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Thomas Edison
Famous inventor and businessman Thomas Edison visited Forty Myers in early 1885. He planned to find a warm retreat to escape the cold winters of his home base in West Orange, New Jersey. Along with friends, he made his way to Fort Myers from the cooler climate of Jacksonville.
Real estate agency Hueisenkamp & Cranford helped Edison find a 14-acre property along the Caloosahatchee River, in the countryside one mile south of the city of Fort Myers. The grounds were mostly scrub and wild vegetation and the plants included Giant Green Bamboo, a natural fiber Edison was experimenting with as a filament for the incandescent light bulb.
After buying the property from cattleman Samuel Summerlin for $2,750, Edison made plans by creating a notebook that included a sketch illustrating his ideal winter retreat. His sketch included not only the homes, but also a laboratory, maintenance shop, and gardens for exotic and edible plants.
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In 1909, a major project was undertaken to install a fire control system at the Edison estate. Water for the system was supplied from a well on the east side of the property (across McGregor Boulevard) and directed to three large tanks located on the west side of the property. From there, it was piped to five different locations via a 5-inch underground water main with 3-inch branch pipes.
A standpipe at each location had a hose rack and a reel with 100 feet of a 2-inch hose. The sandpipes were located at:
. The Main House
. The Guest House
. The Caretaker’s Cottage
. The Original 1886 laboratory
. A location on the east side of McGregor Boulevard
Several of these standpipes can still be seen today, including those at the Main House and Guest House.
Fire control was enhanced in 1919 when five portable Pyrene fire extinguishers were installed inside the following areas, and chemical extinguishers hung outside:
. Thomas and Mina Edison’s bedroom
. Sitting Room
. Dining room
. Kitchen
. Caretaker’s Cottage garage bay
Today, historic structures at the Edison and Ford Winter Estates are outfitted with a state-of-the-art VESDA (Very Early Smoke Detection Apparatus) system, along with a Borrell Mist system.
When fire or smoke is detected,
tiny water droplets and pressurized gas are delivered. As the droplets contact with fire, they convert to steam, absorbing energy from the surface of burning materials. As the steam expands, it lowers the firing temperature and prevents oxygen from reaching the fire, which smothers it.
Also, the porches of the Edison houses feature a water sprinkler system to extinguish any fire outside, along with portable fire extinguishers
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— February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931
Named the 20th century “Man of the Millennium” by LIFE Magazine, Thomas Alva Edison is best known for perfecting a commercially viable incandescent light bulb. However, Edison was also a newspaper printer, telegrapher, and inventor, who “transformed middle-class life.” He discovered an astounding number of commercial applications for ordinary materials and agricultural products. Although his favorite invention was the phonograph, his work spanned improvements to the telegraph, the light bulb, generator and motors, movie-making, batteries, cement, and a domestic source of rubber, one of his primary research focuses in southwest Florida.
From his first visit in 1885 to his last stay in Fort Myers in 1931, Edison created a remarkable estate that included areas for his research, as well as family and social activities. His love of Florida included pastimes like fishing, boating, reading, a trip to town, and exploring the tropical paradise that Edison affectionately referred to as his “Eden”.
Edison's famous quote, “There is only one Fort Myers and soon 90 million Americans will discover it” has proven true, for thousands of national, international, and Florida residents visit the Edison & Ford Winter Estates every year.
This Statue of Thomas Edison was donated by the Estate's patron Darilyn Alderman and created by sculptor D. J. Wilkins in 2004.
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Entry in Seminole Lodge Guest Book —Harrie Monkhouse Guest March 21-April 3, 1916 Have you ever dreamed a dream of Heaven? Where the Garden of Eden Grows? Well, come down with me to the Florida Coast Where the Caloosahatchee flows.
