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October 27, 1999Oldtimers Mark Charlotte County Birth"Better late than never" is a popular adage that persuaded the Charlotte County Recreation and Parks Department to arrange a 75th anniversary party. The affair will begin at 3:30 p.m. Sunday November 17, during the county fair at the baseball stadium grounds. Forty "oldtimers" have been invited to attend and reminisce. The two oldest residents born in what is now Charlotte County -- brothers Leo and Frank Wotitzky -- will cut a big birthday cake at a display tent. The Sallie Jones Elementary School pupils will lead off a program of entertainment with a play about local history. Actual moment of the birth of Charlotte County occurred April 20, 1921, but this Fall's observance is close enough for government work. When Florida was admitted to the Union in 1845, Hillsborough County extended south to what is now the Charlotte- Lee County line. Then, in 1855, following defeat of the Seminoles at the Battle of Peace River, Manatee County was erected from the southern half of Hillsborough. The Manatee County seat was first set at the town of Manatee, later renamed Bradenton. Carpetbaggers were appointed to be commissioners by Reconstruction authorities in 1866. They arbitrarily moved the county seat to Pine Level, a small settlement 10 miles west of Arcadia more nearly in the center of the county. The Florida Southern Railway agreed in 1885 -- upon an offer by Col. Isaac Trabue of free land -- to run its line on the east side of the Peace River to Punta Gorda. The first train arrived there the following summer. This stimulated rapid expansion of the Peace River and Charlotte Harbor areas. A convention at Pine Level in early 1887 proposed dividing the county. Albert W. Gilchrist, the engineer who built Florida Southern's right-of-way, represented the Punta Gorda precinct. Gilchrist lobbied hard for a three-way split, but the Legislature that Fall decided upon only one new county -- DeSoto -- which included Punta Gorda precinct. In the campaign to select a county seat, Col. Trabue offered free land for a new courthouse. Gilchrist pledged $1,000 toward a new courthouse at Nocatee where he had extensive land holdings. However, two citizens at Arcadia pledged $1,000 each, and this swung the voters. Punta Gorda in 1893 got its own newspaper -- "The Herald" -- which from the beginning crusaded for division from DeSoto County. Gilchrist was elected to the legislature in 1895. With this, a large delegation from Punta Gorda went to Tallahassee to renew the drive for their own county -- to be named Seminole. A division bill passed the House easily, but lost in the Senate by one vote. It failed also in the next two years. Gilchrist, a gold-standard advocate, was defeated in the next election by a free-silver populist. After service in the Spanish-American War, Gilchrist was again elected State Representative in 1903. He served three terms, one as speaker, then was elected governor. A petition for division was taken to Tallahassee repeatedly during Gilchrist's various terms, but the " Arcadia courthouse ring" beat back every attempt to split DeSoto. Division became the sole issue of the primary of 1906. At that time, J.H. Humphries was state senator from Arcadia. He stated he would support division if the people of DeSoto County so indicated by their vote for state representative in the upcoming election. W.H. "Billy" Hooker, anti-divisionist, ran against Adrian P. Jordan, pro-divisionist editor of the "Herald." Hooker won the primary -- tatamont to election in those days -- by 134 votes in an election widely believed by Punta Gordans to have been rigged. It was next proposed that two counties be separated from DeSoto, with one new seat in Punta Gorda and the other in Wauchula. The fight was taken to the legislature of 1907 but again defeated. County division was the chief issue in the primary of 1908. Joseph H. Brown, anti-divisionist, was elected representative. The proposal was taken to the legislature the next two years, and each time it was killed. Courthouse Versus Bridge Punta Gorda -- supported by Charlotte Harbor Town and Cleveland residents -- wanted better roads, more schools and a bridge across the harbor. DeSoto officials were perceived to favor Arcadia. This feeling was reinforced in 1913 when commissioners undertook to build a $104,000 courthouse at Arcadia. Folks around Charlotte Harbor objected to being taxed for an opulent building at Arcadia while there was no bridge across the bay. The "Herald" mounted an intense campaign for division in 1913 when F. M. Cooper, a