{"id":66,"date":"2017-02-28T18:36:08","date_gmt":"2017-02-28T18:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/?page_id=66"},"modified":"2025-03-06T11:26:22","modified_gmt":"2025-03-06T16:26:22","slug":"history-of-hickory-bluff","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/chapter-history\/history-of-hickory-bluff\/","title":{"rendered":"History of Hickory Bluff"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Our Chapter takes its name from the pioneer settlement of Hickory Bluff in what is now Port Charlotte, Florida.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">The name Hickory Bluff was given to the area due to a bluff overlooking the harbor, which was forested in hickory trees. Sadly, the hickory trees were all timbered off by an axe handle factory after the Civil War. The Hickory Bluff mound was leveled in 1926 for a housing development.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Today&#8217;s Chester Roberts Park is located in the original pioneer settlement called Hickory Bluff which is now in the Charlotte Harbor Town Local Historic District. The entire area gradually became known as Charlotte Harbor after the post office was established with that name in 1872. \u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Attempts to refer to unincorporated community as Charlotte Harbor Town in the 1990s to distinguish it from the Charlotte Harbor Bay have not endured into the 21st century, except for the name of the local historic district established in 1993.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><div class=\"row\"> <div class=\"col-md-6\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: impact, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;\">The park historical marker was dedicated on <\/span><span style=\"font-family: impact, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;\">August 5, 2008.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Marker-from-Chester-Roberts-Park-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-431 size-medium aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Marker-from-Chester-Roberts-Park-copy-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Marker-from-Chester-Roberts-Park-copy-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Marker-from-Chester-Roberts-Park-copy-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Marker-from-Chester-Roberts-Park-copy.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"mceTemp\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div><div class=\"col-md-6\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: impact, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;\">View of Charlotte Harbor from the park.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/View-from-Chester-Roberts-Park.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-185 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/View-from-Chester-Roberts-Park-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/View-from-Chester-Roberts-Park-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/View-from-Chester-Roberts-Park-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/View-from-Chester-Roberts-Park.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"><strong>Hickory Bluff Pioneers Historical Marker<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>The text on the marker reads as follows:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"><strong>&#8220;After the Civil War (1861-1865), soldiers stationed in Florida decided to stay for the warm climate as well as for political and financial gain. Some became early pioneers\u00a0here in Hickory Bluff, not far from the 1872 Charlotte Harbor post office. \u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"><strong>&#8220;Lt. Nathan H. De Coster and Capt. John F. Bartholf were Union soldiers stationed at Ft. Myers. After marrying Florida women, they homesteaded in this area. John Lomans, an African-American soldier also serving at Ft. Myers, helped De Coster set up the first sawmill south of Tampa. Lomans later served as volunteer registrar and De Coster became a county judge, postmaster and customs inspector. Bartholf was superintendent of public instruction when schools were established throughout the Peace River region, including Hickory Bluff in 1873. The first school house was constructed with boards sawn at De Coster&#8217;s mill. \u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"><strong>&#8220;Mathieu F. Giddens was a former Confederate soldier who owned a farm on Mill Creek and served as county commissioner. Giddens donated land for the Charlotte Harbor Cemetery after his father-in-law, Joel Knight, died in 1879.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\"><strong>&#8220;Francis Durrance, Jr. owned a house and cattle in eastern Hickory Bluff. He was customs collector in Punta Gorda and served as the local preacher. Around 1927, his son, Cleveland Pasco Durrance, built a Mediterranean Revival style home (called locally the &#8220;Spanish House,&#8221; now demolished) near this site. He later moved his family to the house next door and rented the Spanish House to seasonal tourists.&#8221; \u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our Chapter takes its name from the pioneer settlement of Hickory Bluff in what is now Port Charlotte, Florida. The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":81,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-66","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>History of Hickory Bluff - Hickory Bluff Chapter, NSDAR<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/chapter-history\/history-of-hickory-bluff\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"History of Hickory Bluff - Hickory Bluff Chapter, NSDAR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Our Chapter takes its name from the pioneer settlement of Hickory Bluff in what is now Port Charlotte, Florida. The [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/chapter-history\/history-of-hickory-bluff\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hickory Bluff Chapter, NSDAR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-03-06T16:26:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Marker-from-Chester-Roberts-Park-copy-300x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fssdar.com\\\/HickoryBluff\\\/chapter-history\\\/history-of-hickory-bluff\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fssdar.com\\\/HickoryBluff\\\/chapter-history\\\/history-of-hickory-bluff\\\/\",\"name\":\"History of Hickory Bluff - Hickory Bluff Chapter, NSDAR\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fssdar.com\\\/HickoryBluff\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fssdar.com\\\/HickoryBluff\\\/chapter-history\\\/history-of-hickory-bluff\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fssdar.com\\\/HickoryBluff\\\/chapter-history\\\/history-of-hickory-bluff\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fssdar.com\\\/HickoryBluff\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/Marker-from-Chester-Roberts-Park-copy-300x300.