The tragic deaths of Wilber H. "Bud" Cole, a founding partner of Punta Gorda Isles, Inc.,
and members of his immediate family, narrow the number of"young lions" who came to Punta Gorda after
World War II to build a unique neighborhood laced with salt-water canals.
Cole, 63, was piloting his plane when it crashed July 31 at Great Abaco
Island, Bahamas, while attempting to land during a thunderstorm. Killed with
him were his wife Maureen, his son John, and the latter's fiance Loretta
Bouman. Only the family's pet dog survived.
Among those shocked by the accident is Alfred M. Johns, the other
partner. Both men were native Floridians. The two had worked for the Central
Intelligence Agency on Tachen Island off the China coast during the Korean
War. Their mission was to divert Chinese from going to Korea to join the war
against the Americans. Johns, chairman of the board; and Cole, president,
launched the publicly owned Punta Gorda Isles Corporation in 1958. They
brought in Bob Barbee, Sam Burchers, Tom Messina and others to form a
dynamic group of salesmen and managers to turn a vast tidal flat into
up-scale home sites.
On the company's tenth anniversary, in 1968, Bud Cole wrote a short
history of PGI titled How It All Started." One
can not get closer to the
facts:
For myself, Punta
Gorda Isles is not a thing, but an experience
--- the bare beginning of which, I suppose,
stretches back to a day in the summer
of 1950. It was hot, and I was flying
as a passenger in a "gooney bird" that
was just setting down on a little island
in sight of the China coast.
We taxied to a stop on the dirt runway, and I alighted to be greeted by
a cloud of red dust. The center of this red tornado, it soon appeared, was
occupied by an extremely disreputable jeep driven by an even more
disreputable, mustached, native Chinese pirate.
I piled into the jeep and discovered on the ride to our quarters that
under the layers of grime, behind the wild eyes, and past the inscrutable
countenance, an ugly American was lurking. His name, it turned out, was Al
Johns.
Al and I assisted
the Government in various unlikely
projects for three years or so before
returning to the States. A few months
after my arrival in the Far East, Sam
Burchers (another ex-CIA agent) appeared
on the scene, and the three of us became
close friends. The mid-50's found me,
Al, and Bob Barbee, a schoolmate and
friend of Al's, in Fort Lauderdale learning
to be "land development businessmen" from,
perhaps, the most successful developer
of prime waterfront property in the country
--- James Stone Hunt of Coral Ridge
properties.
We experimented with
this newly won knowledge on a small
sub- division in Fort Lauderdale and
then a larger one in North Miami Beach.
By 1957, we were involved in waterfront
development of 300 lots on Biscayne
Bay in Coral Gables. Sam Burchers had
come back from directing a motion picture
in Mexico and joined us. We were
four happy bachelors in the big city.
At a conference with James Buchanan,
then board chairman of General Development
Corporation, the plans for Port Charlotte
were unrolled. This was the first
mention of the city of Punta Gorda. I
had never heard of it, while Al risked
the statement that it meant "something big" in
Spanish.
What with big things
brewing on the west coast of Florida,
Bob and Al took a sight-seeing trip
by plane and promptly fell in love with
the Punta Gorda "point."
The idea of the second largest harbor on the entire Gulf of Mexico, a
county with more shore line than any other in the state, and a
100-square-mile public hunting preserve was awful strong medicine. The
clincher was an unrivaled location --- protected, secluded, and yet
immediately available to the outside world.
Bud was dragged over
by car and shown the view of the
point from the bridge. He was told that "you can't exactly get there from here; but it sure
is pretty and we better buy it." Bud
and Sam agreed. With considerable help
and understanding from the owners, Gerald
Moody of Greenfuel Gas Company of Fort
Myers; and George Sanders, owner of Edison
Mall; title of the first 550 acres passed
to Punta Gorda Isles, Inc., on the last
day of the year 1957.
One local wag, when
he heard that the mangrove swamp
with its millions of fiddler crabs was
to become a beautiful subdivision with
canals throughout made a sage observation, "They must be out of their
cotton-pickin' heads." Several others
thought so as well. Fortunately W.T.
Price, of Price Dredging Corporation
and also president of Coconut Grove Bank,
had faith that the young corporation
could make the subdivision go. He backed
up his belief with credit in the form
of earth moving and road building.
At about this point, unmistakable Italian gentleman came chugging down
the pike in a 1934 Plymouth automobile minus two hub caps, from the big,
cold city, looking for sunshine and clean air. John Matarese had no previous
experience in anything related to the land development business. He knew
what he wanted and was not afraid of hard work.
He stated from the first day that he would have a house, boat and
family in Punta Gorda Isles one day. Though it seemed unlikely at the time,
John made it happen and contributed to the success of the venture in so
doing. The first four homes were constructed on the west shore of what is
the basin behind the office (now the Isles Yacht Club). These were Scholtz
package homes. A temporary sales offices --- which is now the maintenance
building located on another site --- served as company headquarters. In
early '58, an office had been built on U.S. 41 in Charlotte Harbor, on the
north side of the bridge. Prospective buyers were taken by boat to view,
from the water, the future Punta Gorda Isles. the building was soon sold,
however, and is now occupied by the Sea Horse Marina.