Punta Gorda farmer, was elected to the Senate. However, W. C. Langford, anti-divisionist, was elected to the House. Under Cooper's leadership, a proposal to create a new county named Trabue passed the Senate but was defeated in the House by one vote. The same thing occurred in 1915. Cooper was defeated for reelection, and petitions in 1917 and 1919 never made it out of committee. In 1917, A.M. Wilson was sent to the Senate and Langford returned to the House. Both opposed division, so the proposal for two, new counties lost once more. Up to this time, Punta Gorda had asked only for one or two counties to be separated from DeSoto. Now, divisionists devised a new strategy -- erect three new counties to create a larger bloc of allies. Judge John B. Cochran, a stubborn anti-divisionist, was elected to the House in 1919. With Wilson in the Senate, they had no trouble in burying a bill calling for three new counties. However, public opinion was growing for self government. Defeat of the bill served to arouse all citizens believing in the principle of self government. An intense campaign for division was waged for the next two years. Four new counties were sought in 1920. Arcadia politicians no longer could withstand the pressure and consented to a public referendum. By this time, voters in outlying areas of DeSoto out-numbered Arcadians. In the elections of 1920, Cooper was returned to the Senate; and a divisionist was elected to the Senate. Division of DeSoto County into five was approved with a majority of 700 votes. To gain Gov. Cary A. Hardee's support, one of the new counties was to be named for him. There was nothing for the Legislature to do but approve division in both houses on Wednesday, April 20, 1921. Governor Hardee signed the bill two days later in the presence of several Punta Gorda Division Committee members. Four New Counties New counties created from DeSoto were Charlotte, Hardee, Glades and Highlands. The long fight for division was over. The Herald splashed the story across its front page:
In another story, the Herald explained how the county acquired its name:
On February 17, the Herald said, "We like Fruitland best," but on March 17 the newspaper announced that " Charlotte" was chosen by 199 of the 317 votes cast. Mrs. Phillips was first to suggest the winning name Senator Cooper had used when he introduced the division bill. Gov. Hardee appointed the first Charlotte County officials on May 4 -- Chester Blount, circuit clerk; J. H. Lipscomb, sheriff; John Hagan, tax assessor; W. E. Bell, superintendent of public instruction; S. F. J. Trabue (Col. Trabue's nephew), county judge; Ed Wotitzky, supervisor of registration. Members of the Board of Education were Thomas S. Knight, Charles A. Cantwell, and W. H. Mason. Members of the Board of County Commissioners were R. S. Windham, W. M. Whitten, J. H. McQuaid, J. H. Wood, and J. L. Knight. Adrian C. Jordan, who succeeded his father as editor of the Herald, was appointed tax collector, but he declined. Albert F. Dewey was appointed to replace him. In accordance with the state constitution, a public referendum was held to choose the permanent county seat. A special election for this purpose was held June 20, 1922. Any "locality" could be written in on the ballot. Results of the referendum were 607 votes for Punta Gorda; 162 for Charlotte Harbor Town; one for Murdock, and one for Rogers. The latter, now vanished, was a sawmill station 10 miles south of Punta Gorda on the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. The Board of Commissioners at first met in the Johnson Building on Marion Ave., and rented court space in the Masonic Lodge at the corner of Marion and Sullivan Street. It was not until 1927 that the Commission accumulated enough money to build a courthouse. The commissioners were: Carl Hargraves, chairman, district 5; R. C. Rowland, district 4, J. T. Swinney, district 3; H. W. Smith district 2, T. M., Hobson, district l. W. T. Oliver was circuit clerk. The commissioners voted April 11, 1927, to purchase two lots on Taylor Street for a courthouse. Owner of the property was George Brown, African-American proprietor of the Cleveland Marine Steam Way. He sold the land for $25,000 -- considered a bargain at the height of the Florida Land Boom. He also retained the right to move two houses from the property. Plans for the court house -- including stately entrance columns and a clock -- were drawn by architects Leitner & Henson, of St. Petersburg. The plans were approved several months before the site was decided upon. Bids were opened May 5. Contract for construction was let to Paul H. Smith