BGuthrie Photos: FL -- Fort Myers -- Edison & Ford Winter Estates -- Homes

FL -- Fort Myers -- Edison & Ford Winter Estates -- Homes:

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. EDISF_060117_007.JPG: Seminole Lodge, the Edisons' Fort Myers Home: The Edison home was designed by [Alden Frink of Boston based on drawing provided by] Edison and constructed of pre-cut lumber shipped from Fairfield, Maine. When Thomas and Mina Edison arrived for their honeymoon in 1886, the home was not yet completed. They stayed briefly at the Keystone, a downtown hotel. After three days in the motel, they moved into the house. Although their home contained electric light features, the Edisons did not yet have electricity. They used tallow candles for lighting on their honeymoon. Generators were installed the following year and on March 27, 1887, the entire town turned out to see Edison's electric lights. Upon completion of the retreat, Edison sold four (of the 14 acres) and the home on the south end of the property to his good friend and business partner Ezra Gilliland.
2. EDISF_060117_031.JPG: Edison Arrives in Fort Myers: Edison spent most of the Winter of 1885-1885 convalescing in a hotel in St. Augustine, Florida. It was here that someone told him about the wilds of Southwest Florida. Intrigued, he immediately journeyed down the west coast until he came to the Caloosahatchee River. He arrived in Fort Myers on March 20, 1885. After spending a few hours in the village, Edison decided to make Fort Myers his winter home. He then purchased this thirteen acre tract of land on the Caloosahatchee. Edison had already invented the incandescent light and wished to perfect his discovery. He was particularly interested in bamboo found growing on the property. At the time, he sought a domestic source to replace bamboo filaments imported from Asia. Bamboo was used in many incandescent lighting experiments.
3. EDISF_060117_050.JPG: Quite a bit of bamboo had been destroyed by the hurricanes that came through here in the last few years.
4. EDISF_060117_099.JPG: The wood that Edison sent down for the building hasn't survived the test of time well. Termite-infested, the city had to gut and replace vast sections of the house.
5. EDISF_060117_138.JPG: Attached by this walkway is the Seminole Lodge Guest House. Initially, in 1886, Edison sold this home to his friend Ezra Gilliland. It was sold two more times before Edison reacquired it in 1906. and remodeled it as a guest house.
6. EDISF_060117_186.JPG: Dining Room. This underwent major changes in the remodeling period of 1907-1910. Craftsman style molding around newly placed French windows and perimeter wall shelving enhanced the Edison's desire to "let the outside in."
7. EDISF_060117_238.JPG: The Mangoes Area: Henry Ford's Winter Retreat: In the spring of 1914, Thomas Edison invited Henry Ford, along with his wife Clara and son Edsel, to Fort Myers. A group including the Ford family, the Edison family, as well as the naturalist John Burroughs, ventured into the Everglades to camp. This was the first of many such trips the group would enjoy in other locations around the country. Besides the camping trip,. the group also explored Edison's gardens, went to town for a carnival, baseball spring training, and a stop at the local school. Fondly remembering the fun had by all, Mrs. Edison invited the Fords back to Seminole Lodge. The Fords would spend many more springs in Fort Myers. Henry Ford purchased this home next to Edison's guest house for $20,000 in 1916, providing Ford the opportunity to vacation with Thomas Edison. The good friends and their families enjoyed exploring southwest Florida, fishing, boating, and square dancing during their trips to Fort Myers. In the 1920s, Ford enlarged the home. The Fords sold the house in 1945 to the local Biggar family for $20,000. They separately sold the home's contents and the artifacts inside the building are representative antiques and collectibles of the period the Fords spent time in the home. In 1988, the Biggar family sold the property to the City of Fort Myers. The home was opened for public tours in 1991.
8. EDISF_060117_404.JPG: Ford 1917 Model T Truck. One purchase the basic vehicle and paid a carpenter to build the cab and bed. Sold for around $500. This truck is all original except for the right front tire.
9. EDISF_060117_414.JPG: Ford 1919 Model T 3-door Touring Car. A touring car has open sides and usually a fold-down canvas top. Sold for around $450. The gas tank is under the front seat, which enables the gas to travel to the carburetor via the force of gravity.
10. EDISF_060117_433.JPG: Ford 1914 Model T Touring Car. A crank was used to start this vehicle. It has four cylinders and has a speed of 20-25 MPH. Sold for $490. Note the carbide generator on running board for supplying acetylene gas to the headlights.
11. EDISF_060117_442.JPG: Ford 1929 Model A 4-door Sedan. A deluxe model built with four cylinders, it has an electric starter and runs at a speed of 50-60 MPH. Sold for around $750. This was the first Ford to have four wheel brakes and shock absorbers.
12. EDISF_060117_508.JPG: On this spot, Carolyn Hawkins was married to Charles Edison March 27, 1918. In general, Edison's kids didn't do very well.
13. EDISF_060117_523.JPG: Friendship Walk: In 1928, Dr. Hamilton Holt of Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida visited the Edisons in Fort Myers. Holt told them that his college installed a "walk of fame" on campus. The Edisons decided to establish a similar path which they called "friendship walk." Holt was the first to donate a stone. Although many famous names are included in the walk, the Edisons' friend and neighbor, Henry Ford is not among them. He gave the Edisons a stone with no inscription, stating that he was "a poor farm boy who could not afford to have his name engraved on his stone."
14. EDISF_060117_572.JPG: Ford's Caretaker's Cottage. The Biggar family expanded the home to be used as a guest cottage.
15. EDISF_060117_605.JPG: The Edison Pier. When the Edisons first arrived, Fort Myers had few roads. Most travel was conducted on the Caloosahatchee River by steamboats, ferries, and other vessels. In 1885, the Edisons built a pier which eventually extended some 1,500 feet. It included benches for seating, low platforms for unloading passengers, storage buildings, and a shelter for Edison's electric launch. The end of the pier was a favorite place for the Edisons to relax and entertain friends. On one occasion, they moved a phonograph and records to the pavilion and hosted a square dance for Henry and Clara Ford. The family also enjoyed outings on the river. The Edisons and their guests frequently traveled on the Caloosahatchee in row boats, canoes, sail boats, and the Reliance, their electric launch.
16. EDISF_060117_617.JPG: The Edison Family Pool. In 1910, Edison ordered the construction of a pool at his estate. This swimming pool was constructed of: three parts shell, cinders and broken stone; two parts sand; and one part Edison Portland cement. It was reinforced with galvanized iron bars. While Edison was not fond of swimming, his family enjoyed the pool. In 1920, Mina Edison wrote to her children, "Aunt Mary, Rachel and I [had] our first dip in pool. Water like ice so it was veritably a dip." In 1929, Mina Edison hired contractors to improve the pool area. Through a local firm, she purchased faience tiles, added dressing rooms, and a canopy. She called the finished product the "Tea House."
17. EDISF_060117_630.JPG: Thomas' Little Office. Edison's original laboratory was moved from this site to Henry Ford's museum at Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan in 1928. Ford agreed to build this little office in its place for Edison. Combined with the Moonlight Garden, the two features create a footprint of the location of the original lab.
18. EDISF_060117_635.JPG: Edison's Caretakers House. This house is the oldest structure at the Estates. A one-room section of the house existed when Edison purchased the property in 1885. Edison expanded the building over the years to be used by various estate workers. The "L" addition to the east side was constructed in 1928.
19. EDISF_060117_650.JPG: Mina's Moonlight Garden. Mina Edison created the garden in 1928. Ellen Biddle-Shipman, a renowned landscape architect, designed the space. The pool and bright flowers were meant to reflect the moonlight.
AAA "Gem": AAA considers this location to be a "must see" point of interest. To see pictures of other areas that AAA considers to be Gems, click here.
Wikipedia Description: Edison and Ford Winter Estates
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Edison and Ford Winter Estates contain a historical museum and 17 acre (6.9 hectares) botanical garden on the adjacent sites of the winter homes of Thomas Alva Edison and Henry Ford beside the Caloosahatchee River in southwestern Florida. It is located at 2350 McGregor Boulevard, Fort Myers, Florida, USA. It is open daily from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm, including Sundays.

