| Port Charlotte Contributor(s): Read, Roxann (Author) |
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ISBN: 0738567779 ISBN-13: 9780738567778 Publisher: Arcadia Publishing (SC) OUR PRICE: $19.79 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: July 2009 Annotation: From John Murdock to Arthur Frizzell to the General Development Corporation, Port Charlotte has a colorful history of progression. Large landholders sold property in this unknown paradise to working-class people. In the 1950s, General Development Corporation created Port Charlotte by expanding the canals previously dug by John Murdock to drain the swampy land. The Mackle Company carved Arthur Frizzellas 80,000 acres into small, perfectly rectangular lots for resale to middle-class retirees, who were the targets of mass advertising and sales practices that included displaying models of Port Charlotte in department stores throughout Chicago and New York. Encouraging retirees to come to Port Charlotte resulted in the area having one of the highest concentrations of residents aged 65 and older in the nation. Port Charlotteas boom-and-bust history is a microcosm of the frenzied social and economic growth that occurred in Florida in the second half of the 20th century. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | United States - State & Local - South (al,ar,fl,ga,ky,la,ms,nc,sc,tn,va,wv) - Travel | United States - South - South Atlantic (dc, De, Fl, Ga, Md, Nc, Sc, Va, Wv) |
| Dewey: 975.9 |
| LCCN: 2009921314 |
| Series: Images of America (Arcadia Publishing) |
| Physical Information: 0.35" H x 6.5" W x 9.28" (0.70 lbs) 128 pages |
| Themes: - Geographic Orientation - Florida |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Large landholders sold property in this unknown paradise to working-class people, and since the 1950s, Port Charlotte has had a colorful history of progress. In the '50s, General Development Corporation created Port Charlotte by expanding the canals previously dug by John Murdock to drain the swampy land. The Mackle Company carved Arthur Frizzell's 80,000 acres into small, perfectly rectangular lots for resale to middle-class retirees--the targets of mass advertising and sales practices that included displaying models of Port Charlotte in department stores throughout Chicago and New York. Encouraging retirees to come to Port Charlotte resulted in the area having one of the highest concentrations of residents aged 65 and older in the nation. Port Charlotte's boom-and-bust history is a microcosm of the frenzied social and economic growth that transformed Florida in the second half of the 20th century. |
Contributor Bio(s): Read, Roxann: - Author Roxann Read frequently vacationed in the Port Charlotte area for 20 years and is currently a resident. She has held a lifelong interest in history and is also the author of Wood River: Along the River Bend, a history of her hometown. Many community members and organizations contributed time and photographs for Images of America: Port Charlotte. |