Historic Bonita Springs
Hurricane Irma in 2017 has badly beaten up Bonita Springs and parts of this puzzle got affected.
Many cachers, in logs here or elsewhere, told me how much they enjoyed this cache
Given its popularity and educational value, I updated the cache page for future searchers. I also pointed out a few more items that were not mentioned when I wrote up the text in 2016
Five years later, Ian came along and scrapped one of the clues. So here's a freebie: In phase 2, you had to find a work of art consisting of four pieces of orange stacked vertically. In its destructive mission, Ian only left the base.
The correct answer for B is 4 .
This is no Park'n Grab!
I put together a few elements of Bonita Spring's past combined with simple questions that will lead you to a cache container.
Plan an hour or two for this cache.
The ideal way to move around will either be by foot or by bike.
Note that one of the places you must go to is only open Mon-Sat 10 - 4.
The parking at the posted coordinates is quite in the middle of all the walking you will have to do.
The final coords are N26° 20.ABC’ W81° 46.XYZ’.
The letter values will be determined in the stage questions.
Although the stages may be done in any order, I recommend doing them in the order they are in this web page, because while you'll be walking from one stage to another, some interesting things will be pointed out.
Thanks to the Bonita Springs Historical Society
for allowing me to use their archived pictures.
And if you take pictures along your little journey in time, don’t hesitate to post them in your log! (No spoilers please)
I will periodically update this page with elements that will improve the historical content. Bear in mind that modifications made will have no impact whatsoever on the cache itself or its location. If you’re interested in Bonita Springs history and want to be notified about updates, add this cache to your watchlist and you will be notified when I change or add something in the description.
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Phase 1 - Liles Hotel
N26° 20.505' W81° 46.755'
Liles Hotel was first known as Imperial River Court, a hotel-campground complex that catered to the fish and game tourists in the late 20's (at the time, campers were known as 'tin can tourists'). In the 40's, individual cottages were added. Some of those cottages have been moved behind the hotel and are now rented as studios to local artists. The present building is a reconstruction of the original hotel, only the two staircases are original. It's now occupied by the City of Bonita Springs Code Enforcement department. The hallways are decorated with pictures and information on Bonita Springs history. If you're there on weekdays between 9 and 5, feel free to enter and browse through the collection.
How many starfish are there around the fountain?
***UPDATE: One is missing. Count the vacant spot as if the starfish was there***
34 (A=1); 35 (A=3); 36 (A=5); 37 (A=7); 38 (A=9)
Phase 2 - The Water Tower
N26° 20.490' W81° 46.780'
This tower has been relocated here for preservation and to be part of the historical exhibit around you. Originally, it was about a mile south from here, near the corner of old 41 and Bonita Beach Rd.
When facing the water tower, there is a work of art to your left that depicts a fruit typically associated with Florida. 'B' is the number of pieces of fruit.
Post Ian modification: Ian took off with the stack of 4 orange slices. B = 4
Phase 3 - The Everglades Wonder Gardens
N26° 20.652' W81° 46.753'
A cluster of roadside attractions emerged on the stretch of Tamiami Trail North of the Imperial River. First was the Piper brother's Everglades Reptile Gardens that was a live exhibit of Florida's wildlife. Later on, it became Everglades Wonder Gardens. It is arguably known as Florida's oldest attraction park. After 77 years and three generations of Pipers, the reptiles and wildlife were removed by the new owners. A non-profit organization was founded and the Everglades Wonder Gardens is now a refuge for rescued wildlife and an exhibit of worldwide trees and vegetation.
Other attractions sprung up later on. A Canadian by the name of Harold Crant started The Shell 'Manufacture' (Sorry, legal technicalities and Groundspeak policies prevent me from putting down the real corporate name but most people from the area know what I'm talking about) in 1937 before a fire burnt it to the ground in 1952. It was located on the corner of Tamiami Trail and Terry St. a few hundred feet North of where you're standing. Later Crant purchased the three remaining corner lots of that intersection and built the Dome Restaurant and a Seminole Indian Village re-enactment site. The Dome was basically a huge half-orange with a green leaf on the top. It was demolished in 1990. Crant's main attraction, the store, relocated to North Ft. Myers after the fire.
What's the name of the artist that painted the Everglades Wonder Garden sign?
Dan Dionne (C=1)
Alicia Wiley (C=3)
Cordell Smith (C=5)
Bonnie Whittemore (C=7)
Mickey Stone (C=9)
Phase 4 - The Grocery Store
N26° 20.489' W81° 46.727'
On your way to the next phase, as you cross the bridge, look down the Imperial River. On the South side of the river, The Imperial River Court cabins were lined up near the dock you see today. Doug Baird's Cabins and Campground was on that presently vacant lot East of Old 41 .
Further on, on the West side of the road at the South side of the corner to the entrance to Liles Plaza, there is a preserved building. It used to be Goodbread grocery, at the corner of Dean and Old 41. Many owners and many names have been associated with this building, notably the Dixie Moon Café. A fellow cacher had an interesting puzzle (GC1RNFW, now archived) with clever word associations you could only understand once you got to the final.
The original location of this building is just across the street from one of the gates to Phase 6 of this multi. This is what the street corner looked like in 1929. The only hint linking this picture to the building is the shape of the facade you can see above the overhang.