of Haines City. His bid of $106,900 was the lowest of eight others. Separate contracts were let to local firms: West Coast Roofing and Plumbing, D. J. Hobbs proprietor, for plumbing and heating fixtures at $1,495; Charlotte Electric Co., A. C. Hurst proprietor, for electrical work. Changes in the architect's plans necessitated installation of jail equipment on the second floor. Bids for this were opened May 6. Furniture for the building was purchased October 6 from two Tampa firms: the Office Equipment Co., and Heywood-Wakefield Co., at a cost of $8,717. According to contracts let, total cost of the court house was to be $134,000. With changes and extras, however, the actual cost was $200,000. Segregated Facilities Separate restrooms and drinking fountains were provided for black and for white people. The facilities were desegregated in 1964, but two adjacent fountains on the first floor are reminders of the practice. The second-floor jail included living quarters and a kitchen for the jailer and his family. There were 12 barred cells with doors controlled by remote-control levers. A hallway from the jail led to the courtroom. A balcony accommodated a Black audience. Prisoners entered from a steel vault-type door with a tiny window. The new court house was dedicated Thursday, March 20, 1928, at 8 o'clock in the evening. The program consisted of addresses by prominent attorneys and other citizens and of music. The first term of the circuit court in the new building began March 20 and continued to March 30, 1928, with Circuit Judge George W. Whitehurst presiding. State Attorney Guy M. Strayhorn prosecuted the cases, and Court Stenographer Edward Ley recorded proceedings. The court house was adequate for 40 years but finally required an addition. One was built in 1963 that wrapped around three sides of the structure -- including the front where the columns and clock were replaced with modern brick.
cutlines Photos courtesy of Charlotte Harbor Area Historical Society Gov. Cary Hardee signs bill establishing Charlotte County. Local men attending the ceremony were Capt. W. H. Johnson (left), Senator Frank Cooper (sixth left), former Governor Albert Gilchrist (second from right) and Chester Blount (right.) The Charlotte County courthouse at Punta Gorda originally featured classic columns and clock.
March 7, 1999 County's Old Courthouse Rooted In Drive For StatehoodFate of the original Charlotte County courthouse is in precarious balance as proponents of historical heritage versus bare budgets vie for the last word. Both are important, but demolition is forever. Budgets wax and wane but always are with us. The roots of Charlotte County's courthouse go farther back than the 71 years since construction. It is a monument to the yearning for community identity expressed by Floridians when they opted for statehood. When Florida was admitted to the Union in 1845, Hillsborough County extended south to what is now the Charlotte- Lee County line. Then, in 1855, following defeat of the Seminoles at the Battle of Peace River, Manatee County was erected from the southern half of Hillsborough. The Manatee County seat was first set at the town of Manatee, later renamed Bradenton. Carpetbaggers were appointed to be commissioners by Reconstruction authorities in 1866. They arbitrarily moved the county seat to Pine Level, a small settlement erected for the purpose 10 miles west of Arcadia. It was more nearly the center of the county. The Florida Southern Railway agreed in 1885 -- upon an offer by Col. Isaac Trabue of free land -- to run its line on the east side of the Peace River to Punta Gorda. The first train arrived there the following summer. This stimulated rapid expansion of the Peace River and Charlotte Harbor areas. A convention at Pine Level in early 1887 proposed dividing the county. Albert W. Gilchrist, the engineer who built Florida Southern's right-of-way, represented the Punta Gorda precinct. Gilchrist lobbied hard for a three-way split, but the Legislature that Fall decided upon only one new county -- DeSoto -- which included Punta Gorda precinct. In the campaign to select a county seat, Col. Trabue offered free land for a new courthouse. Gilchrist pledged $1,000 toward a courthouse at Nocatee where he had extensive land holdings. However, two citizens at Arcadia pledged $1,000 each, and this swung the voters. Punta Gorda in 1893 got its own newspaper -- "The Herald" -- which from the beginning crusaded for division from DeSoto County. Gilchrist was elected to the legislature in 1895. With this, a large delegation from Punta Gorda went to Tallahassee to renew the drive for