The Edison and Ford Winter Estates contain a historical museum and 21 acre (8.5 hectares)

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

on the adjacent sites of the winter homes of

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These invent ...

and

Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American Technological and industrial history of the United States, industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of ...

beside the

Caloosahatchee River The Caloosahatchee River is a river on the southwest Gulf Coast of Florida in the United States, approximately long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 18, 2011 It d ...

in Southwestern Florida. It is located at 2350 McGregor Boulevard,

Fort Myers, Florida Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in southwestern Florida and the county seat and commercial center of Lee County, Florida, United States. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 92,245 in 2 ...

. On April 18, 2012, the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to ...

' Florida Chapter placed the Edison and Ford Winter Estates on its list of ''Florida Architecture: 100 Years. 100 Places''. The

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...

recognized the Edison Botanical Research Laboratory at the Edison & Ford Winter Estates as a National Historic Chemical Landmark on May 25, 2014.

History

The present site dates from 1885, when Edison first visited Southwest Florida and purchased the property to build a vacation home. He had traveled down to St. Augustine, Florida during the winter of 1885 at the behest of his doctor, who thought that the warmer climate would help cure an illness that Edison was suffering from. After recuperating in St. Augustine, he ended up traveling first across the state to Cedar Key, and from Cedar Key to Fort Myers. His home, completed in 1886 and later dubbed "Seminole Lodge", served as a winter retreat and place of relaxation until Edison's death in 1931. Edison's good friend Henry Ford purchased the adjoining property, "The Mangoes" from Robert Smith of New York in 1916. Ford's craftsman style bungalow was built in 1911 by Smith. In 1947, Mrs. Mina Edison deeded the Edison property to the City of Fort Myers in memory of her husband for the enjoyment of the public. It was opened for public tours soon after. In 1988, the adjacent Henry Ford winter estate was purchased and opened for public tours in 1990. In 2003, the governance of the site was transferred from the City to a new non-profit corporation, Thomas Edison & Henry Ford Winter Estates, Inc. ( dba Edison & Ford Winter Estates, Inc.) whose mission is to protect, preserve and interpret the site. The new corporation completed a $14 million restoration project in the following years. A separate fundraising arm, Edison-Ford Winter Estates Foundation, Inc. was created to assist the restoration project with no function in governance.

Gardens

Edison's botanical garden contains more than a thousand varieties of plants from around the world, including African Sausage Trees and a

banyan tree A banyan, also spelled "banian", is a fig that develops accessory trunks from adventitious prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely. This distinguishes banyans from other trees with a strangler habit that begin life as ...

planted in the mid-1920s. The gardens feature plants grown for industrial purposes (such as bamboo, used in light bulb filaments) and those which Mina Edison planted for their beauty, including

rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can b ...

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

s and

bromeliad The Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) are a family of monocot flowering plants of about 80 genera and 3700 known species, native mainly to the tropical Americas, with several species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa ...

s. The Moonlight Garden was designed by

Ellen Biddle Shipman Ellen Biddle Shipman (November 5, 1869 – March 27, 1950) was an American landscape architect known for her formal gardens and lush planting style. Along with Beatrix Farrand and Marian Cruger Coffin, she dictated the style of the time and stron ...

. Before Hurricane Irma the collection included: ''

Acalypha hispida ''Acalypha hispida'', the chenille plant, is a flowering shrub which belongs to the family Euphorbiaceae, the subfamily Acalyphinae, and the genus ''Acalypha''. ''Acalypha'' is the fourth largest genus of the family Euphorbiaceae, and contains m ...

'', ''

Arenga pinnata ''Arenga pinnata'' (syn. ''Arenga saccharifera'') is an economically important feather palm native to tropical Asia, from eastern India east to Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines in the east. Common names include sugar palm, areng palm (a ...

'', ''

Artocarpus heterophyllus The jackfruit (''Artocarpus heterophyllus''), also known as jack tree, is a species of tree in the fig, mulberry, and breadfruit family (Moraceae). Its origin is in the region between the Western Ghats of southern India, all of Bangladesh, Sri ...

'', '' Billbergia spp.'', ''

Blighia sapida The ackee, also known as ankye, achee, akee, ackee apple or ayee (''Blighia sapida'') is a fruit of the Sapindaceae ( soapberry) family, as are the lychee and the longan. It is native to tropical West Africa. The scientific name honours Captain ...