(Once you get to Phase 4 coordinates)
Although this building (Once a garage) and original builder (this is where Ed Frank invented the swamp buggies) have interesting histories, today there is a very nice mural painting along Wilson St. Many of elements of Bonita Springs history are depicted here. Just up Wilson St. behind the grocery store there is a café. The restaurant building is not considered historical, but what's interesting is the name of the business. In the 1870's, government surveyors pitched camp along Snake Creek, now known as the Imperial River. After the crew left, the site became known as Survey. The waterway became known as Surveyor's Creek. Further down in time, a developer by the name of Henry Ragsdale had the name of the area changed to Bonita Springs in an effort to have a more appealing name for investors. Bonita was his daughter's name. The city of Bonita Springs was re-incorporated in 1999. The first city of Bonita Springs was founded in 1925 and its charter revoked in 1934 due to financial difficulties. Surveyor's Creek became known as the Imperial River.
X = The number of letters in the name of the grocery store
Phase 5 - Mural #2
26° 20.464' W81° 46.727'
Another mural depicting local history.
Y = the number of windows on the Dome Restaurant in the mural minus 1.
Phase 6 - The spring of Bonita Springs
N26° 20.115' W81° 46.781'
On your way to the next phase, look around.
The hair salon across the street was Lawton's Grocery and General Store and the building housing the bicycle shop was once upon a time the Bonita Springs Post Office then a VFW hall. The realtor office, a bit further down, had an Ice Cream/Milkshake parlor as first occupants. The auto parts store to the West was also used as a Post Office, a bit later.
This is what those buildings looked like, once upon a time…
The Old Banyan Tree on your left was the centerpiece of Bonita Springs.
Sunday picnics, 4th of July festivities and many other events were held here or at the Community Pavilion that was on the northern adjacent lot.
Take a minute to read the interesting information on the sign under the tree.
A bit further down, there is a two-story building to the right occupied by another Salon.
Earlier in time, the building looked like this.
On the West side of Old41, is the McSwain house that will become,
when funding will allow
home for the Bonita Springs Historical Society.
The Wayside Inn (demolished in 2005) used to occupy the now vacant lot at the NE corner of Ragsdale St. That hotel was once in Ft. Myers and hauled in pieces to Bonita Springs by boat.
As you go on past Ragsdale St, the yellow house on your left is now a pet clinic. Once upon a time it was the house of Cordell Smith. Sounds familiar? He’s the man mentioned in the sign under the Old Banyan Tree.
There is a new mural on the building at the SE corner of Hampton and Old 41.
Take a look, there are many interesting elements.
Here’s one, a map of the area as it was a long, long time ago.
An anachronism: Leitner Creek is shown on the map, but Keitte Leitner had nothing to do with Bonita Springs until around 1910 and he was the last mayor of the first city of Bonita Springs in 1934
(Once you get on the grounds of the Phase 6 coordinates)
The central building of this property was known as the Heitman Hotel built in in 1921 by the Heitman family, who owned and developed property west of the hotel. The 25 room hotel was to give potential buyers a place to stay while their house was being built. What was to become Tamiami Trail and Old 41 was known as Heitman Avenue at the time. The hotel changed hands a few times over the years. Besides being the inspiration for the city’s name, the source of sulfuric water on the hotel's property became the marketing focus of eventual owners who turned the hotel in a health resort. .
The property is open to the public Mon-Sat from 10 to 4.
(At the Phase 6 coordinates)
East of the fountain, there is a huge tree with protruding roots.
If you are not within the ground’s opening hours, you can see the tree and the fountain through a gate at N26° 20.122' W81° 46.741'
Notice how the tree has been ravaged by Irma
The scientific name of the tree is:
Rolandus Paquanarvus (Z=2)
Coccoloba Uvifera (Z=4)
Palmetto Revisarus (Z=6)
Ficus Mysorensis (Z=7)
Vavitus Puantus (Z=8)
By now, you should have the complete coordinates for the final location.
Good Luck!
Addenda
Items in this section have been added after the cache has been published. They have no impact whatsoever on the cache or its coordinates, They are here for cachers interested in local history.
This section will be in constant construction, put this cache on your watchlist if you want to be notified of updates.
The Train Story of Bonita Springs
The Fort Myers Southern Railroad Company laid down 51 miles of tracks from Fort Myers to Collier City (now known as Marco Island) in the early 1920’s. This railway served Marco Island until 1944 and Naples until 1979.Although the rails have not been used in years, the Bonita Springs section is still legally and technically ‘active’. A depot was built in Bonita Springs in 1925, was used until Hurricane Donna took it away in 1961 and was never rebuilt.
The City of Bonita Springs created Depot Park on the other side of the tracks and built the public-use building to look somewhat like a railway depot. The actual depot was close to the tracks.If you parked at the posted coordinates, this is what you might have seen some 80 years ago.
In those years, the railroad business was in full expansion and competition was fierce.A second railway, the Seaboard Coastline Company, built a line almost parallel to FMSRC from Ft. Myers to Naples.
There was not enough business to support two railroad companies so Seaboard folded only after a few years. Most of the abandoned stretch of railway land is now used for electricity transport.
Here are a few places that you can see where it used to be:N 26° 22.250' W 81° 48.190' on Bernwood Parkway. Note that the competing RR was only a couple of hundred feet to the East. N 26° 20.289' W 81° 47.726' on Terry St.
The only remaining structure of the Seaboard line is the Naples Depot,now a museum at N 26° 8.560' W 81° 47.580'