History:

The present site dates from 1885, when Edison first visited Florida and purchased the property to build a vacation home. This structure, completed in 1886 and dubbed "Seminole Lodge", served as a winter retreat, laboratory, and work place until Edison's death in 1931. Edison’s good friend Henry Ford purchased the adjoining property in 1915 where he built "The Mangoes". In 1947, Mrs. Thomas Edison deeded the property to the City of Fort Myers in memory of her husband for the enjoyment of the public. It was opened for public tours in 1950. By 1988, the adjacent Henry Ford winter estate was purchased and opened for public tours. In 2003, the governance of the site was transferred by the City to a new non-profit corporation, Thomas Edison & Henry Ford Winter Estates, Inc. (dba Edison & Ford Winter Estates, Inc) whose mission is to protect, preserve and interpret the site and future growth and development. The new corporation successfully completed a $10 million restoration project in 2006. A separate fundraising arm, Edison-Ford Winter Estates Foundation, Inc., was created to assist the restoration project with no function in governance, programming or development but rather to assist the governing board with the initial restoration.

Gardens:

Edison's botanical garden contains more than a thousand varieties of plants from around the world, including African sausage trees and a 400-foot banyan tree given by Harvey Firestone in 1925. It was originally an experimental garden for industrial products. Later Mrs. Edison gave the garden an aesthetic turn with plantings of roses, orchids and bromeliads.

At present the collections include: Acalypha hispida, Arenga pinnata, Artocarpus heterophllus, Billbergia sp., Blighia sapida, Bougainvillea glabra, Bougainvillea spectabilis, Calliandra haematocephala, Canage odorata, Cattleya hybrid, Cattleya sp., Chorisia speciosa, Citrus sp., Clerodendrum speciosissimum, Cordyline terminalis, Cycad sp., Dendrobium, Dombeya sp., Epidendrum ciliare, Ficus auriculata, Ficus benghalensis, Ficus saussureana, Hibiscus schizopetalus, Holmskioldia sanguinea, Ibosa riparia, Ixora chinensis, Kilgelia pinnata, Leea coccinea, Malvaviscus arboreus, Musa sp., Parmentiera cereifera, Plumbago capensis, Solandra nitada, Spathoglottis plicata, Tabernaemontana corymbosa, Tecoma stans, Thunbergia erecta, and Tibouchina semidecandra.
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