The Punta Gorda herald. [volume] (Punta Gorda, Fla.) 1893-1958, 1916-08-03

COF the purpose Oh supply Ill
information such as is desired b.
many people of other sections VIII
are interested in this locality tn
following facts are given:
Punta Gorda is on the Charlott
Harbor Division of the Atlanti
Coast Line r. r. ,275 miles -soutl
of Jacksonville, 80 miles east o
south from Tampa on the soutl
side of Charlotte Harbor, rs mile
from its mouth, Boca Grande
Its population by the State census
of 1915 was slightly in excess O.
1700, but this number has beer
considerably increased by people
who have located here since the
census was taken, and the number
of people in the town now is vari'
ously estimated at from /, 800 to
1000. Of this population about
300 are negroes.
There are Methodist, Presbyter-
ian, Episcopal and Baptist church
es with regular services for white
people, and Methodist and Bap-
list churches for negroes. A pub
lie school for white children, en-
bracing grammar and high school
departments, employs eleven
teachers and has an enrolment of
several hundred pupils. The ne
groes have a good public school
with two teachers and an enroll
ment of about forty pupils.
The taxation for city, county
and 500" purposes is not consider
ed excessive, and considering that
property heretofore has been as
sesSed at about one third its real
value there has been little occa-
sion for dissatisfaction from this
source.
The town contains two substan-
/, tial banks, an excellent telephone
system with connections all over
the neighboring counties; post
Office, telegraph and express Off
ces; several private boarding
houses, four hotels; plenty of
grocery, dry goods, drug and 9th
er stores to supply all demands
of the trade; machine, automo-
bile, wagon and boat shops; ice
factory, bottling works, cigar fac
tories, a livery stable, newspaper
and job printing office, bakery,
restaurants, town hall; flourish
ing lodges of Masons, Woodmen
of the World, Red Men, Maccabces,
Eastern Star, Woodlands Circle,
and Women s Benefit Association
of the Maccabees; a plant for
making concrete building blocks
five lawyers, three physicians, two
dentists, a number OF real estate
men, etc.
The chief industry is fishing, in
which several wholesale firms
with 300 or more men are engaged.
Capital invested in the business is
estimated at over 100000 and
large shipments of fish on ice are
made almost daily during the fish
ing seasons. The bulk of the fish
shipped are mullet but many
pompano, Spanish mackerel, bass,
trout, sheep-head, snapper and
other fine food fish are shipped.
The oyster business is small.
!, Next to fishing, the cultivation
of fancy pineapples engages most
attention, as the profits of this in
dustry often reach $500 an acre,
1t requires about $1,000 to prop
erly prepare and plant an acre in
pineapples, but after this,$200 a
year would cover the cost of cul-
tivatioin. The plants bear in
twelve to eighteen months after
planting, and continue to bear an
nually thereafter without replant-
ing for five or six years.
Truck farming is an industry
yet in its infancy and offering
good returns on intelligent and
well directed efforts. Profitable
and easy crops to raise are sweet
potatoes, Irish potatoes and sugar
cane, which pay $3.50 to 5000 per
acre.
Oranges, grapefruit, lemons
and lines are successfully grown;
so are some other fruits of lesser
note.
Prices of town lots and of
lands out of town vary so greatly
that it is impracticable to give
quotations here, but almost any
one who does not expect to find
in a new and sparsely settled
country like this, the improve
ments and conveniences of Ohio
and Massachusetts,, can find here
something to suit him in price and
character, whether he wishes i'm
proved or unimproved property.
The town government consists