise Coast Blueway paddling trail features six day trips from Everglades City to the village of Goodland. The Everglades Waterway kayak and canoe trail is 99 miles long.
Minnesota Twins Mascot T.C. Bear- Lee County is home to two Major League Baseball spring-training facilities and stadiums for the Boston Red Sox and Minnesota Twins. Spring training has been at home in Southwest Florida since the Terry Park Ballfield stadium, east of Fort Myers, was built to host the Philadelphia Athletics in 1925.
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