Come down with me to Seminole Lodge
Where grapefruit & orange bloom,
Where bananas & palm trees skirt the shore
Of the pool, you swim in at noon
Come down with me & meet our dear Hosts,
In this Heaven of sunshine & haze,
And then you’ll know why on the Florida coast-
The birds brush their throats in mere praise-
The home was originally built for Edison’s good friends Ezra and Lillian Gilliland as their winter retreat. The Gilliland’s only enjoyed three years in Fort Myers and sold the home to Ambrose McGregor in 1891. The McGregor family lived year-round in the house until 1902. The road that runs along this home was named McGregor Boulevard, in honor of Mr. McGregor, in 1914.
Edison purchased the home in 1906 and created a guest house for family and friends. This building houses the dining room, kitchen/pantry area, and servant’s quarters for the s.
Visitors such as Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone stayed for days, while Charles Lindbergh came for dinner. Many received
reminders of Florida visits when mangoes, grapefruit, guava, and orange marmalade would arrive at their northern homes
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— Planted as a sapling circa 1927 —
Native to South Asia
Edison, Ford, and Firestone formed the Edison Botanic Research Corporation in 1927 to find a fast-growing, natural source of rubber that could be grown in the United States. The banyan tree was one of more than 17,000 plant specimens that were tested during this project.
Ficus trees, such as the banyan, produce a fair amount of latex. However, labor costs and the tree’s slow growth made this option impractical for Edison, who was looking for a plant that could be harvested several times a year.
The Banyan tree (also known as the walking tree) is native to the heart of the rubber-producing region of southern Asia, which dominated the rubber market during the 1920s and 30s.
Banyans are one of the more than 800 species within the genus Ficus. The long branches support themselves by producing aerial roots that slowly grow downward into the ground, forming pillar-like trunks. There are over 13 types of Ficus throughout the gardens of Edison Ford.
Historical documents reveal the banyan was planted as a sapling on the Edison property around 1927. It is the largest banyan in the continental United States, with a canopy that covers almost one acre of land.
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The pier was originally called “the wharf.” It was used as a working area to off-load boats carrying materials and contents for the homes and laboratory, beginning in November 1885. After the Estate buildings were complete, the pier’s initial function changed.
Mina’s correspondence to family in 1909 relates, “Thomas caught a trout, snapper and I think a small tarpon which he did land, right off the pier… We may supper there this evening, I am not sure.”
By this time, Edison had improved the pier by lengthening it into the Caloosahatchee River by about 1,500 feet and adding small docks, boathouses, and a summer house. The area was used routinely as a gathering place for leisure and recreational activities.
The many beautifying improvements to the grounds in the 1920s included the addition of a feature at the entrance of the pier. It was comprised of a rustic bridge, benches, and a trellis wrapped with a colorful bougainvillea vine. Besides creating a new spot to sit along the riverbank, the feature enhanced the impressive view across the lawn through to the river as guests entered the Estate via the Main Gate Allee.
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“Madeleine, Marie, Theodore, and the two maids have gone bathing in the hotel pool—so everybody is happy, wrote Mina to family, on April 7, 1909. By the 1911 winter season, the family and staff no longer had to travel downtown to the Royal Palm Hotel pool. Edison had a bathing pool built right on his own Estate.
The pool was constructed by W.R. Wallace and the Company of Fort Myers. The work included the floor and walls made of concrete, reinforced throughout with woven wires or expanded metal, corners for 10 feet reinforced with ½ inch-twisted iron bars, and the side and bottom made continuous by the interweaving of the metal. Initially, it included stone steps leading to the pool, a plank walk around the interior of the pool, a board fence, and dressing rooms located on the southeast corner. The final cost of the project was about $1,000.
The swimming pool underwent major changes in 1928 to meet more modern needs. The remodeling plan was designed by the local architect Nat Gaillard Walker. Concrete walks around the pool, pipe framing for the railing fence and pavilion, a tea house, a fountain, and a bathhouse with showers were added. All features were attached to make one combined entertainment area.
The pool complex remained a favorite spot for the Edison family as Madeleine relates in a letter to her mother on March 10, 1947:
“We did enjoy the lazy days at Fort Myers—I couldn’t have borne it not to see the place again it always was—and I’m glad it was warm enough for a farewell swim in the pool!”.
