Edison & Ford Estates Part II

Good Morning Friends,

I am going to continue the tour of the Edison & Ford Estates because it was too beautiful to keep to myself! When Thomas Edison and his wife Mina first came down to Fort Myers, it was on their Honeymoon. The Edisons wanted to plant royal palm trees along the street now called McGregor Blvd. The Edison's told the City of Fort Myers they would pay for the trees to be planted and would care for them for a certain amount of years if the city would take over and maintain them after. The city agreed and there are still palms lining the street today. Most of the original palms have had to be replaced because palm trees do not live for hundreds of years like some other trees, and some hurricanes have come through since they were originally planted by the Edisons.

The entrance to the Edison home grounds from McGregor Blvd

 There is one palm tree near the main entrance that is believed to be one of the original palm trees. The tree is much taller than the others indicating a longer life.

This is one of the palm trees that may still be an original. Meaning it was one of the ones planted by the Edisons

Phonograph

 Edison invented many different things but his favorite invention of his was the phonograph. Many of his inventions were in the museum on the grounds, but some were inside the house because the family used them while they visited Fort Myers. It was hard to get a good shot of it due to the lack of light in the area of the house (in the photo above).

Indianhead Ginger Plant

And... the plants were just so neat!

Queen's Crape Myrtle

Henry Ford's House

 Henry Ford's house was a completely different floor plan than Edison's and unfortunately Henry Ford did not sell/donate his house to the city of Fort Myers so the no original belongings are in the house. This is one of the best parts of viewing Thomas and Mina Edison's house, everything inside was theirs and used by them when they visited Fort Myers.

Henry Ford sold the house for the same amount he purchased it. All of the pieces found inside of the house are from the time period in which Henry Ford visited the house to help show visitors how it may have looked. The Fords did not go to their winter home very much except to visit the Edisons.

This room was titled the secretary's office



Living Room of Ford's home



Austrailian Pine

Bamboo. Yes, bamboo grows naturally along the Calosahatchee River in Fort Myers. Apparently bamboo can grow up to 12 inches in 1 day!

Edible fruit on this tree. I forgot what they are called.

As Thomas Edison aged, his wife didn't want him to have to walk across the street (McGregor) to the main laboratory. She had this smaller laboratory built for him so he could go to his lab and work each day.

Edison's Little Lab located steps away from his house, for his latest years

We did the Historic Tour when we visited the grounds, but there are a few other types of tours available. I think I may go back and do the Botanical Tour because there were just too many flowers, plants, and trees to see during one day. I hope you enjoyed the rest of the tour. This is a place I could visit again and again.

Have a fabulous Saturday,
xoxo Susan

Edison & Ford Winter Estates

Hello Friends,

Over the weekend J and I visited the Edison & Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers, FL. This was my second time visiting the lovely grounds and J's first time. I love visiting historic homes and seeing how people lived. Thomas Edison had over 1,000 patents!  He is most well known for inventing the light bulb, but he really created the entire system in which we still use for electricity throughout the world. On a side note, his original light bulb will soon be a thing of the past in the United States as the government is regulating the sale of incandescent light bulbs by phasing them out and then banning the sale of them. 

One of the reasons Edison came down to Florida from the Northeast was to find domestic sources of rubber. During the war, rubber was scarce. Edison, Henry Ford (Ford Motor Company), and Harvey Firestone (Firestone tires) were looking for a way to make rubber here in the United States. Edison planted a variety of plants in his quest to find rubber, and the plants are still on the grounds for us to enjoy today.

Thomas Edison purchased the grounds for a winter home in Fort Myers. Thomas Edison was good friends with Henry Ford and persuaded him to purchase the house next door. Edison created many components needed to run cars. They were very close friends and the Ford's visited their winter home primarily to visit the Edisons.

One part of Edison's Winter Home

The original buildings on the property were for Thomas Edison and his wife Mina and Edison's good friend and partner Ezra Gilliland. Edison had plans drawn up for one house, then flipped the architect's plans over and had a second home built with everything in the opposite direction. Later Ezrea sold the home and Edison purchased the home and considered the two buildings to be one home.

After Thomas Edison passed away his wife Mina continued to visit the home. She later sold the estate to the city of Fort Myers for $1. She left all of the furniture and belongings in the home to the city of Fort Myers. The grounds has a museum with artifacts and original inventions from Edison.

Many of the light fixtures are some of the first electrical fixtures ever made. They are still in tact and working.

The antiques throughout the house were lovely too!

On the far left of this photo you can see the end of one of the homes. Just to the right of the tree on the far left is trellis walkway connecting the two homes.

This is one of the homes. There was an open walkway between these two structures connected by the porches.

The Calosahatchee River is in the background.

I have many more great photos to share of the grounds including Henry Ford's winter home. If you are ever in the Fort Myers area, I highly recommend stopping by the Edison & Ford Winter Estates. Further north in Sarasota is the estate of John Ringling which is even more AMAZING.

Happy Day!
xoxo Susan