This building is located at the northwest corner of First Street and Jackson Street.  Harvie Heitman bankrolled by Ambrose McGregor built Lee County’s first brick building at this site.  It opened as Fort Myers first grocery store in 1898.  It was owned by both Harvie Heitman and Gilmer Heitman.

     Over the years this building has many tenants and alterations.  Its current appearance is similar to its 1920’s appearance.  It has a Mediterranean Revival style.

  

   This house is located at 2572 East First Street, Fort Myers.  It was built in 1921 for Franklin Alderman, Sr., a Fort Myers banker. The architect was Addison Mizner.  The style was Spanish Colonial Revival/ Mediterranean Revival Style.  It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

     The house was used as a commerce building for 30-50 years.  Some of these used included Royal Palm Antiques, Cypress Club and the National Headquarters of Healthcare Television Network.

     The current owner is Doreen Lehner.  She purchased the property in 2017 from Jaxi Builders .   Selling price was $620,000. Ms. Lehner has spent $20o,000 renovating the house.

     She rents 2 rooms and a cottage for Airbnb.

     Recently, there has been much in the news concerning the Lincoln Yards along the North Branch of the Chicago River.  What exactly is this area?

     To answer this question, we have to search Chicago history.   In the 1890’s, Anton Finkl established a steel mill operation in the North side of Chicago in the Lincoln Park neighborhood.   It was located on a 22 acre site on the north branch of the Chicago River.  It was the oldest steel mill in the Chicago area.  It was in operation for 112 years before it was demolished.

     In 2016, a real estate developer named Sterling Bay purchased the former site of the steel mill for an amount estimated at $100 million.   This area was renamed the Lincoln Yards.  This site apparently included adjacent industrial sites totalling 54 acres.

     The original plans for this site called for for transformation of this industrial site into offices, apartments, shops and entertainment venues.  Also proposed as a 20,00o seat soccer stadium.  Positive sides of the plan call for new roads, bridges and public spaces.  There is a proposed extension of the 606 trail.  Many of these features.are to be financed by $800 million TIF

    Modifications of the plan called for.dropping the soccer stadium.    The high rises would be 650 feet instead of the original 818 feet.    The Lincoln Yards would have mine buildings in excess of 400 feet.

     Fortunately, Alderman Brian Hopkins has thrown a monkey wrench in the project.

Over the years, there have been multiple theaters at the same location in Patio de Leon, Fort Myers.    The first was the Court Theater.  This opened in 1916.  Not much is known about it.   This theater was purchased by E.J. Sparks.   He completely remodeled the theater in a Turkish Morrocan Style.   The  outside entrance was a Turkish Canopy.  This was opposite a pool containing alligators.  With much fanfare the newly renn ovated theater opened in March, 1926.  The name of the theater was the Omar.

In the late 1920’s, Mr. Sparks remodeled the theater again and renamed it the Ritz Theater.

This building is located at the corner of First Street and Hendry St, Fort Myers. It was built in 1905 by Dr. Benjamin Matheson. It was the home of the First National Bank and the Leon Hotel. The structure was constructed of pressed concrete blocks.

In 1912, Peter Tonnelier purchased the building. He remodeled the structure to include Mediterranean, Egyptian, and Moroccan motifs.

This building is one of the structures that surround the area known as Patio de leon.

Currently, the building now houses retail and apartments

This building is located at 1615 Hendry Street Fort Myers. This was originally known as the Phythian Building. It was built for Albertus A. Bertie Gardner in 1924. It was a four story Italianate Style Structure. It was the first building in Fort Myers with an elevater.

It was purchased in 1945 by R.Q. Richards. It was renamed the Richards Building.

It is currently operates as rental property.

     This building is located at 1625 Hendry Street.  Virgil Robb and W.R. Lee opened a general merchandise store in Fort Myers in 1915.  They were later joined by Harry Stucky.  Lee left the company in 1925.  

     The store was moved into a four story brick building at 1625 Hendry Street. The building had showrooms and a warehouse.  The company grew and expanded.  They moved out of the Hendry Street Building in the 1960’s.

     The company filed  for bankruptcy in 2011.  In the same year, the family of Samuel Kuo purchased the brand and intellectual properties.  The new first showroom opened in 2012.  The company grew and flourished.

    The old Robb and Stucky Building currently operates as rental property.

The Heitman Evans Building is located at 2235 First Street, Fort Myers. In the early 1900’s, Harvie Heitman convinced Edward Evans (a former mayor of Fort Myers) to join him in creation of the Heitman Evans Company. This was to be a hardware and sporting goods store. Evans was to be the manager; Heitman the silent partner. Heitman demolished the Blount General store at this site. He constructed a new building. It was two stories. It was a brick structure measuring 60 × 150 feet. The building was orange in color. It had 12 inch thick walls. It featured an Otis elevator. The ground level was a hardware store. The second level was for the display of farm implements. Construction costs were $20,000.

His goal was to build the most modern hardware store in America. Mr. Evans managed the story for 20 years. Gilmer Heitman served as president. The business closed in the 1940’s.

The building is now a rental facility for lawyers and other professionals.