Port Charlotte

Roxann Read

• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Year: 2009
• Print ISBN: 9780738567778
• eBook ISBN: 9781439637883
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

Large landholders sold property in this unknown paradise to working-class people, and since the 1950s, Port Charlotte has had a colorful history of progress. In the '50s, General Development Corporation created Port Charlotte by expanding the canals previously dug by John Murdock to drain the swampy land. The Mackle Company carved Arthur Frizzell's 80,000 acres into small, perfectly rectangular lots for resale to middle-class retirees--the targets of mass advertising and sales practices that included displaying models of Port Charlotte in department stores throughout Chicago and New York. Encouraging retirees to come to Port Charlotte resulted in the area having one of the highest concentrations of residents aged 65 and older in the nation. Port Charlotte's boom-and-bust history is a microcosm of the frenzied social and economic growth that transformed Florida in the second half of the 20th century.

Four

THE BIRTH OF “PORT CHARLOTTE”

The advertisements on this page and the following page appeared in brochures advertising Port Charlotte, a retirement community planned by Mackle Brothers Construction and General Development Corporation. The next several pages will outline the history of the development of Port Charlotte. In 1928, the Chemical Research Corporation was formed. Its business was developing new technological processes and equipment for the oil industry. By 1954, the company’s primary investment was in cement and building materials. As the company’s business focus changed, the company’s name changed to the Florida Canada Corporation. In 1908, Frank Mackle Sr. had launched a construction business in Jacksonville, Florida, and eventually involved his sons, Elliott, Frank Jr., and Robert. Thirty years later, Frank Jr. began building homes in South Florida. By 1954, Mackle Brothers Construction had expanded from its base in Dade County into Broward, Pinellas, Indian River, St. Lucie, and Charlotte Counties. (Courtesy of Carolyn Depenbrock.)

The Mackle Brothers and Florida Canada Corporation entered into a 50/50 partnership that was called Port Charlotte, Inc. Florida Canada’s primary business then switched to financier of the Mackle partnership. (Courtesy of Charlotte County Historical Center.)

Florida Canada’s subsidiary, Florida West Coast Land, held options on approximately 80,000 acres that had been purchased from A. C. Frizzell at $43 an acre. The land in Charlotte County was dry, had good subsoil, and was cheaper because it was not adjacent to an already developed major city center like Fort Myers or Venice. (Courtesy of Frank E. Mackle III.)

These images are part of a national advertising campaign pitched to middle-income retirees. The first major advertising campaign for “$10 dollars down and $10 a month” was begun in 1957. These images are part of that campaign. The customer would return the coupon along with a $10 bill to reserve a home site. Customers were encouraged to buy more than one lot since the reservation coupons usually came in sets of three. (Both courtesy of Frank E. Mackle III.)

In 1956, the Port Charlotte, Inc., partnership was merged with three other Florida partnerships into one partnership named General Development Corporation. In 1958, the Mackles merged their interest in General Development Corporation into Florida Canada Corporation and took over the management. At this time also, Florida Canada changed its name to General Development Corporation. Port Charlotte was originally a “housing only” development, and sales were very slow at first. Until the 1950s, home builders relied on local advertising and on-site sales to sell new houses. The Mackles started to experiment with a few out-of-state offices to sell house and lot packages. (Both courtesy of Frank E. Mackle III.)

These brochures show the amenities of the Port Charlotte development. In late 1954, the Mackles ran an advertisement in the Saturday Evening Post to get Northerners interested in buying Florida homes. However, many people indicated that they wanted to purchase a home when they retired, which could be 10 years in the future. So they developed the idea of selling a home site for the future construction of a retirement home by mail order. The Mackles’ idea was to sell lots on an installment contract basis using national advertising, brochures, and coupons. When the purchaser had paid the contract in full, the Mackles would deed the home site to the buyer. All roads, utility lines, and other amenities would be in place. It was then the owner’s responsibility to build the house. (Both courtesy of Frank E. Mackle III.)

Advertising then expanded internationally, which resulted in customers from all over the world purchasing lots in Port Charlotte. Soon the mail-order system was replaced by the out-of-state sales office and branch office network created for lot sales. T...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• INTRODUCTION
• One - 1900-1950
• Two - MURDOCK
• Three - A. C. FRIZZELL
• Four - THE BIRTH OF “PORT CHARLOTTE”
• Five - LATE 20TH CENTURY
• BIBLIOGRAPHY