Pioneer Hole

On November 28th, 1905, the steamboat Mistletoe of Tampa landed on the beach opposite this spot with the engineer corps and sixty laborers, and the initial surveying and construction of the Charlotte Harbor and Northern Railway began that day. A palmetto tree near the officers tent door held the original glass insulators that supported the wire of the first telephone line, built on trees from Punta Gorda to give the company headquarters telephone communication. At that time, the only inhabitants of Gasparilla Island were Captain William Lester, the light house keeper, and the assistant light house keeper and his family. L.M. Fouts and Edwin L. Fouts are identified as the only members of the party who were later residents of Boca Grande. The railway forces were under the direction of George S. Bruce, chief engineer, and L.M. Fouts, vice president and general manager.

Florida · United States