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  Location within Florida | |
| Location | 900 West Marion Ave, Punta Gorda, Florida, USA |
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| Coordinates | 26°56′08″N82°03′10″W / 26.93569°N 82.05281°W |
| Website | Military Heritage Museum |
The Military Heritage Museum is a military museum in Punta Gorda, Florida.
The museum first opened as the Florida Military Heritage Museum at a storefront in Fishermen's Village on Pearl Harbor Day, 2001. In 2003, it merged with a local aviation museum located at Charlotte County Airport, becoming the Military Heritage and Aviation Museum. [1] Because its lease had run out, the museum was forced to relocate to another location within Punta Gorda in 2005, but it eventually returned to Fishermen's Village in September 2007, in a new location three times as large as the previous. [2] In April 2018, it unveiled plans to move to the IMPAC building, [3] a former business training center located on West Marion Avenue, and began renovating the theater and outfitting two floors of the building with flight simulators and other interactive exhibits. The new location officially opened in April 2019. [4] [5]
The museum contains its own library, which contains over five thousand volumes of military history, technology, biographies, and narratives.
Charlotte County is a U.S. county located in southwestern Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 186,847. Its county seat is Punta Gorda.
Port Charlotte is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in Charlotte County, Florida, United States. The population was 60,625 at the 2020 census, up from 54,392 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Punta Gorda, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, included in the North Port-Bradenton, Florida Combined Statistical Area.
Boca Grande is a small residential community on Gasparilla Island in southwest Florida. Gasparilla Island is a part of both Charlotte and Lee counties, while the actual village of Boca Grande, which is home to many seasonal and some year-round residents, is entirely in the Lee County portion of the island. It is part of the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. Boca Grande is known for its historic downtown, sugar sand beaches, blue water and world class fishing.
The Seminole Gulf Railway is a short line freight and passenger excursion railroad headquartered in Fort Myers, Florida, that operates two former CSX Transportation railroad lines in Southwest Florida. The company's Fort Myers Division, which was previously the southernmost segment of CSX's Fort Myers Subdivision, runs from Arcadia south to North Naples via Punta Gorda, Fort Myers, Estero, and Bonita Springs. The company's other line, the Sarasota Division, runs from Oneco south through Sarasota. Seminole Gulf acquired the lines in November 1987 and operates its own equipment. The company's first train departed Fort Myers on November 14, 1987.
Southwest Florida is the region along the southwest Gulf coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is known for its beaches, subtropical landscape, and winter resort economy.
Charlotte Harbor Estuary, the second largest bay in Florida, is located on the Gulf of Mexico coast of west Florida with two thirds lying in Charlotte County, Florida and one in Lee County. The harbor's mouth is located behind Gasparilla Island, one of the many coastal barrier islands on the southwest coast of Florida, with access from the Gulf of Mexico through the Boca Grande Pass between Gasparilla Island on the north and Lacosta Island on the south. Charlotte Harbor covers about 270 sq mi (700 km2)
Punta Gorda Airport is a public airport three miles east of Punta Gorda, in Charlotte County, Florida. It is owned by the Charlotte County Airport Authority and was formerly called Charlotte County Airport. The airport has mainly been used for general aviation, but has recently seen more scheduled airline service, with flights offered by Allegiant Air to fifty-one destinations.
The Florida Southern Railway was a railway that operated in Florida in the late 1800s. It was one of Florida's three notable narrow gauge railways when it was built along with the South Florida Railway and the Orange Belt Railway. The Florida Southern was originally chartered to run from Lake City south through central Florida to Charlotte Harbor. However, with the influence of Henry B. Plant, it operated with two discontinuous segments that would be part of the Plant System, which would later become part of the Atlantic Coast Line Railway.
Punta Gorda is a city located in Southwest Florida and is the county seat of Charlotte County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. Census the city had a population of 19,471, up from 16,641 at the 2010 census. Punta Gorda is the principal city of the Punta Gorda, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, part of the North Port-Bradenton Florida Combined Statistical Area.
ShorePoint Health Punta Gorda, is a for-profit hospital in Punta Gorda, Florida, owned by Community Health Systems.
Punta Gorda Fish Co. was a fishing company established in the late 19th century in Punta Gorda, Florida. At least ten of the fish shacks and icehouses built by the company have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Barron Collier Bridge is a bridge in Charlotte County, Florida that crosses the Peace River connecting Punta Gorda, Florida and Port Charlotte, Florida. It is 45 feet tall and carries two northbound lanes of U.S. Route 41. The southbound lanes cross the river on the adjacent Gilchrist Bridge. It was named for Barron G. Collier, a wealthy Southwest Florida land owner and entrepreneur.
The Blanchard House Museum is an African-American history museum in a historic former home in Punta Gorda, Charlotte County, Florida. It specializes in African-American history of Charlotte County and Southwest Florida.
The Punta Gorda Linear Park is a mile-long rail trail in Punta Gorda, Florida. It runs from Cross Street near Helen Avenue southeast though a residential neighborhood to Fishermen's Village. Despite its short length, it connects to the Harborwalk at Fishermen's Village, which runs an additional two and a half miles northeast along the Peace River. It also connects to Punta Gorda's Shared-Use Path along Shreve Street.
Fishermen's Village is a waterfront shopping, entertainment, and resort complex located along Charlotte Harbor in Punta Gorda, Florida. It includes over 30 shops and restaurants and The Suites accommodations located on the second floor. It also includes a full service marina. Live music and other forms of entertainment are also common at Fishermen's Village
Charles Phillip Bailey Sr. was a U.S. Army Air Force officer and one of the Tuskegee Airmen's most decorated combat fighter pilots. He was Florida's first African American fighter pilot. He flew 133 missions over Europe and North Africa, and was credited with shooting down two enemy aircraft.
The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad's Lakeland—Fort Myers Line was one of the railroad company's secondary main lines in Central and Southwest Florida. It was built incrementally in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Parts of the line are still active today.
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