Punta Gorda Florida Information

The only city in Charlotte County, Punta Gorda is about 100 miles south of Tampa on the Gulf Coast between Sarasota and Ft. Myers. The city originally was founded in 1887 on the idea that all the waterfront land would be public parks. That changed when homeowners eventually outvoted the man running the city and started a new destiny for the town by the harbor.

The name Punta Gorda, which means "fat point" when translated from Spanish, was given to the city because a broad part of the land in Punta Gorda juts into Charlotte Harbor. The harbor itself is somewhat unique, as it is the point where the Peace River meets the ocean. The city is bounded by the harbor on one side and by rural land on the other. That rural land is home to large tracts of citrus, cattle and swamp with ranchettes that produce meat and fruits. The rural land eventually meets up with the borders of North Fort Myers.