their own county -- to be named Seminole. A division bill passed the House easily, but lost in the Senate by one vote. It failed also in the next two years. Gilchrist, a gold-standard advocate, was defeated in the next election by a free-silver populist. After service in the Spanish-American War, Gilchrist was again elected State Representative in 1903. He served three terms, one as speaker, then was elected governor. A petition for division was taken to Tallahassee repeatedly during Gilchrist's various terms, but the " Arcadia courthouse ring" beat back every attempt to split DeSoto. Division became the sole issue of the primary of 1906. At that time, J. H. Humphries was state senator from Arcadia. He stated he would support division if the people of DeSoto County so indicated by their vote for state representative in the upcoming election. W. H. "Billy" Hooker, anti-divisionist, ran against Adrian P. Jordan, pro-divisionist editor of the "Herald." Hooker won the primary -- tantamount to election in those days -- by 134 votes in an election widely believed by Punta Gordans to have been "rigged." It was next proposed that two counties be separated from DeSoto, with one new seat in Punta Gorda and the other in Wauchula. The fight was taken to the legislature of 1907 but again defeated. County division was the chief issue in the primary of 1908. Joseph H. Brown, anti-divisionist, was elected representative. The proposal was taken to the legislature the next two years, and each time it was killed. Courthouse Versus Bridge Punta Gorda -- supported by Charlotte Harbor Town and Cleveland residents -- wanted better roads, more schools and a bridge across the harbor. DeSoto officials were perceived to favor Arcadia in all matters. This feeling was reinforced in 1913 when commissioners undertook to build a $104,000 courthouse at Arcadia. Folks around Charlotte Harbor objected to being taxed for an opulent building at Arcadia while there was no bridge across the bay. The beautiful 1913 Arcadia Court House -- with stately columns -- still houses many county offices, but it has been augmented by a new county administration building next door. The "Herald" mounted an intense campaign for division in 1913 when F. M. Cooper, a Punta Gorda farmer, was elected to the Senate. However, W. C. Langford, anti-divisionist, was elected to the House. Under Cooper's leadership, a proposal to create a new county named Trabue passed the Senate but was defeated in the House by one vote. The same thing occurred in 1915. Cooper was defeated for reelection, and petitions in 1917 and 1919 never made it out of committee. In 1917, A. M. Wilson was sent to the Senate and Langford returned to the House. Both opposed division, so the proposal for two, new counties lost once more. Up to this time, Punta Gorda had asked only for one or two counties to be separated from DeSoto. Now, divisionists devised a new strategy -- erect three new counties to create a larger bloc of allies. Judge John B. Cochran, a stubborn anti-divisionist, was elected to the House in 1919. With Wilson in the Senate, they had no trouble in burying a bill calling for three new counties. However, public opinion was growing for self government. Defeat of the bill served to arouse all citizens believing in the principle of self government. An intense campaign for division was waged for the next two years. Four new counties were sought in 1920. Arcadia politicians no longer could withstand the pressure and consented to a public referendum. By this time, voters in outlying areas of DeSoto out-numbered Arcadians. In the elections of 1920, Cooper was returned to the Senate; and a divisionist was elected to the Senate. Division of DeSoto county into five was approved with a majority of 700 votes. To gain Gov. Cary A. Hardee's support, one of the new counties was to be named for him. There was nothing for the Legislature to do but approve division in both houses on Wednesday, April 20, 1921. Governor Hardee signed the bill two days later in the presence of several Punta Gorda Division Committee members. Four New Counties New counties created from DeSoto were Charlotte, Hardee, Glades and Highlands. The long fight for division was over. The Herald splashed the story across its front page:
In another story, the Herald explained how the county acquired its name:
