Fort Thompson
Frierson Home
at Fort Thompson, Lee Co., Florida
Fort Thompson was one of many
forts in Florida
built during the Seminole Wars. It
was a key point for transporting supplies and troops along the Caloosahatchee River
from Punta Rassa on the Gulf of Mexico through Fort Myers. The
river narrowed near Ft. Thompson
and could be forded by troops or cattle during most seasons. By the end
of the
Third Seminole War in 1858 the fine prairie lands had caught the
interest of
people around that area. They realized it would make good grazing land
for
cattle but it wasn’t until after the close of the War Between
The States and
the Reconstruction period that the area was platted and sold. By the 1880s the old fort
had disappeared,
cattle ranches were prospering as were nearby LaBelle and Fort Myers as trade with Cuba
flourished.
This
beautiful Fort
Thompson
site is two
miles away from LaBelle store and post office kept by the genial and
accommodating Mr. Edgar Carlton. At
LaBelle our old veteran old-timer, Mr. Taylor Frierson, is fitting up
to
accommodate the public. Those
who know
Mr. Frierson need not be told that they will be well cared for. He is one of those genial,
happy-go-lucky old
Florida
crackers whose very nature is to make his guests happy, can tell more
thrilling
funny frontier stories than any man in the State.
Mr. W. H. Caldwell,
brother and son from Tennessee
are now the guests of the Frierson House.
John
H.
Caldwell was a judge and banker from Tennessee
who stayed at the Goodno Ranch for several years, then came over to
LaBelle and
stayed with his friend, Taylor Frierson.
Then he bought “a slice of property”
from T. Frierson including the post
office and grocery. These
buildings were
enlarged to accommodate his rather large family of seven children. In 1971 the Fort
Myers News-Press
published an article from which this is taken.
My mother, Ruth Frierson, exchanged Christmas greetings
with Virginia
Caldwell for many, many years. Most
of them
were original sketches by Mrs. Caldwell.
Information provided by Ann Winston McGinn
Thank You
Ann
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