March 30, 1997

Early Harbor Bridges Celebrated By Public Fish Frys

Last Of Two Parts

With completion of the Tamiami Trail in 1928, the first bridge opened in 1921 across Charlotte Harbor was too narrow for the increased automobile traffic. In addition, the concrete made from ordinary beach sand and brackish bay water began to crumble.

Principal promoter of a new bridge was Barron G. Collier.

He was a wealthy New York business man who had made a fortune selling street-car advertising and sought to expand by buying and building Florida hotels.

He acquired the fading Hotel Punta Gorda, enlarged it, stuccoed the outside and re-named it Hotel Charlotte Harbor.

He also became the principal stockholder in the Punta Gorda State Bank.

Collier threw his prestige into a drive for a new, wider bridge and the county commission readily cooperated.

The bridge was built by the Raymond Concrete Pile Company which began work December l, l929. This time, the bridge was three lanes wide. It extended from Sand Point to King Street (U.S. 41 north) which not so coincidentally ran alongside Collier's hotel.

Resident engineer was E.H. Hanes of the Florida Road Department. R. E. Colvin, was the Raymond Company superintendent of construction, and Charles Hesler was contractor for the side rails. The 75-foot pilings were cast at the city dock (now Fishermen's Village) and floated to the bridge site by barge.

A prolonged strike by bridge workers delayed construction, but it was ready to be opened July 4, l931. Total cost was a little more than $l million.

Once again, the invitation went out for a big dedication ceremony on the Fourth of July -- with free food and entertainment. The Atlantic Coast Line railroad ran in special excursion trains. From the amount of food consumed, it was estimated that 14,000 to 15,000 guests came.

The late Harry "Pete" Goulding, retired manager of the Punta Gorda Fish Company, recalled the celebration in great detail. His firm provided 14,000 pounds of mullet, and he was put in charge of obtaining other donations of "fixings."

"I was loaned to the Chamber of Commerce for three weeks to write letters to various companies seeking donations," said Goulding.

"I was given an office in the Florida Power and Light building, now Waldo's Bistro, and 20 girls with typewriters.

"We sent seven letters to every organization we could think of. FPL manager Philip Huguenin was general chairman of the event.

"Squire E.V. Babcock, who was associated with the Babcock Carrier Florida lumber company (now Babcock Ranch) and had steel-fabricating interest in Pittsburgh, was a member of my committee.

"He knew all the big suppliers and would dictate letters to me to be sent to them for donations. Squire Babcock would close his eyes, lean back in his chair and rattle off a dozen letters at a time.

"I pretended to take them down in shorthand. Later I would write them in my own words. It must have been alright because he always signed them without comment.

"We got the Poinciana Ice Cream Company of Tampa to give 15,000 portions of ice cream. I was in charge of keeping it iced. It took six men constantly chipping ice to keep the ice cream from melting.

"We asked the H.J. Heinz company for pickles, and they sent us a half-dozen barrels. We gave away pickles to anyone who would take them home.

"The Senate and Custom House coffee companies sent people to Punta Gorda to make untold gallons of their special blends. Meat companies like Armour, Cudhay and Lykes donated barrels of lard in which Rotary and Kiwanis clubs fried the fish.

"The Woman's Club served swamp cabbage, baked beans, cole slaw and hush puppies. They dished out food in a big, circus tent. Diners ate in a large, thatched pavilion.

"Fish was fried in six syrup pans -- cast-iron kettles shaped like an upside-down World War I Army helmet six-feet across. They were heated by wood fires. Fred Quednau, who operated a restaurant, was the principal cook.

"We would dump in 50 pounds of lard and 200 pounds of fish in each kettle. When the mullet were done they would float to the top, and we lifted them out with pitchforks.

"The Charlotte Baking Company, owned by G. Harold Alexander, built a large brick oven in the alley behind Marion Street. He started baking bread -- from donated flour -- three days before the event.

"We had crocks of fresh sugar cane juice and tin cups scattered about for the ladies and children.

"Most of the men congregated in the alley behind Slim Keys' auto repair shop behind the Court House. He had cleaned out the garage and stocked it with thousands of bottles of home-brew. Of course, this was during prohibition; but the police looked the other way that day.

"The beer was none of today's 4-percent stuff. More like seven or eight percent. Slim ran out of ice about 11 o'clock in the morning. Then heat started to build up in that tin building. Pretty soon the new beer started fermenting again and blew caps off the bottles. The foam was over your shoe tops.

"The Tampa Tribune came the next day and quoted some old gentleman who commended the citizens for not drinking. But the whole crowd was tipsy. You could buy a bottle of home brew for 15 cents and a cup of moonshine for 25 cents. The police had to stop a half-dozen fights.

"Barron Collier and Governor Doyle Carlton cut the ribbon. He brought up a bunch of Seminoles from the Everglades to promote the Tamiami Trail. John Hagan, Jr., who drove the first car over the first bridge, was first once again as driver for Collier and Carlton.

"That night we had a beautiful fire works set off on one of the barges that had been used to haul piling to the bridge. The whole affair was a tremendous success," said Goulding.

The state, U.S. Corps of Engineers and U.S. Coast Guard agreed to remove the swing span of the old bridge and to let the two ends remain standing for use as fishing piers.

A strong hurricane in 1960 knocked down large portions of the old bridge and it was deemed a safety hazard. The county and city each disclaimed ownership and would not appropriate money to dismantle the crumbling structure.

The county, however, planked over the largest holes on the north end. The city erected warning signs on the south end. Nevertheless, someone fell through a gaping hole and drowned.

The Misener Marine Construction Company was hired in l973 to renovate the Collier Bridge pilings and inspect the old Harbor Bridge remains. The company recommended they be closed to trespassers. It was, but fishermen climbed over the barricades.

Then there was a second drowning. Finally, city and county officials gave the bridge stubs to a group of Ft. Myers sportsmen. They obtained a state grant to remove the last bones of the old bridge and dump them in the Gulf off Ft. Myers Beach for a fishing reef.

The second bridge was named for Barron Collier because of his leadership in getting it built. It was replaced with today's easternmost bridge opened in 1976. The old bridge was dismantled and deposited down the harbor for a fishing reef.

The present, westernmost bridge was completed in 1983 and named for Albert Gilchrist, the Punta Gorda Pioneer who was elected governor of Florida in 1908.

By Lindsey Williams, columnist for Sun Coast Media Group newspapers

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Photos courtesy of the Charlotte Harbor Area Historical Society

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Barron Collier, in dark suit, center, cuts ribbon opening second bridge over Charlotte Harbor. Gov. Doyle Carlton, is in dark jacket and white pants. Seminoles attended to promote Tamiami Trail opened three years previously. John Hagan, Jr., in garrison cap, third from left, drove first cars over both the old and new bridges.

Between 14,000 and 15,000 people from Southwest Florida attended dedication ceremonies for 1931 bridge. Guests ate free food in thatched pavilion, above. Note bandstand at left. "Weather tower," right was a landmark from which storm flags were flown to warn fishermen.