History of Sanibel
Part 2
1860’s-1900
A military presence was established on Sanibel during the United States Civil War. The Confederate government required that Florida cattle farmers sell their cattle to the Rebel Army for $8-$10 confederate dollars per head. Florida cattle farmers had already established a market for the cattle in Cuba, and they were selling their cattle to the Cubans for around $30 a head in gold.
Cattle farmers from mainland Florida would bring their cattle to Punta Rassa (the point on the western shore of Florida opposite Sanibel where the present day causeway connects the island to the mainland) for sale to Cuban merchants. To prevent this economy, the Confederate Army established a base in Sanibel, where the present lighthouse stands, to block Cuban boats from entering the waters at Punta Rassa. The Confederate Army lost its hold on Sanibel when the Union Army took control of the southwestern border of Florida and used the base instead to prevent Confederate supply ships from heading north along the U.S. coastline.
In 1862, a Union soldier named William Allen was stationed on Key West. While stationed, he saw army doctors treat people for yellow fever using castor oil. When the war ended, he filed a homesteading claim in 1866 on the island of Sanibel. The Homesteading Act of 1862 allowed him to claim up to 160 acres of land as long as he farmed it for five years. Allen and his brother set up a successful castor bean farm on Sanibel.
The beans grew readily and business was good until a hurricane in the fall of 1873 covered Sanibel in 5 feet of water, ruining his equipment and land. Allen left Sanibel, but castor beans grow wild all over the island now.On August 29, 1880 a merchant ship named the Sea Bird wrecked in the bay while conducting cattle business between the U.S. and Cuba. The bay was known for shallow waters and it was decided that a lighthouse was needed to avoid any further wrecks in the bay. The Phoenix Iron Company designed a lighthouse that was strong enough to withstand the high winds of gulf storms (it’s open frame allows wind to pass through it rather than around it). They constructed a similar lighthouse for Cape San Blas. When the lighthouses were shipped to Sanibel the ship struck a shoal two miles off the coast of Sanibel, causing the lighthouses to fall overboard. Miraculously, both lighthouses were recovered. The Sanibel lighthouse began burning on August 20, 1884 and it could be seen up to 16 miles from shore. Originally using coal as its fuel source, it was converted to electricity in 1962.
The government remained in possession of the east end of Sanibel for decades after Civil War, but in the 1880’s they opened the rest of the island to homesteading (the first homesteader, William Allen, had long since left the island and his castor beans). The first new settler, William Reed of Maine, was followed a year later by Frank Bailey. The Baileys still own and operate the island grocery market today. In 1885, a shipwreck victim, William Binder, literally washed up on the shore of Captiva island and became that island’s first settler. 1880’s saw greater interest in the islands as new settlers arrived and tales of great fishing in the island waters spread.
Real island tourism began when a evangelist Rev. George Barnes arrived on the island and opened the Church of the Four Gospels. Barnes had been tried for heresy for mixing Christianity with Hinduism in his unorthodox form of religion, and he established his own church as a base for attracting new members. He erected a large cross to attract the attention of sailors, and he travel the U.S. preaching to people about the “paradise on earth” that was Sanibel. One couple Barnes attracted were Will and Harriet Matthews. After settling on Sanibel, the Matthews realized they knew little about farming and eventually opened the Island Inn in 1936. Barnes himself had converted his home into Casa Ybel in 1903. Both resorts are still in operation on Sanibel.
1900-Present
Sanibel became a true vacation destination in the 1900’s, when wealthy residents of the east coast began spending extended periods of time on the island. The industrial age created stressful work lives, and Sanibel became a symbol of real relaxation. As a vacation spot, Sanibel is practically worry-free. Children can play safely in her waters, without fear of undertow or suddenly deep water. Shelling became a serious hobby of both children and adults alike, and sport fishing became an instant hobby of the wealthy. Sanibel’s wildlife in both the sea and air brought city-dwellers close to nature in great abundance. Visitors could hunt simple game like turkey, as well as exotic animals like alligators. It was truly an escape as different from home-life as possible. Unlike Sanibel today, people were well turned out on the beaches in formal attire.
A steady stream of vacationers provided Sanibel residents with consumers for their farm crops, which had a nine-month growing season, and soon a small town was forming on the island. Still, hot weather could easily burn out crops, and a hurricane could destroy the land for years. In 1910, a hurricane even destroyed Barnes’ church, but a new church was built by 1914. In 1921, a major storm destroyed the soil on Sanibel with its saltwater. In 1926, a hurricane wiped out what fields remained in Sanibel and destroyed its wharf. Its farming terminated, Sanibel focused on tourism for its economy. In the late 1920’s, an automobile ferry begun to the island, perhaps spurned by Henry Ford and Thomas Edison, who were frequent visitors to the island. The storms had provided the shore with beautiful and rare shells for shelling enthusiasts. In 1929, the stock market crashed, and the wealthy who had provided Sanibel’s tourist industry no longer came. Sanibel became a quiet and small community of its residents, largely separated from the rest of the country.
Whether you spend your time on Sanibel enjoying island shops, wildlife trails, shelling, or dining, throughout each new adventure you will undoubtedly be touched by the romance of the island. Like many vacation destinations, Sanibel derives her romantic aura not only from her modern luxury and postcard beauty, but also from her rich historic past that has left an imprint on the island over the centuries. Like a preserved home that has aged over time to dimmed hues and softened floorboards, Sanibel’s romance is a product of the passage of time and events – something only imitated in modern resort construction.