Hidden History of Fort Myers

Although best known as the winter home of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, Fort Myers has one of the most engaging and extraordinary histories of any city in Florida. The spawn of a hurricane, Fort Myers began as a U.S. Army post during Florida’s Seminole Wars. During the Civil War, it became a battleground between Confederates and Yankees for cattle and, after the war, a gun-slinging cowboy town. New York cartoonist Walt McDougall blew into the area on a fishing trip, and his glowing description lured down other wealthy Yankee sportsmen who helped turn this isolated frontier town into a modern tourist destination. Historian and author Cynthia Williams explores the hidden stories behind the growth of this beautiful city.

Cynthia Williams is a professional writer whose work includes creative nonfiction, fiction, narrative history, television copywriting, corporate newsletter and advertising copy. She has self-published part one of The BANYAN Trilogy, a psychological mystery whose setting is a fictionalized version of the historical Murphy-Burroughs Home in Fort Myers. Cynthia is the recipient of a Florida Writer’s Association Royal Palm Literary Award for her children’s story “As Wrong As Wrong Can Be” and of the Charlotte Writer’s Club award for best creative nonfiction for her story “Just for Tonight.” Cynthia grew up in Fort Myers but has lived most of her adult life in Arizona and North Carolina. She now lives in Bokeelia on Pine Island, where she indulges her love of history by writing narrative histories of Fort Myers for the “Sunday Tropicalia” section of the Fort Myers News-Press. Much of her published work is available on her website at www.cyn1020.com.