Today, we took a tour of the Edison & Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers. It is a beautiful property overlooking the Caloosahatchee River. Danny was a very knowledgeable tour guide. He was also very entertaining.
In 1925, Edison's friend gave him a four foot Banyan Tree, which he planted on his property.The Banyan Tree produces a white milky sap which can be used to create rubber (latex). This tree today is an acre in diameter and known to be the largest in the continental United States. It is amazing.
Thomas Edison was born on Feb 11,1847 and died on October 18, 1931. He invented the light bulb/electricity. He was awarded 1093 U.S. patents and the only person awarded a patent every year for 65 consecutive years. He was very brilliant and with not much education.
He married his second wife, Mina Miller Edison in 1886 a couple of years after loosing his first wife at age 29. Mina was born in 1865 and died in 1947.
This was their winter home where they spend 3 months out of the year.
It is known that several U.S. Presidents were hosted here.
Nice lighting.....as he is the inventor of the light bulb....
The doorbell and telephone....
This is the view from the backyard.....I would love to live here!!!
We were all very attentive to the guides words....
Many plants and fruits on the property. This bougainvillea grows on the palm tree...
The Edison Pier...he fished here and docked his boats here, too.
When the property next to him came up for sell, they offered it to him and he asked if best buddy, Henry Ford if he wanted to buy it. Ford did and they remained friends until Edison died. Ford no longer wanted to come here and he sold it. Fort Myers acquired the property as a historic landmark.
Some of the fish caught on this property by Edison and Ford.
Mina Edison hosted many social in the pool area....overlooking the Lake.
Mina also had this Little Office built for Edison on the property....
This is one of the generators he also invented to run his water system...
The water system tank.
This is a Mysore Fig, which is a family of the Ficus. It is 102 feet tall, circumference is 305 inches and the crown spread is 114 feet. Origin: India
These are the roots of that huge and beautiful tree.
Thomas Edison....
Henry Ford....born July 30, 1863 and died April 7, 1947.
This is the caretakers' home. The quarters above the three car garage were the chauffer's .
After the guided tour, we just walked the area and took more pictures.
This is what the surrounding area looks like from their back yard.
This was a well worth tour. We enjoyed it a lot.
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