FORT MYERS

city, seat (1887) of Lee county, southwestern Florida, U.S., on the broad Caloosahatchee River, 120 miles (193 km) south-southeast of Tampa. In 1839 a fort, later named for General Abraham Myers, was built to protect settlers from Seminole Indian raids. The city is the western terminus of the cross-state Okeechobee Waterway, linking the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, and has a modest tourist trade. Largely dependent on agriculture, including citrus fruits and cattle, Fort Myers is the centre of a large-scale gladiolus and chrysanthemum industry and is the site of several large city housing developments for retirees. The winter home and laboratory of the inventor Thomas A. Edison is preserved as a museum, and the city holds an annual Pageant of Light (February) as a tribute to the inventor. The community college (1962) was also named after him. Fort Myers Beach on Estero Island, a narrow crescent 7 miles (11 km) long between Estero Bay and the gulf, is 15 miles (24 km) south of Fort Myers. Inc. 1905. Pop. (1992 est.) city, 47,127; Fort MyersCape Coral MSA, 349,357.