City identity
City identity
Fort Myers Beach wears its history openly — from Calusa shell mounds to Cuban fishing camps to the boom-bust cycles of Florida development. Incorporated in 1995 (making it younger than most of its buildings), this Estero Island town built its identity around shrimping boats and beach bars long before city limits were drawn. The 1920s brought the first bridge and casinos; the 2020s brought Hurricane Ian and a community-wide rebuild that's still writing itself. Today's Fort Myers Beach blends year-round locals who remember when Times Square wasn't quite so crowded with seasonal residents who come for the same waterfront restaurants and Gulf access that drew people here a century ago. The population of 5,582 tells only part of the story — this is a town that expands and contracts with the calendar, where 'local' can mean third-generation shrimper or third-winter snowbird.
