City Cape Coral

In 1957 Leonard and Jack Rosen, from Baltimore, Maryland, spent weeks looking over Southwest Florida for a piece of property to develop. Late that year they purchased a parcel of land from Grandville Keller and Franklin Miles (owner of the Alka Seltzer Co.) for $678,000. The land once known as Redfish Point was renamed Cape Coral. The development company, Gulf American Land Corp. started what was to be known as the "Waterfront Wonderland." Ground was broken on November 4, 1957. They platted the community and created more than 400 miles of canals.

On June 10, 1958 the first residents moved into their home in the southeastern part of the Cape. At that time a waterview homesite sold for $990, waterfront, $1,990 and riverfront $3390. Property sales reached over $9 million the first year. By 1965 approximately 500 prospects a day toured the property. When sales reached a peak in 1969, Cape Coral was sold to General Acceptance Corporation of Allentown, Pennsylvania for $250 million. In 1970 with the population at 11,470 the City of Cape Coral was incorporated becoming Florida's second largest in area, trailing only Jacksonville. Barely a decade old, Cape Coral was poised and ready for the future, destined to become one of the nation's fastest growing and most desirable cities. In the ensuing years since incorporation, the city population has steadily increased to exceed 150,000 - at buildout Cape Coral is estimated to have approximately 400,000.

The City of Cape Coral has been known as a Waterfront Wonderland for many years. Extensive canal systems and close proximity to the Caloosahatchee River brought visitors from all over the world to enjoy a carefree lifestyle. With over 400 miles of canals, Cape Coral has more waterstreets than any other city anywhere! The City of Cape Coral has been, and continues to be, one of the safer cities in the state of Florida. Each year, statistics show that Cape Coral is one of the top three or four safest cities with populations of more than 100,000 people. One of the most attractive features of Cape Coral and Southwest Florida is its terrific year-round weather. The area averages 335 days of bright sunshine each year (the other 30 days are just moderate sunshine). While the summers are very warm, humid and rainy, the winters in Cape Coral are absolutely beautiful.

 

Southwest Florida receives about 53 inches of rain each year, the majority of which falls from May through September. During the summer months, afternoon rains regularly roll in with heavy downpours and stormy conditions that may last only a couple of hours before subsiding. Then the sun reappears, heat and humidity return, and all is well until the next day when the cycle begins again.