Bonita Springs

Bonita Springs, which is called Gateway to the Gulf, has white sugar sand beaches and year-round outdoor living, boating, swimming, fishing, golfing, tennis and biking.

It is named for a medicinal spring on U.S. 41 that the local Indians believed could heal the sick. It began life as the town of Survey, an outpost that was transformed first into a pineapple, banana and coconut plantation, then into a hunting and fishing destination.

The arrival of developer Barron Collier’s Tamiami Trail (U.S. 41) and railroad brought a new wave of prosperity to the town, which incorporated for the first time in 1925, and again in the late 1990s.

Developers decided that the name, Survey, lacked sales appeal, so the town was renamed Bonita Springs. New attractions helped bring more visitors to Bonita Springs. At Everglades Wonder Gardens, Bill and Lester Piper displayed panthers, bears, and other native Florida animals and supplied rare animals to the Chicago Zoo. A Canadian, Harold Crant saw the millions of shells lying, free for the taking, knee-deep in brilliantly colored windrows along the beaches and opened the Shell Factory. The factory burned down in the early 40s but was rebuilt later in North Fort Myers.

Today, Bonita Springs is a glittering place with lovely homes, fine restaurants and world class shopping.

Choose from the following to find out more about:

• Accommodations
• Attractions
• Dining
• Fishing
• Golf
• Government
• History
• Map
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• Schools
• Shopping
• Spa and Fitness

 

Bonita Springs Area Chamber of Commerce
25971 Chamber of Commerce Dr.
Bonita Springs, FL 34135
(239) 992-2943
www.bonitaspringschamber.com