Charlotte Harbor (southwest Florida bay)

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File:1901CharlotteHarborMap.jpg
Portion of a 1901 map of Charlotte Harbor by George F. Cram

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Charlotte Harbor (southwest Florida bay), the second largest bay in Florida[1] is located on the Gulf of Mexico coast of west Florida, mostly (2/3) in Charlotte County, Florida with the remaining 1/3 in Lee County. The area is also identified as the Charlotte Harbor Estuary. The harbor's mouth is located behind Gasparilla Island, one of the many coastal barrier islands on the southwest coast of Florida, with access from the Gulf of Mexico through the Boca Grande Pass between Gasparilla Island on the north and Lacosta Island on the south. Charlotte Harbor covers about 270 sq mi (700 km2)[2]

The harbor is fed with fresh water from the Myakka River on its northwest corner and the Peace River on its northeastern corner. Charlotte Harbor is bordered by the communities of Boca Grande, Charlotte Beach, Port Charlotte, Charlotte Harbor, Punta Gorda, Pirate Harbor, and Bokeelia. Charlotte Harbor connects to San Carlos Bay to the south by way of the Pine Island Sound and the Matlacha Pass.

Etymology

The name of Charlotte Harbor is a corruption of the name Calusa into the Spanish name Carlos. The bay was first known as Bahia Carlos, or Carlos Bay, by the Spaniards. The English changed it from Carlos to Charlotte in honor of King George III's wife.[3]

History

File:1774mapCharlotteHarbor.jpg
1774 Map of Charlotte Harbor by Bernard Roman

Prior to the first Europeans, Charlotte Harbor was home to settlements of Native Americans who were part of the Calusa paramount chiefdom that occupied southwest Florida, extending from Tampa Bay in the north to the Ten Thousand Islands.[4] The Calusa capital of Calos was located on Mound Key, just south of Charlotte Harbor.

Early European Visits

Ponce de Leon was likely the first European who visited Charlotte Harbor in 1521. He and his soldiers encountered hostile Calusa, and de Leon is believed to have died from a poisoned arrow wound received there. The site of the conflict is now Ponce de Leon Historical Park in eastern Punta Gorda.[1] Charlotte Harbor might have been next visited by Juan de Anasco, Comptroller to the King of Spain, in 1538, one year before Hernando de Soto's exploration. In 1539, Hernando de Soto began his journey across the Southeast by landing on the west coast of the Florida peninsula, near the chiefdom of Uzita, where he encountered Juan Ortiz, a survivor of the Narváez expedition who had been captured by the Tocobaga at Tampa Bay. Traditional reconstructions locate Uzita at the mouth of the Manatee River in Tampa Bay, now the site of the De Soto National Memorial.[5] However, other historians believe de Soto may have entered via Charlotte Harbor as he began his exploration of North America.[6][7] Another suggested landing site for de Soto was directly below Charlotte Harbor up within the Caloosahatchee River.[8] This is unlikely because Mound Key at the mouth of the Caloosahatchee is generally agreed to have been the location of the Calusa capital, not the Uzita chiefdom. In 1565 Pedro Menedez de Aviles, the founder of St. Augustine, established the San Antonio mission-fort at an unidentified location inside Charlotte Harbor. After 2 years of off-and-on fighting with the local natives, the mission was abandoned.[9]

The pirates and shipwrecks of Charlotte Harbor

During the 18th and 19th century Charlotte Harbor was the home port of refuge for several pirates.

There have been several notable shipwrecks in Charlotte Harbor, some reportedly carrying treasure.

  • 1563: An unnamed galleon of the Veracruz fleet sank with unknown treasure aboard.[10]
  • 1821: Gasparilla's Ship the Florida Blanca was sunk by the US Navy reportedly with $9Million in treasure.[10]
  • 1821: An unnamed American frigate sank at the entrance to Big Gasparilla Pass with $1Million in coins.[10]

Modern day

The Charlotte Harbor of the present day is a harbor mainly for privately owned pleasure craft and fishing boats. The area thrives partly due to tourism for those seeking beautiful beaches and an escape from winter's bite. There are also numerous retirement communities in the Charlotte Harbor area.

Hurricanes

Charley making landfall on August 13, 2004

Charlotte Harbor has been hit by hurricanes since records began to be kept in 1851. Listed below are the hurricanes whose paths have crossed Charlotte Harbor.[12]

  • 1894 Hurricane No. 4, (09/18 - 10/01) Category 2 total number of deaths (over its entire path) = 200
  • 1910 Hurricane No. 5, (10/09 - 10/23) Category 2 total number of deaths (over its entire path) = 101
  • 1925 Hurricane No. 2, (11/29 - 12/04) Category 1, total number of deaths (over its entire path) = 60
  • 1944 Hurricane No. 11, (10/12 - 10/23) Category 1 (Near-miss on the eastern side) total number of deaths (over its entire path) = 318
  • 2004 Hurricane Charley (08/09 - 08/15) Category 4, total number of deaths (over its entire path) = 15

Hurricane Charley made landfall just south of Charlotte Harbor on Friday, August 13, 2004 at 3:54 P.M. EDT.[13] Charley had reached a maximum sustained wind speed of 150 mph (240 km/h)[14] By the time Charley reached Orlando, its winds had dropped to 95 mph (153 km/h), with gusts as high as 111 mph (179 km/h). Due to the rapid forward movement of Charley the amount of measured rainfall was between 4 and 6 inches.

Damages for Hurricane Charley were as follows:

  • Deaths in Florida = 29 (9 direct & 20 indirect)
  • Insured Losses in Florida = $6.755 billion (2004 USD)[15]
  • Overall estimated damages estimated between $13–15 billion USD[15]

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "Pirates_of_Southwest_Florida" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "Pirates_of_Southwest_Florida" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "Pirates_of_Southwest_Florida" defined multiple times with different content
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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