Community History
This date in the Boca Beacon
May 16, 2025
FIVE YEARS AGO
Family Tradition takes first place in the Quarantine Queens Classic, the island’s answer to the Ladies’ Day Tarpon Tournament when Covid gets in the way.
TEN YEARS AGO
The Is…
Port Boca Grande Lighthouse reopens after storms
May 15, 2025
The Port Boca Grande Lighthouse & Museum opened May 5, after, what they generously called, eight months of “stormy setbacks.” The re-opening was a celebration, as Linda Edic, the wife of the lat…
Unextreme makeover of ‘this old house’ of Bob Vila approved by board
May 15, 2025
Other approval is house by famed architect of Mar-a-Lago
Two important Gilchrist house renovations, including a house formerly owned by Bob Vila and another house designed by the architect of Mar…
REMINISCENCES: K.Y. FUTCH
May 15, 2025
Seaplanes to the oyster beds: My time with Katharine Hepburn
BY KATHY FUTCH
Miss Hepburn made fairly regular visits to Boca Grande to be with her Houghton family relatives and also some friend…
Two historic Gilchrist houses recommended for renovation
May 8, 2025
The Boca Grande Historic Preservation Board will review two historic Gilchrist Avenue renovations at its upcoming meeting set for 10 a.m. on Wednesday, May 14.
A French Colonial style house at 3…
This date in the Boca Beacon
May 2, 2025
FIVE YEARS AGO
The Boca Grande Kids Classic was canceled due to the pandemic. All donations were still distributed.
TEN YEARS AGO
Mote Marine brought their new 46’ boat named Thunder to a r…
Port Boca Grande Lighthouse reopens after hurricane closure
May 1, 2025
The Barrier Island Parks Society (BIPS) will reopen the historic Port Boca Grande Lighthouse and Museum at Gasparilla Island State Park on Monday, May 5 after nearly eight months of closure due to h…
This date in the Boca Beacon
April 25, 2025
FIVE YEARS AGO
The United Methodist Women distributed funds from the Strawberry Festival to multiple local charities during the Coronavirus shutdowns.
TEN YEARS AGO
Island School students p…
The Historian’s Dilemma: Nostalgia vs Fact on Gasparilla Island and Boca Grande
April 24, 2025
BY JAMES J. BLAHA, DIRECTOR BOCA GRANDE HISTORY CENTER
“To write history requires
a whole life of observation,
of inquiry, of labor, and correction,”
Thomas Jefferson 1817…
This date in the Boca Beacon
April 18, 2025
FIVE YEARS AGO
COVID-19 was in full swing and the World’s Richest Tarpon Tournament for 2020 had been canceled.
TEN YEARS AGO
The Downtown Beautification Project continued with three benche…