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-02-28T18:36:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-06T16:26:22+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fssdar.com\\\/HickoryBluff\\\/chapter-history\\\/history-of-hickory-bluff\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/fssdar.com\\\/HickoryBluff\\\/chapter-history\\\/history-of-hickory-bluff\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fssdar.com\\\/HickoryBluff\\\/chapter-history\\\/history-of-hickory-bluff\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fssdar.com\\\/HickoryBluff\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/Marker-from-Chester-Roberts-Park-copy.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fssdar.com\\\/HickoryBluff\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/Marker-from-Chester-Roberts-Park-copy.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fssdar.com\\\/HickoryBluff\\\/chapter-history\\\/history-of-hickory-bluff\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fssdar.com\\\/HickoryBluff\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Our Chapter\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fssdar.com\\\/HickoryBluff\\\/chapter-history\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"History of Hickory Bluff\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fssdar.com\\\/HickoryBluff\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fssdar.com\\\/HickoryBluff\\\/\",\"name\":\"Hickory Bluff Chapter, NSDAR\",\"description\":\"Port Charlotte, Florida\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fssdar.com\\\/HickoryBluff\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fssdar.com\\\/HickoryBluff\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fssdar.com\\\/HickoryBluff\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Daughters of the American Revolution\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fssdar.com\\\/HickoryBluff\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fssdar.com\\\/HickoryBluff\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fssdar.com\\\/HickoryBluff\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/DAR-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fssdar.com\\\/HickoryBluff\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/DAR-logo.png\",\"width\":207,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Daughters of the American Revolution\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fssdar.com\\\/HickoryBluff\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"History of Hickory Bluff - Hickory Bluff Chapter, NSDAR","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/chapter-history\/history-of-hickory-bluff\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"History of Hickory Bluff - Hickory Bluff Chapter, NSDAR","og_description":"Our Chapter takes its name from the pioneer settlement of Hickory Bluff in what is now Port Charlotte, Florida. The [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/chapter-history\/history-of-hickory-bluff\/","og_site_name":"Hickory Bluff Chapter, NSDAR","article_modified_time":"2025-03-06T16:26:22+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Marker-from-Chester-Roberts-Park-copy-300x300.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/chapter-history\/history-of-hickory-bluff\/","url":"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/chapter-history\/history-of-hickory-bluff\/","name":"History of Hickory Bluff - Hickory Bluff Chapter, NSDAR","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/chapter-history\/history-of-hickory-bluff\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/chapter-history\/history-of-hickory-bluff\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Marker-from-Chester-Roberts-Park-copy-300x300.jpg","datePublished":"2017-02-28T18:36:08+00:00","dateModified":"2025-03-06T16:26:22+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/chapter-history\/history-of-hickory-bluff\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/chapter-history\/history-of-hickory-bluff\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/chapter-history\/history-of-hickory-bluff\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Marker-from-Chester-Roberts-Park-copy.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Marker-from-Chester-Roberts-Park-copy.jpg","width":600,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/chapter-history\/history-of-hickory-bluff\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Our Chapter","item":"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/chapter-history\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"History of Hickory Bluff"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/#website","url":"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/","name":"Hickory Bluff Chapter, NSDAR","description":"Port Charlotte, Florida","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/#organization","name":"Daughters of the American Revolution","url":"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/DAR-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/DAR-logo.png","width":207,"height":74,"caption":"Daughters of the American Revolution"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"album-thumb":false,"photo-thumb":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Jane Wallace","author_link":"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/author\/vishickorybluff\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Our Chapter takes its name from the pioneer settlement of Hickory Bluff in what is now Port Charlotte, Florida. The [&hellip;]","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/66","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/66\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2604,"href":"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/66\/revisions\/2604"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/81"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fssdar.com\/HickoryBluff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}