Delta Pi Delta members tour the Edison and Ford Winter Estates

Thomas Edison first visited Fort Myers, Florida, in March of 1885. By this time, Edison was already a successful and famous inventor. He wanted to find a warm escape during the winter months from his New Jersey home base. He purchased 13 acres along the Caloosahatchee River and created an estate that included two homes and a laboratory.

The Information booth on the left and ticket office/gift shop on the right are at the entrance to the Edison-Ford Winter Estates. Our group assembled here on November 12, 2016, on a picture-perfect day in SW Florida. 

Caroline, Rosemary, Sally and Linda

Brenda, Ann and Jean

Judy, Shirley and Margi

Amy, Susan and Phyllis

Chris, our docent for the tour of the Estates

Sculpture of Mina Edison in the Garden   

Mina Miller married Thomas Edison in 1886, the year that they began to create their winter estate in Fort Myers. 

Thomas Edison under the Banyan Tree

This is the biggest tree of its kind in the continental US. When it was planted in 1925,  the tree was 4 feet high and 2 inches in diameter. It is now an acre in diameter and has 350 roots.

Delta Pi Delta members around Thomas Edison under the Banyan Tree

Phyllis, Susan & Becky at the Banyan Café   

While members were sitting under the shade trees and having a box lunch, Co-President Margi invited members to attend the Hall of Commitment Ceremony for the Kappa Chi chapter on the Florida Gulf Coast University campus on December 4. She also reminded members that the next meeting would be the Christmas luncheon at Imperial Country Club and asked that everyone wear red for our annual Christmas photo.

Becky and Phyllis

Edison’s typewriter and Dictaphone (next to his chair) in his Botanical Research Laboratory

During World War I, the price of rubber rose dramatically, and Edison wanted to discover a domestic source of rubber from a latex-producing plant. Florida’s tropical climate was a perfect location for the project. 

Goldenrod

Edison experimented with goldenrod to provide an alternative source of rubber. This 12-foot-tall plant yielded as much as 12% rubber, but by WW II,  Henry Ford found that synthetic rubber was better for tire production on Ford vehicles. The work Edison had done with goldenrod was abandoned.

Lab bottles of all kinds used in research to find a natural source of rubber

The Machine Shop with work bench, tools and machinery connected via a belt to a central line shaft overhead and powered by a 5 HP motor

Our group in front of huge bougainvillea bush along the path to the homes, which are located across McGregor Boulevard from the entrance to the Estates

Caretaker’s cottage, the oldest building at the Estates

A section of this building was on the grounds when Edison purchased the property in 1885 from cattleman Samuel Summerlin. Edison decided to keep it and use it for employees.  

The group in front of the Caretaker’s Cottage

The Swimming Pool with diving boards at one end with a view of high rises in downtown Fort Myers in the background 

The pool diving boards

Container gardens line the side of the pool, which is 50 feet long x 20 feet wide and 4 to 7 feet deep. It was first built in 1910.

Our group at the swimming pool.

 In 1928, Ford added a “Tea House,” on the right, and a Bath House. At the time, the term “tea house” meant a shady room near the pool.

A riverside pavilion, recently rebuilt, is a replica of the original

The Edison Pier on the Caloosahatchee River

You can see the pilings extending out into the river where the pier used to be, but there is presently no pier. Because the river was the main means of transportation until the train came to Fort Myers in 1904, all of the original materials for Edison’s estate were brought by boat and assembled on site.

Our group on the grounds in front of Seminole Lodge, the winter home of the Edison Family. It was named in honor of a local Indian tribe.

Seminole Lodge through the trees

On February 24, 1886, Thomas and Mina were married and soon after traveled down to stay at Seminole Lodge. The Estate continued to draw the Edison family, friends, and business associates for the next 61 years.

Phyllis, Suzanne, Brenda, Becky and Carol near the entrance to Seminole Lodge

Members on the wraparound porch of the Edison Home

Brenda, our hostess for today’s visit to the Edison-Ford Estates

Living Room of Seminole Lodge

Mina Edison provided entertainment by playing the grand piano. An Electrolier light fixture, which Edison designed, is hanging from the ceiling. “The house is a dream, and we are living in a fairyland,” wrote Mina Edison to her mother in 1910.

A pergola covers a walkway to the Guest House, an exact copy of Seminole Lodge. After arriving in Fort Myers from a trip that took many days, guests would stay for weeks or months. Well-known guests who stayed in the Guest House included President Herbert Hoover, Henry Ford, and Harvey Firestone.

Ford statue and home, The Mangoes 

Henry Ford, with wife, Clara, and son, Edsel,  first came to Fort Myers in 1914 at the invitation of Thomas Edison. In 1916, Ford purchased the property, The Mangoes,  next to his good friend, for $20,000. The Ford family visited regularly with the Edisons. Time was spent discussing business and invention, but also on fishing, boating, and camping.

Porch of the Ford home, which looks out over a huge fig tree and the river

The Mangoes Interior with fireplace

The interior finishes include the cypress ceiling, beams and yellow pine moldings, built-in benches and window seat, as well as cabinet and shelf storage.

Brenda on the porch of the Ford home

This huge fig tree is in front of the Ford home.

It has a circumference of 305 inches and a height of 102 feet. It is one of the more than 10,000 plants in southwest Florida that Edison tested as possible sources for rubber, for light bulb filaments, and for food, such as citrus, mango, pineapple, and other fruits and vegetables.

In the words of Thomas Edison, “There is only one Fort Myers, and 90 million people are going to find it out.” We Alpha Chis consider ourselves to be among the lucky ones who have also found it out.