This is an out of the way botanical (and sculpture) garden that doesn't look like much at the…read morebeginning but gets better as you go along. Admission is paid at a booth as you drive in. They normally accept AHS reciprocal memberships for admission, but because there was a special exhibit (origami) during our visit, we paid a reduced rate vs getting in free. Wrist bands are issued when you pay. Once you've parked there's a booth where you can get a map of the premises. The garden is divided by Riverside Drive. The side where you park is just ok, but much of the real beauty (at least in mid- March during our visit) was on the other side of Riverside. There are lots of sculptural elements, pools, and garden color in that area. There's a koi pond, and we saw a little blue heron there during our visit. We spent about 90 minutes enjoying the scenery. There are apparently plans to enhance these gardens, so stay tuned!

Nice gardens in an area I didn't anticipate seeing something. We were lucky enough to be there…read morefor a metal origami exhibit which was interesting. Nice mixture of trees, plants and statues. The koi pond was nice and you could feed them If you chose. The gift shop was very nice with reasonably priced items. I wish there were more signs on the plants and trees so I knew what I was looking at.

The former summer home of 1890's Architect Price was moved to History Park from the riverfront…read morealong Etta Esplanada after 2004's Hurricane Charley. The Punta Gorda Historical Society offers free tours. Inside, period furnishings, not owned by Price but donated and collected by the Historical Society, add to the atmosphere. Price was ahead of his time and recognized that the religious fervor that swept the country was a business opportunity. All the new converts needed a church. So he designed mail order churches that were sold and shipped by the thousands all over the country. Once a shipment arrived, the local parishioners could put up the structure. The Methodists still attend services in a Price design in Punta Gorda. Price's style is recognizable by its faux carillon and pointed arch facade. On the domestic front, Price didn't seem so successful. The docent pointed out the doors that lead to the outside from every room. It was first believed that this was for fire safety, but old timers soon corrected this assumption with the long-lived public knowledge that it was Price's wife who had to have quick and immediater access outside. They said she was an insanely jealous woman who chased down the sound of any woman's voice that might be in the garden with her husband. The Price lovenest was a bit of a takeoff on the cuckoo too. Price didn't build from the ground up, but chose to buy two cottages, then attached them with a center structure. It became a modern split plan with the bedrooms on one side and the kitchen and dining on the other. He also added a porch to the bedroom side of the shingled house.

The Cigar House is located in the Punta Gorda History Park. The park was formed after the historic…read moreHector House where the city charter was signed was demolished in 1988 because the city didn't have anywhere to move it to. In 1999 the Cigar House was the first of four historic structures to be moved to the park when it was donated to the historical society by owner Mike Nicholson. Before the turn of the century, cigar smoking was a common past time among men. The best cigars were made by Cubans in Key West. After a fire in 1886, cigar production was moved inlaid and closer to the railroad terminals. Aided by the Southern Florida Railway, two Bartow businessmen named Willard Emerson and Warren Tyler obuilding a cigar factory in Punta Gorda. Florida Southern offered six acres of land for the factory in exchange for being able to ship the product. The men accepted the railroad's offer and founded the El Palmetto Cigar Manufacturing Company. The factory was a large wooden structure and a row of cottages for workers was built in the 1890's. The cottages housed two families and did not contain a kitchen. The cottages were moved to Brown Street in 1901 when El Palmetto was liquidated that same year and the fate of the factory is unknown. The cottage contains historical displays and it is open for tours from 10 to 2 daily and by appointment. It has a QR code so you can learn about it even if it is not open.

The Punta Gorda Historical Society preserves this sample of turn of the Century history in the…read morecompound of buildings named History Park. Inside, walls are lined in wood from the days when tobacco drying, turpentine manufacturing, and fishing were the leading industries. The walls of this house are still lined in wood and serve as backdrop for historical photos of the short-lived industrial era. Three keys are framed and hang on one wall. They are homage to the keeper of the ice house who assured that fish stayed away from the tropical heat and that resident's ice boxes could stay cool. Memorabilia from the nearby WWII airfield is also on display for self-guided visits.

There is some confusing info in terms of the city signs, but this is actually located at the A C…read moreFreeman House at the corner of W Retta Esplanade and Cross St 41S. The hours that are stated change from time to time, but I have to say that the location is excellent, there is plentiful free parking in the lot behind it, and they're very helpful. Also, the fliers in the boxes on the deck of the house have some of the most useful info you'll need to explore the city.

From the owner: We are a membership organization organized to promote our business members and the community we…read moreserve. Free Community Guide to inquiries on the area, sell a detailed Charlotte County Map, visitor and tourist information and more.

We loved the walking tour. The food was very good! They didn't rush us and the people in our group…read morewere real nice too! Fun day!

We went on the Saturday night downtown Punta Gorda Ghost tour with Lani and Grace. We had a great…read moretime and learned do much history.

The city of Punta Gorda was founded in 1884 by Isaac Trabue. He was an attorney in Kentucky when he…read morecame to the Charlotte Harbor in 1883 to start his own town which he named Trabue. Trabue purchased hundreds of waterfront acres in anticipation of the arrival of the Florida Southern Railway. The one story, one gable, wooden Land Office was built in 1855 on Cross Street and was the first commercial building in town. Isaac Trabue used the building as his law and sales office. Later on he added a kitchen and rented it to snowbirds. It was also the towns first post office. It is believed to be the oldest building in Charlotte County. Bob and Norma Henry donated the building and it was moved to the Punta Gorda History Park in 2000. The Punta Gorda Historical Society uses the building as the Hibiscus Artisan Shoppe, a gift shop that sells artisan made goods such as carvings, skin care products, and jewelry. The sale of the items helps to support the upkeep of the historical buildings in their care.

This tiny one room building was built in the late 1880's by Punta Gorda founder, Col. Trabue…read more Today, it's been restored and moved to a compound on Shreve Street called History Park. it's occupied by a shop run by artist Starr Zochritz, who also heads the Peace River Audubon Society. Starr's photographs fill the shop along with gift items and Punta Gorda themed books and gifts.

Great post very friendly as I was a visiting member service was great Pat was a good bartender, I…read morecan't wait to come back.

I went for the first time last evening and it was absolutely amazing! People were friendly, the…read moreatmosphere was outstanding and the service out of this world!!! Loved it!!!