On February 17, the Herald said, "We like Fruitland best," but on March 17 the newspaper announced that " Charlotte" was chosen by 199 of the 317 votes cast. Mrs. Phillips was first to suggest the winning name Senator Cooper had used when he introduced the division bill. Gov. Hardee appointed the first Charlotte County officials on May 4 -- Chester Blount, circuit clerk; J. H. Lipscomb, sheriff; John Hagan, tax assessor; W. E. Bell, superintendent of public instruction; S. F. J. Trabue ( Col. Trabue's nephew), county judge; Ed Wotitzky, supervisor of registration. Members of the Board of Education were Thomas S. Knight, Charles A. Cantwell, and W. H. Mason. Members of the Board of County Commissioners were R.S. Windham, W.M. Whitten, J.H. McQuaid, J. H. Wood, and J. L. Knight. Adrian C. Jordan, who succeeded his father as editor of the Herald, was appointed tax collector, but he declined. Albert F. Dewey was appointed to replace him. In accordance with the state constitution, a public referendum was held to choose the permanent county seat. A special election for this purpose was held June 20, 1922. Any "locality" could be written in on the ballot. Results of the referendum were 607 votes for Punta Gorda; 162 for Charlotte Harbor Town; one for Murdock, and one for Rogers. The latter, now vanished, was a sawmill station 10 miles south of Punta Gorda on the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. The Board of Commissioners at first met in the Johnson Building on Marion Ave., and rented court space in the Masonic Lodge at the corner of Marion and Sullivan Street. It was not until 1927 that the Commission accumulated enough money to build a courthouse. The commissioners were: Carl Hargraves, chairman, district 5; R. C. Rowland, district 4, J. T. Swinney, district 3; H. W. Smith district 2, T. M., Hobson, district 1. W. T. Oliver was circuit clerk. The commissioners voted April 11, 1927, to purchase two lots on Taylor Street for a courthouse. Owner of the property was George Brown, African-American proprietor of the Cleveland Marine Steam Way. He sold the land for $25,000 -- considered a bargain at the height of the Florida Land Boom. He also retained the right to move two houses from the property. Plans for the court house -- including stately entrance columns and a clock -- were drawn by architects Leitner & Henson, of St. Petersburg. The plans were approved several months before the site was decided upon. Bids were opened May 5. Contract for construction was let to Paul H. Smith of Haines City. His bid of $106,900 was the lowest of eight others. Separate contracts were let to local firms: West Coast Roofing and Plumbing, D.J. Hobbs proprietor, for plumbing and heating fixtures at $1,495; Charlotte Electric Co., A.C. Hurst proprietor, for electrical work. Changes in the architect's plans necessitated installation of jail equipment on the second floor. Bids for this were opened May 6. Furniture for the building was purchased October 6 from two Tampa firms: the Office Equipment Co., and Heywood-Wakefield Co., at a cost of $8,717. According to contracts let, total cost of the court house was to be $134,000. With changes and extras, however, the actual cost was $200,000. Segregated Facilities Separate restrooms and drinking fountains were provided for black and for white people. The facilities were desegregated in 1964, but two adjacent fountains on the first floor are reminders of the practice. The second-floor jail included living quarters and a kitchen for the jailer and his family. There were 12 barred cells with doors controlled by remote-control levers. A hallway from the jail led to the courtroom. A balcony accommodated a Black audience. Prisoners entered from a steel vault-type door with a tiny window. The new court house was dedicated Thursday, March 20, 1928, at 8 o'clock in the evening. The program consisted of addresses by prominent attorneys and other citizens and of music. The first term of the circuit court in the new building began March 20 and continued to March 30, 1928, with Circuit Judge George W. Whitehurst presiding. State Attorney Guy M. Strayhorn prosecuted the cases, and Court Stenographer Edward Ley recorded proceedings. The court house was adequate for 40 years but finally required an addition. One was built in 1963 that wrapped around three sides of the structure -- including the front where the columns and clock were replaced with modern brick.
cutlines Photos courtesy of Charlotte Harbor Area Historical Society Gov. Cary Hardee signs bill establishing Charlotte County. Local men attending the ceremony were Capt. W.H. Johnson (left), Senator Frank Cooper (sixth left), former Governor Albert Gilchrist (second from right) and Chester Blount (right.) The Charlotte County courthouse at Punta Gorda originally featured classic columns and clock. By Lindsey Williams, columnist for Sun Coast Media Group newspapers |