Urban Field Trip
Downtown Fort Myers
I have
visited downtown Fort Myers a few times since I have moved here and have always
really enjoyed, but this past time was different because I was going there to
look at the history of it. I read a few of the websites that was given to us
because I wanted to have some knowledge before I went, which made it a lot more
interesting. I found it very interesting that Fort Myers was one of the first
forts built along the Caloosahatchee River, which was a base of operations
against the Seminole Indians. Ft. Myers got its name after Colonel Abraham C.
Myers. While reading all this information, all of the names were familiar to
me; like Myers, Seminole. It is weird to think that a lot of the names in
downtown Fort Myers came from all these people way back in the 1800’s. People
started to come to Fort Myers from all over South Florida in the later 1800’s.
More and more people slowly started to migrate to Ft. Myers, which is when they
started to build hotels, the courthouse, etc. What was very interesting to me
was that Thomas Edison visited Ft. Myers and build his home and laboratory
there, I had no idea! Not only was Thomas Edison a resident here, but also the
first Ford Car Dealership was opened in Fort Myers. Ever since World War II,
the city has kept growing and so has the rest of Southwest Florida. The City of
Fort Myers has retained a lot of its history and beauty, which is so amazing to
me because a city with such life still preserves things from its past, as well
as making it as beautiful as it is today. Knowing that so many buildings that I
saw when I visited downtown Fort Myers have been there for years is so
interesting to me. I never knew that Ft. Myers had such an interesting history.
I am originally from Boston, so I am definitely used to history, but I never
really took the time to see what history was behind the city that I live so
close to now. It is a beautiful place and it definitely opened my eyes to
things that have happened over a hundred years ago. 
