Fisherman's Village Gilcrest Park
River City Grill Downtown Punta Gorda American Bald Eagle Downtown Punta Gorda
Beautiful Sunsets looking Dolphins frolicking in Charlotte Harbor
over Charlotte Harbor
NEW MAIN STREET COMMUNITY
Secretary of State Kurt Browning announced the designation of Punta Gorda as the newest Florida Main Street Community. Designation brings with it three years of intensive training and technical assistance from the statewide Florida Main Street Program to support local revitalization and historic preservation efforts in each community's traditional commercial area.
Punta Gorda, population 17,000 is a mid-size city located in Charlotte County. Founded by Colonel Isaac Trabue on the southern shore of Charlotte Harbor in 1882, the first train of the Florida Southern Railroad arrived in 1886. The city changed its name from Town of Trabue to Punta Gorda, Spanish for "Fat Point," in 1887, although it would not be incorporated untill 1900. Punta Gorda became an important port for shipping cattle to Cuba during the 1890's. After the founding of the Consolidated Ice Manufacturing, Refrigeration and Fish Company in 1891, fishing for mullet, Spanish mackerel, and channel bass became a profitable enterprise as well. Fire destroyed most of Punta Gorda's downtown in 1905. In response, the city council mandated that all future business structures be made of brick or concrete. The great Florida land boom reached the small fishing and railroad city after the first bridge across Charlotte Harbor was completed in 1921.