The first three homes to be occupied in Punta Gorda Isles were the
Wilder house adjacent to the tennis courts, the Ettenger home and the Cole
residence on Donna Court.
About the time we started making the first sales, we needed some
professional management for our finances and record keeping. Russ Faber,
C.P,A., who was in business in Coral Gables, supplied this commodity. A
couple of years later, Russ, tired of running back and forth, was induced to
take up residence here permanently.
Meanwhile, back in the subdivision, a few more neighbors moved in ---
Sam, Bob and Al taking up residence in the model homes. The first Isles
baby, John Cole, put in his appearance on Sept. 17, 1960. John was followed
not long afterward by Kevin Johns, Sammy Burchers and others.
Sales were slow those
first two years, but by the early
60's the basic "pioneering" was
over and the future course set.
The detailing of our basic group would not be complete without our
attorneys, the Farrs --- Drayton Farr, Jr., doing most of our work. Without
him, certainly our company would have taken another form. His knowledge of
the local conditions, attitudes, etc., as well as his legal counsel,
contributed heavily to our success.
Don Witter's interest and the backing of the First Federal made
possible our minor housing boom when out-of-town financial institutions
wrinkled their noses. As a matter of fact, the understanding of the local
people, in public life and out, made the project possible.
When I think back
on those early days, certain scenes
seem to characterize the times. There
was, of course, no B&B
Shopping Center, much less the Punta
Gorda Mall and the two motels. The old
Charlotte Harbor Hotel, constructed in
1886, occupied most of what is now the
Punta Gorda Mall Shopping Center. The
hotel's monstrous pool was located near
the Howard Johnson site (built
and owned by
PGI). The hotel burned to the ground
one night in 1959.
The Punta Gorda Federal
Savings and Loan --- now First Federal
Savings and Loan --- did business
in one small office in the "Mall" in
the King Building of East Marion
Ave. (now the original Smith Arcade).
They had one safe,
about the size of a file cabinet.
The Post Office occupied the end of that "Mall."
The First National Bank was located on the southwest corner of U.S. 41
and Marion Avenue. What little business activity there was resided on West
Marion. A great number of the stores, however, were boarded up, had broken
glass and cobwebs. There were but two restaurants in the area, neither of
which had air-conditioning.
The hospital was a barracks building. The road to the Isles was
unpaved. The Isles telephone had seven other parties on it.
Looking back, I get little snatches of memories of different people ---
Westy Westfall, with a prospective customer and a bit of sage advice for us,
invariably sound. Rumsey Thompson paying all cash for a house and lot while
wearing a pair of 69-cent Japanese sandals. Pete Bontsema, who
single-handedly started the first Civic Association. Bill Crosland's dog
jumping into the Ettenger pool. Myself backing up and falling off the
seawall while engaged in enthusiastically showing a customer the glories of
PGI --- Bob Barbee's 22-pound snook.
The building of the Isles has been a stimulating experience shared by
many; and, I truly believe, the best is yet to come.
Indeed, PGI continued to grow. Its twin, Burnt Store Isles, soon
followed. Other subdivisions were Deep Creek and Burnt Store Marina.
Cole resigned as president of Punta Gorda Isles, Inc., in 1977 to
pursue other business interests and manage his citrus farm and cattle ranch
10 miles east of Punta Gorda. He had been a pilot for 20 years, and had his
own airstrip. He maintained a summer vacation home on Man O'War Cay,
Bahamas, but flew home as necessary to attend First Federal directors'
meetings. Johns also gave up his chairmanship in 1987 to start his own
development company. His present enterprises include the Seminole Lakes home
and golf subdivision, Sand Hill Properties shopping centers, and citrus
groves.
Johns and Cole managed to develop the Punta Gorda flats where others
had failed. A notable attempt to build homes on a canal there was announced
in late 1925 by the Ruff Realty Company of Tampa. The development was to be
called Pasa Bonita. It featured a canal 300 feet wide and 20 feet deep
running through the entire property. The project was a casualty of the
Great Land Boom which collapsed in 1929.
Johns and Cole laid out 55 miles of canals 100
feet wide and 17 feet deep. Dredged sand was piled
up on the flats to raise the level of land four
feet. This provided dry home sites with access to
the harbor and gulf. Home owners can keep their boats
in their back yards. PGI lots originally sold
for $5,000, and homes for $32,000. Earlier this year,
an older waterfront home was sold for $495,000 and
immediately demolished by the new owner so he
could construct a $1.5 million home. Surely Bud Cole
was pleased to see his prediction come true, "The
best is yet to come."
[The "young lions" of
Punta Gorda Isles Corporation gathered for this
photo on the company's tenth anniversary. Front
row, (from left) Robert J. Barbee,
vice-president; Russell C. Faber, vice-president
and treasurer; E. Drayton Farr, Jr., corporation
counsel; Wilber H. Cole, president; and Alfred
M.
Johns, board chairman. Top row (from left) John
Matarese, vice-president; and Samuel A. Burchers,
vice-president.]
