Tag: Boca Grande Historical Society

History: Rededicating to ‘We Hold These Truths to Be Self-Evident’

June 19, 2026
Staff Report
Columns

BY JAMES J BLALA, BOCA GRANDE HISTORY CENTERAs the United States celebrates 250 years of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, what is the best way to commemorate this unique event in a...

History: Miss Consuelo Vanderbilt and a 1926 honeymoon in Boca Grande

Exotic pirate island trip BY JAMES BLAHABOCA GRANDE HISTORICAL SOCIETY “The couple are having a great time, they both admit, in this honeymooners’ paradise, long known to newlyweds of...

Letters: Historical Society thanks community for support

To the Editor: The Boca Grande Historical Society wants to share their heartfelt thanks to Sandy Melvin and the Fishing Hall of Fame Committee. The first annual Boca Grande Fishing Hall...

New Boca Grande Fishing Hall of Fame inducts first honorees

We finally have a Boca Grande Fishing Guides Hall of Fame. Many times, folks had discussed a hall of fame for our traditional tarpon fishery cornerstones and its guides. Now we have one. The...

EASTER WEEKEND: Walking of the Cross, Egg Hunt & The Beatles

Easter weekend began with Stations of the Cross on Park Avenue, and followed with an Easter Egg hunt at the Community Center. Saturday afternoon, there was a return of John, Paul, George and Ringo...

History: No pirates, no gold, but lots of bugs in the selling of Gasparilla

Above, The Charlotte Harbor & Northern Railway used a bloody pirate as their main brochure for the island in its early days. Boca Grande Historical Society Archives BY JIM BLAHA, BOCA...

History Bytes: Nancy Galliher, island memories, growing family here

This week, just before the start of the fourth and final presentation of this year’s History Bytes series, Boca Grande Historical Society Vice President Scott Shively made a surprise presentation...

History Bytes: Tom Knight on Mercury Marine and Mercabo

February 19, 2026
Anna Ridilla
Community History, News

The third History Bytes of 2026 was presented by Tom Knight, who shared about his time at Mercury Marine, or Mercabo, on Wednesday, Feb. 18 at the Johann Fust Library Loggia. This is the 25th year...

Author Hanafee tells tales in History Bytes talk

There were frequent chuckles and plenty of knowing nods in the large crowd at the Johann Fust Library on Wednesday as they were entertained by local author Susan Hanafee’s presentation “The Island...

History: Working the railroad, Charlotte Harbor to Arcadia

Above, workers on the Charlotte Harbor and Northern Railroad, from the Historical Society archives. The railroad was originally along the beach. BGHS photo JAMES BLAHA, BOCA GRANDE HISTORICAL...