'', ''

Bougainvillea glabra ''Bougainvillea glabra'', the lesser bougainvillea or paperflower, is the most common species of bougainvillea used for bonsai. The epithet 'glabra' comes from Latin and means "bald". Description It is an evergreen, climbing shrub with thic ...

'', ''

Bougainvillea ''Bougainvillea'' ( , ) is a genus of thorny ornamental vines, bushes, and trees belonging to the four o' clock family, Nyctaginaceae. It is native to eastern South America, found from Brazil, west to Peru, and south to southern Argentina. ...

spectabilis'', ''

Calliandra ''Calliandra'' is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae, in the mimosoid clade of the subfamily Caesalpinioideae. It contains about 140 species that are native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas. Descripti ...

haematocephala'', ''

Cananga odorata ''Cananga odorata'', known as ylang-ylang ( ) or cananga tree, is a tropical tree that is native to the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Queensland, Australia. It is also native to parts of Thailand and Viet ...

'', ''

Cattleya ''Cattleya'' () is a genus of orchids from Costa Rica south to Argentina. The genus is abbreviated C in trade journals. Description Epiphytic or terrestrial orchids with cylindrical rhizome from which the fleshy noodle-like roots grow. Ps ...

'' hybrid, ''

'' spp., ''

Chorisia speciosa ''Ceiba'' is a genus of trees in the family Malvaceae, native to tropical and subtropical areas of the Americas (from Mexico and the Caribbean to N Argentina) and tropical West Africa. Some species can grow to tall or more, with a straight, ...

'', ''

Citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. The genus ''Citrus'' is nati ...

spp.'', ''

Clerodendrum ''Clerodendrum'' is a genus of flowering plants formerly placed in the family Verbenaceae, but now considered to belong to the Lamiaceae (mint) family. Its common names include glorybower, bagflower and bleeding-heart. It is currently classified ...

speciosissimum'', ''

Cordyline terminalis ''Cordyline fruticosa'' is an evergreen flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae. The plant is of great cultural importance to the traditional animistic religions of Austronesian and Papuan peoples of the Pacific Islands, New Zealand, Island ...

'', ''

Cycad Cycads are seed plants that typically have a stout and woody (ligneous) trunk with a crown of large, hard, stiff, evergreen and (usually) pinnate leaves. The species are dioecious, that is, individual plants of a species are either male or f ...

spp.'', ''

Dendrobium ''Dendrobium'' is a genus of mostly Epiphyte, epiphytic and Lithophyte, lithophytic orchids in the Family (biology), family Orchidaceae. It is a very large genus, containing more than 1,800 species that are found in diverse habitats throughout m ...

'', ''

Dombeya ''Dombeya'' is a flowering plant genus. Traditionally included in the family Sterculiaceae, it is included in the expanded Malvaceae in the APG and most subsequent systematics. These plants are known by a number of vernacular names which sometim ...

spp.'', '' Epidendrum ciliare'', ''

Ficus ''Ficus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending int ...

auriculata'', ''

Ficus benghalensis ''Ficus benghalensis'', commonly known as the banyan, banyan fig and Indian banyan, is a tree native to the Indian Subcontinent. Specimens in India are among the largest trees in the world by canopy coverage. It also known as the "strangler fig" ...

'', ''

saussureana'', '' Hibiscus schizopetalus'', ''

Holmskioldia ''Holmskioldia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae. It is native to the Himalayas (India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar) but widely cultivated as an ornamental and naturalized in many places (Southeast As ...

sanguinea'', '' Ibosa riparia'', ''

Ixora ''Ixora'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It is the only genus in the tribe Ixoreae. It consists of tropical evergreen trees and shrubs and holds around 544 species. Though native to the tropical and subtropical areas ...

chinensis'', '' Kigelia africana'', ''

Leea ''Leea'' ( Tagalog: ''Talyantan'') is a genus of plants that are distributed throughout Northern and eastern Australia, New Guinea, South and Southeast Asia and parts of Africa. The APG IV system places ''Leea'' in the subfamily Leeoideae (Vitace ...

coccinea'', '' Malvaviscus arboreus'', '' Musa spp.'', '' Parmentiera cereifera'', '' Plumbago auriculata'', ''

Solandra ''Solandra'' is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. It is named after the Swedish naturalist Daniel C. Solander. The vines it contains are commonly known as chalice vines and are native to the Caribbean, Mexico an ...

nitida'', '' Spathoglottis plicata'', '' Tabernaemontana corymbosa'', ''

Tecoma stans ''Tecoma stans'' is a species of Flowering plant, flowering perennial shrub in the Campsis, trumpet vine family, Bignoniaceae, that is native to the Americas. Common names include yellow trumpetbush, yellow bells, yellow elder, ginger-thomas. ' ...