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The Edison Estate riverside buildings were originally built in 1886 and remodeled slightly throughout the years. The sprawling Edison Seminole Lodge is made up of the Family Home, connecting a pergola and Guest House. The Edison Moonlight Garden and Little Office were built in the 1920s, and the Edison Caretaker’s House was added in the same period with a garage and living quarters. There is also a pool, teahouse, and seawall recreation area adjacent to the river.
In 2007, through a $10 million multi-year, award-winning project, the site was restored to its 1929 appearance.
Through the leadership of a new non-profit governing board, The Thomas Edison & Henry Ford Winter Estates Inc., a new era of restoration excellence, conservation, and program development has emerged. The award-winning project has been developed and has emerged. The award-winning project has been designated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as one of 12 national projects noted for excellence in preservation.
Restoration and Rebirth support from:
. Thomas Edison & Henry Ford Winter Estates, Inc.
. City of Fort Myers
. Lee County
. The state of Florida
. National Trust for Historic Preservation
. Donors to the Edison-Ford Winter Estates Foundation
. National Garden Clubs, Inc.
. Fort Myers/Lee County Council of Garden Clubs, Inc.
. Periwinkle, Edison, Carissa, and Jasmine Garden Clubs
. Principal Financial Group
. The University of Florida/Lee County Master Gardeners
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Edison created a large domestic support area for the Estate on the east side of McGregor Boulevard. Storage buildings, equipment, a truck garden, and even a horse were located there. On the west side, retaining and expanding the Caretaker’s House. The northern end of the main Estate provided alike space, though on a smaller scale. A hog wire “fence separated the domestic support area in the early years. Wheelbarrows, wagons, ladders, rakes, and garden tools were often visible.
A warehouse was built in this section and used to store the materials for the houses during construction. More than likely it continued to store various estate supplies until being moved to the east side in 1913. A large chicken house and run were located close to the house. The staff and the family relied on and welcomed fresh eggs and chickens. This large structure was razed when the existing cistern was built in 1919. A smaller house and run were then built.
Beehives were also located in the yard, R. W. Kellow, a secretary to Mr. Edison, describes in a 1917 report of the Estate, “I understand that a portion of the honey produced is consumed by the Edison family during the occupancy of the estate, but that it has not been the practice to have any of the honey shipped to Orange.” (West Orange, New Jersey, where the main
Edison home is located)
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Edison’s invention and business life included extensive and successful work with integrated power systems. Edison placed an “isolated” power system on the south end of 1886 Edison was interested in bringing electricity to the rest of Fort Myers, and several reasons prevented the project. Years later in 1898, local resident A.A. Gardner franchised the first electric plant in the city.
The electrical lines extended beyond the Edison property by 1919. At that time Edison disassembled the original power system components and sent them to his New Jersey laboratory. Today one can view them at the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan.
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” — -Thomas Edison
“Beyond doubt, you have the finest place in the country, and if you build a seawall inside a few years this section will not be large enough to hold the tourists that will be scrambling to get here every winter. Yes, sir, by all means, build -Thomas Edison, thoughts on the proposed city seawall from a local newspaper article in 1908.
Edison built the first section of the rock seawall along with his property in 1903 and extended it along with the Guest House property in 1907. the seawall was 3' tall and 2' wide and was completed for $450. The Seminole Lodge Caretaker, Ewald Stulpner, related in a letter to Edison that the structure “makes a great improvement to your riverfront."
The seawall protected the property and provided a small beachfront area for the Edison family and guests. The lawn along the seawall was also an important feature of the landscape.
Seawall Restoration 2005
. Lee County Beach and Shoreline Grant
. The state of Florida, Office of Tourism, Trade, and Economic Development
. City of Fort Myers
. Florida Gulf Coast University Archeological Survey.
