Fort Thompson FL

[John ThomsonHollingsworth]

I thought that members might be interested in some local history.
This historical marker is located on SR80 just east of the City of LaBelle, FL
We live about 1/4 mile from this marker

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[John ThomsonHollingsworth]

Some more information about Fort Thompson FL
http://flhendry.com/thompson.htm

(Fort) Thompson
     Located about two miles east of LaBelle, Fort Thompson was erected in 1838 during the Second Seminole War and is named after an officer who died during the Battle of Okeechobee.  After the Civil War a  community was built up around the old fort because of its location (It was the best place to cross the river for miles around).
     Captain Francis A. Hendry owned the old fort site for many years and had a large cattle ranch there in the late 1800s.  By this time the area was known only as Thompson.  Even though LaBelle was founded in the mid to late 1880s, it is Thompson that is on the 1895 Florida Atlas.
     In the first decade of the 1900s, Edgar Everett Goodno became the owner of the Fort Thompson site and much of what now is the city of LaBelle.  Goodno built the Fort Thompson Park Hotel on the site, which brought many potential residents to the area.  Soon LaBelle became the larger community and Fort Thompson receded into background.  The last remnants of the fort were washed away with the dredging of the Caloosahatchee and the old Fort Thompson Park Hotel was torn down in the early 1940s.  The LaBelle Heritage Museum has been trying to have a historical marker erected on this site and it appears that this idea is close to reality.

[John ThomsonHollingsworth]

The Battle of Fort Myers was fought on February 25, 1865, in Lee County, Florida during the last months of the American Civil War. This small engagement is known as the "southernmost land battle of the Civil War."
Three companies and one artillery piece set out, and arrived at old Fort Thomson (LaBelle, Florida) on February 19. From there, they marched down the river and encamped near Billy's Creek
for more details see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Myers

[John ThomsonHollingsworth]

• Fort Thompson •
     •    This was a fort on the Caloosahatchee River, and it was built to store supplies for the Seminole Wars. Named for Alexander Thompson (an officer with the army, who was killed near Lake Okeechobee), reference to this fort still can be seen today in some road names near LaBelle.

http://www.pineislandnews.com/archaeology/History-Hendry.html
          

[Barbara]

I lived in Florida for 10 years and never knew this.  Fished a lot in Lake Okeechobee.  Thanks Stu!

Barbara

[John ThomsonHollingsworth]

Title: FORT THOMPSON
Location:
County: Lee
City: LaBelle
Description: LaBelle’s history begins here, along the Caloosahatchee River, on this old Fort Thompson site. Fort Thompson began c.1838 as a military post during the 2nd Seminole War, named for Lt. Colonel Alexander Thompson, who died in the battle of Okeechobee in 1837. The Confederates used the site during the Civil War to raise cattle for their troops. In 1879, former Confederate Captain Francis Asbury Hendry (1833-1917) acquired the property, making it his home in 1889. He established a cattle ranch and soon the town of LaBelle grew along its western boundary. In 1885, steamboat service carried passengers from Fort Myers to Fort Thompson, and in 1912, when LaBelle became a port on Florida’s Intracoastal Waterway, it became a river paradise. In 1905, Edgar Everett Goodno (1858-1936) purchased Fort Thompson and built an ice plant and an electric plant to serve a growing population. By the end of the decade, the former fort had become the cattle and citrus town now known as LaBelle. Thomas Edison was known to have visited LaBelle, staying at the Fort Thompson Hotel. In 1924, Henry Ford purchased part of Goodno’s property. It remained in Ford’s name until 1942 when he sold it to one of Captain Hendry’s cousins, Joseph B. Hendry.
Sponsors: THE LABELLE HERITAGE MUSEUM, A CHAPTER OF THE CALUSA VALLEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF STATE
http://www.flheritage.com/preservation/markers/markers.cfm?ID=lee

[John ThomsonHollingsworth]

THE SEMINOLE WAR PERIOD   
1835-1860

http://www.lamartin.com/history/history_of_okeechobee_county/chapter1.htm

[Booner]

Ok, i have to make a comment regarding the wording on the marker for Fort Thompson.  " The Battle of Fort Myers was fought on February 25, 1865, in Lee County, Florida during the last months of the American Civil War. This small engagement is known as the "southernmost land battle of the Civil War."

Being somewhat knowledgable on the War of Northern Agression,  I would have to say that the southermost land battle occured at Palmetto Ranch, just outide of Brownville, TX fought in May of 1865, and it is known as the last land-battle of the civil war.  It was a confederate victory, with the last person killed was some poor trooper from Indiana.

Brownsville Texas is about even in latitude with Naples FL, and Ft Myers is north of this East-West line.  So who should I call in the greate state of Fla to right this wrong?  Hundred, perhaps thousands of people read this sign each year, and sadly, are all miss-informed

This is by no means a critisism of John ThompsonHollingsworth and his posts.  I enjoyed them all, but I've been doing a lot of painting today, and and i think the fumes have gotten to me.

OK the Superbowl is on and I have to go watch the commercials--I really like the  Budwieser horse ads the best.


Booner

[John ThomsonHollingsworth]

I have to agree with Boomer, in checking facts he is correct about Brownsville TX being further south than Fort Myers.
Also anyone that correctly calls the Civil War, the War of Northern Aggression is OK in my book.
I was born and raised in NJ but have spent over 38 years living in south Florida and have many friends that corrected me years ago, as to the correct name of that war.
I guess Florida has more tourist publicity minded people and they claimed the battle at Fort Myers as the southernmost battle many years ago.
The Palmetto Ranch people claimed theirs as the last Civil War battle.
 

[Booner]

Ah Johnnie,

I'm so glad you took my post in the way it was ment--absolutly no blemish towards you.  But at one time, I was pretty engrossed about the '61-'65 thing.

My family was living in Missouri during that time, and were Union people, but that didn't matter when the DamnRedlegs from Kansas came & stole the horses & burned the place down.

To this day, I have family who call the state to the west of Missouri, "DamnKansas"

regards
Booner