'', '' Thunbergia erecta'', '' Pleroma semidecandrum'' (syn. ''Tibouchina semidecandra''), and hundreds more.

Rubber laboratory

During the period of 1914–1918 (

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

), Edison became concerned with America's reliance on foreign supplies of rubber. He partnered with

Harvey Firestone Harvey Samuel Firestone (December 20, 1868 – February 7, 1938) was an American businessman, and the founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, one of the first global makers of automobile tires. Family background Firestone was born o ...

and Henry Ford to try to find a rubber tree or plant that could grow quickly in the United States and provide a domestic supply of rubber. In 1927, the three men contributed $25,000 each and created the Edison Botanic Research Corporation in an attempt to find a solution to this problem. In 1928, the Edison Botanic Research Corporation laboratory was constructed. It was in Fort Myers, Florida that Mr. Edison would do the majority of his research and planting of his exotic plants and trees. After testing over 17,000 plant samples, Edison eventually discovered a source in one of the species of flowering goldenrod, '' Solidago leavenworthii''. Thomas Edison died in 1931 and the rubber project was transferred to the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...

five years later.

Visitors

Visitors to the Edison and Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers can view more than of historical buildings and gardens including the 1928 Botanical Laboratory and the Edison Ford Museum. There are also a variety of programs, tours and activities. Edison Ford also offers school and education tours for all ages, an extensive summer camp program, home school, emerging inventors programs for toddlers as well as travel and offsite tour opportunities. Other specialty programs include holiday nights, antique car shows, garden talks and a variety of special events throughout the year. The site can be reserved for events, weddings, corporate functions, meetings and group tours. Edison Ford Winter Estates is a National Register Historic Site and received the Award of Excellence for restoration from both the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the National Garden Clubs, Inc. The site is a Florida Historic Landmark and has been designated as a National Historical Chemical Landmark by the American Chemical Society, the first site in the state of Florida to receive this honor. The Edison and Ford Winter Estates research library and archival materials are also available for viewing by appointment. The research library contains over a thousand books on Fort Myers history and botany, as well as biographies on Thomas Edison and Henry Ford and their families. Open to the public since 1947, Edison Ford Winter Estates receives more than 200,000 visitors annually. Designated as an educational and charitable not-for-profit organization, Edison Ford is governed by a board of trustees, professional staff and a large volunteer group.

Gallery

File:Edisonwinterhome2006.jpg, Edison's winter home – view from the road. File:Caloosahatchee.JPG, View of the

from the estate File:Edison- John Burroughs- Ford at Edison's home in Ft. Myers Florida 1914.png, Edison,

John Burroughs John Burroughs (April 3, 1837 – March 29, 1921) was an American naturalist and nature essayist, active in the conservation movement in the United States. The first of his essay collections was ''Wake-Robin'' in 1871. In the words of his bio ...

and Ford at the estate in 1914 File:Moonlight Garden, Edison and Ford Winter Estates, Fort Myers, Florida.JPG, Mina Edison's Moonlight Garden File:Edison and Ford Winter Estates, Edison's laboratory.jpg, Edison's laboratory File:Edison and Ford Winter Estates, house 1.jpg, Inside Edison's house File:Edison and Ford Winter Estates, house 2.jpg, Inside Edison's house File:Lipstick02_EdisonFord_Asit.jpg, Lipstick Plant (1 of 2) File:Lipstick03_EdisonFord_Asit.jpg, Lipstick Plant (2 of 2) File:EdisonWicker.jpg, Edison family original porch furniture

References

Bibliography

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History

Gardens

Rubber laboratory

Visitors

Gallery

See also

References

Bibliography

External links