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Some of the Seminole Lodge Staff are Queenie Adams J.F. Anderson Mr. Bassler Mr. & Mrs. Black Ellen Carr Michael & Tina Doyle James Evans Harvie Heitman William Hibble Henry Horsey Noah Keen George Kinze Fred Ott Sidney Scarth Edgar & Mrs. Smith Frank Stout
Ewald Stuplner B.E. & Mrs. Tinstman Eli Thompson Hans Zeeman
A section of this building was on the grounds when Edison purchased the property in 1885 from cattleman Samuel Summerlin. In developing plans for the Estates, Edison decided to keep the house and to “repair it and use it for the employees.” His improvements to Seminole Lodge in 1903 included the addition of a room, porches, and bathroom to the “Summerlin House.” The L-Addition created an apartment for driver Sidney Scarth and their family. A two-bay car garage and tool bay were completed and in use by 1929.
Edison relied on local help, as well as staff sent from his main home in West Orange, New Jersey, to maintain the Estates. Staff was an integral part of the property, corresponding frequently with Mr. and Mrs. Edison about activities in Fort Myers. Staff positions included general agents, caretakers, gardeners, cooks, and drivers.
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— In Memory of Thomas and Mina Edison
This garden area has been created to reflect Edison's original plan for the Estate landscape. It commemorates the legacy of Thomas and Mina Edison and other groups and individuals involved in the cultural landscape of the Edison & Ford Winter Estates.
According to his original 1885 landscape sketch, Thomas Edison intended for his Estate property to include not only homes, a laboratory, and outlying buildings, but also areas for growing fruits and vegetables that could be eaten, given to friends and family, or sold by the staff via “truck gardens,” which literally meant selling produce out of the back of a truck.
Edison’s plan listed pineapples, citrus, peanuts, and other edible plants that could be cultivated in the tropics. He frequently created raised beds and container gardens to efficiently produce and research his plants. He also employed innovative practices for irrigation, propagation, and fertilization such as using seaweed as fertilizer and rainwater for irrigation.
In keeping with the Edison tradition, today the Estate uses organic plant food and soaps, as well as supplementary rainwater.
The Estates horticulture staff encourages volunteer participation in the care, propagation, and sale of an ever-changing variety of heritage plants that reflect the lifestyle of the Edisons. The Estates is also an official site of the University of Florida Extension Service Master Gardener program, and volunteer service applies.
Heritage plants for sale and classes throughout the year encourage public involvement and knowledge of the unique horticulture and gardening interests of the Edisons.
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When Edison created plans for his Florida retreat in 1885, water was a major concern to supplement the shallow well at the existing Caretaker’s House. This may have been dug for the Summerlin family before Edison purchased the property. By 1887 Edison provided water to the Caretaker’s House via a windmill, which pumped water from the well to a storage tank perched on a tower. At the same time, a water tank was placed at the first lab to provide the water that ran the steam boiler for the electricity-producing generator. It is also believed that cisterns were located in both houses.
In 1902 Edison began to create an extensive and formal water system for the property. A well was dug next to the lab to provide a more direct route for water to power the steam boiler. Between 1903 and 1908 several other well/elevated tank/pumping systems were placed around the Caretaker’s House. Two artesian wells were dug. Pipes were laid all around the grounds to provide water for the homes for domestic use as well as food crop irrigation. A sprinkler system was also installed to maintain an improved Florida garden. A fire standpipe system was installed in 1909 and used until a Pyrene system and chemical extinguishers were placed at the Estate in 1919.
In 1919 a large concrete cistern (40,000 gallons) was built to capture rainwater for drinking only. By 1929 city water was hooked up to the riverside property. However, a new system incorporating the old deep well and a rainwater tank with a grid for drainage ditches was constructed on the east property to supply water for the Edison Botanic Research project.
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The Moonlight Garden was designed in 1928 by Ellen Biddle Shipman, one of the first female landscape architects in America. She specialized in enclosed gardens, full of drift beds where flowers of beauty bloomed in cycles throughout the year shipman’s ideas matched what the Edisons envisioned for their garden. Mina Edison was significantly influential in modifying the plan to suit her own vision for a formal garden that created a casual, private area for family and guests to gather.
Upon completion in January 1929, the Fort Myers Tropical News described the garden as”…surrounded by a tall trellis, over which hang scarlet bougainvillea, now in full bloom. The garden itself consists of about 25 separate beds laid out in a neat geometric pattern.”
