Bonita Springs

Bonita Springs has long been inhabited. Archaeological discoveries place people here about 8000 years ago and mound building was well underway by 4000 years ago. By the time Ponce de Leon sailed along our beaches and first made contact with the Calusa Indians in 1513, this area was home to thousands. Native American village remains and mounds attest to their centuries of prosperity. However, within a couple of centuries, the once mighty Calusa Chiefdom was decimated by European diseases and slave trading.

In the 1870’s, Army Corps of Engineers’ surveyors mapped remote Southwest Florida and pitched camp along the upper Imperial River. After the crew left, the area, and later community, became known and recorded on maps as “Survey”. The river became known as “Surveyor’s Creek”.

Over the years, Survey developed from a scattering of homesteaders into a village. In 1901, a Post Office was opened, and in 1910 the two-story, Eagle Hotel was in business catering to visitors attracted to the unspoiled area’s bounty of hunting and fishing.

Later, developers decided that the name, “Survey”, lacked sales appeal, so the town was renamed “Bonita Springs”; Indian Spring Branch became the “Oak River”; and Surveyor’s Creek was renamed the “Imperial River”.

In the early 1920’s, Barron Collier, wanting to expand his empire, extended his Fort Myers-Southern Railroad south to include Bonita Springs. This, along with the completion of the new Tamiami Trail in 1928, brought another land boom to the area. During this period, Bonita Springs was briefly incorporated as a city.

Later, roadside attractions enticed visitors to stop in Bonita Springs. The first major tourist attraction to open was the Everglades Reptile Gardens in 1936. This roadside tourist attraction, featuring local and exotic animals, helped put Bonita Springs “on the map”. The Everglades Wonder Gardens is one of the few remaining historic resources of this type in Florida. Also, on December 27, 1957, the Naples-Fort Myers Greyhound Track was opened in the city.

Bonita Springs remained a quiet, small town for decades. But, as the years passed, the rush to build was about to start. With the advent of air conditioning, the opening of Interstate 75, a nearby major airport, along with the new US 41 bypass, the growth in population by the 1980’s and 90’s ushered in shopping malls, modern office facilities, and golf courses.

In 1999, residents voted to incorporate Bonita Springs for the second time. Today, the City of Bonita Springs is an attractive, affluent area with beautiful beaches, fine restaurants, excellent recreational facilities, and beautiful homes.

Updated Dec 3, 2024 12:26:pm.

The data relating to real estate for sale on this website comes in part from the Broker Reciprocity Program (BR Program) of M.L.S. of Naples, Inc.. Properties listed with brokerage firms other than those listed on this website are marked with the BR Program Icon or the BR House icon and detailed information about them includes the name of the listing brokers. The properties displayed may not be all the properties available through the BR Program. The accuracy of this information is not warranted or guaranteed. This information should be independently verified if any person intends to engage in a transaction in the reliance on it.

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FTMYR
The data relating to real estate for sale on this Website come in part from the Broker Reciprocity Program (BR Program) of the Florida Gulf Coast Multiple Listing Service. Properties listed with brokerage firms other than the owner of this page are marked with the BR Program Icon or the BR House Icon and detailed information about them includes the name of the listing brokers. The properties displayed may not be all the properties available through the BR Program.

The source of the information about real property available for sale or rent is the copyrighted and proprietary database of the Florida Gulf Coast Multiple Listing Service.

The data provided by the Broker Reciprocity Program, and the Information is Deemed Reliable But Not Guaranteed.

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Florida Gulf Coast Multiple Listing Service Data on this site was last updated: Dec 3, 2024 12:30:pm


BONITASPRINGS
The data relating to real estate for sale displayed on this Website comes in part from the Multiple Listing Service of the Bonita Springs-Estero Association of REALTORS®, Inc. Properties displayed on this Website include properties listed with brokerage firms other than Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Florida Realty. Detailed information about such properties includes the name of the brokerage firm with which the seller has listed the property. The properties displayed may not be all the properties listed with brokerage firms participating in the Bonita Springs-Estero Association of REALTORS® Multiple Listing Service, or contained in the database compilation of the Bonita Springs-Estero Association of REALTORS® Multiple Listing Service.
Listings last updated Dec 3, 2024 12:23:pm.