The initial planting in the Moonlight Garden included the old stock bougainvillea that had been supported by the south wall of the original laboratory as well as new cedar trees, azaleas, roses, and lilies. Throughout the following years, plantings were added or changed to fit the season and climate of South Florida. The garden underwent a restoration in 2003 and now displays tall podocarps trees and flowering plants, such as azaleas, roses, water lilies, begonias, and pentads.
The Moonlight Garden at Seminole Lodge is one of a handful of remaining
Ellen Biddle Shipman Gardens. It is a treasure to share with visitors today, as Edison did at an earlier time.
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Orchid Lane developed as a natural path from the mango trees that formed a line down both the Edison and Ford properties. Orchids are air plants, or epiphytes, which do not require soil to grow. They receive nutrients from the air, rainwater, and decomposing matter, such as leaves and dead insects that get caught in the roots or leaves. Orchids find mango trees perfect hosts on which to grow. The Edisons received gifts and purchased orchids from around the world and placed them in the trees at the Fort Myers Estate because the climate was perfectly suited for this flowering plant. The path along McGregor Boulevard eventually became known as Orchid Lane.
Today orchids like the Phalaenopsis, Dendrobium, and Cattleya can be seen throughout the gardens, as well as along Orchard Lane. The Estate is a Convention on International Trade and Endangered Species (CITES) designated organization by the U. S. Department of the Interior and receives plants from throughout the world.
The stones along the pathway create the Friendship Garden features at Seminole Lodge. Each stone was a gift to the Edisons from, friends, family, and local community members and leaders. This path started in 1928 with a stone from Hamilton Holt, the president of Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. There are also stones in memory of Mina’s mother
and father, Mary and Lewis Miller, and the Valinda Circle, a local group promoting the ideals of the Chautauqua movement, which advocated culture, entertainment, and education in small towns. Mina’s father was one of the founders of Chautauqua, and Valinda was her mother’s maiden name
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Mina Miller Edison — 1865 - 1947
Mina Miller married Thomas Alva Edison in 1886. This was the same year that the two began to create their winter estate in Fort Myers. During their many years in Fort Myers, Edison enjoyed creating areas for botanical research and family pleasure gardens as well as useful kitchen and truck gardens. In fact, Thomas Edison tested more than 17,000 plants for possible sources of rubber and also grew numerous fruits and vegetables such as citrus, mango, and pineapples.
This area of the Estate was dedicated as a kitchen garden or in Edison’s words, a “garden truck,” where staff could raise plants to use and sell.
Mina Edison was also very interested in plants and gardening. On the estate, she worked with landscape architects to create the beautiful Moonlight Garden as; well as the porch gardens that surrounded the historic buildings.
In the community, Mina Edison worked to improve Fort Myers through the creation of garden clubs and was an original member of the local Periwinkle Garden Club.
The statue of Mina Edison in the garden was created by sculptor Don Wilkins and generously contributed by the Estate's patron Overall McCleary.
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Edison Family Home Seminole Lodge
Edison’s plan of a “Floridian bower in the lowlands of the peninsular Eden, with that charmed zone of beauty” was realized as he completed the Seminole Lodge Estate.
By the fall of 1885 designs were completed and materials for the construction and painting of the houses and laboratory were purchased. Furnishings, linens, books, and fishing gear were selected. All materials were sent down from northern cities by several steamships, unloaded, and assembled on-site.
On February 24, 1886, Thomas and Mina Miller were married. Soon after, the couple traveled down to stay at Seminole Lodge. The Florida paradise continued to draw Thomas, and Mina their children, extended family, friends, and business associates for the following 61 years.
“The house is a dream and we are living in fairyland,” wrote Mina Edison to her mother, on February 15, 1910. In Seminole Lodge, the Edison family found a retreat from the cold of the northern winter, as well as from the busy work and social demands of New Jersey. However, Edison continued his research on various projects in Fort Myers.
Grateful to the local citizens, Mina deeded the property and the homes to the City of Fort Myers in 1947 for $1. Seminole Lodge has been open for the public to visit and enjoy since November 1947.
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