Edison and Ford Winter Estates
Encyclopedia
The Edison and Ford Winter Estates contain a historical museum
and 17 acre (6.9 hectares) botanical garden
on the adjacent sites of the winter homes of Thomas Alva Edison
and Henry Ford
beside the Caloosahatchee River
in southwestern Florida
. It is located at 2350 McGregor Boulevard, Fort Myers, Florida
, USA
. It is open daily from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm, including Sundays.
and a 400 feet (121.9 m) banyan tree
given by Harvey Firestone
in 1925. It was originally an experimental garden for industrial products. Later Mrs. Edison gave the garden an aesthetic turn with plantings of rose
s, orchids and bromeliads.
At present the collections include: Acalypha hispida, Arenga pinnata
, Artocarpus heterophyllus
, Billbergia
spp., Blighia sapida, Bougainvillea glabra
, Bougainvillea
spectabilis, Calliandra
haematocephala
, Cananga odorata
, Cattleya
hybrid, Cattleya
spp., Chorisia speciosa, Citrus
spp., Clerodendrum
speciosissimum
, Cordyline terminalis, Cycad
spp., Dendrobium
, Dombeya
spp., Epidendrum ciliare, Ficus
auriculata, Ficus benghalensis
, Ficus
saussureana, Hibiscus schizopetalus
, Holmskioldia
sanguinea
, Ibosa riparia, Ixora
chinensis, Kigelia africana
, Leea
coccinea, Malvaviscus arboreus
, Musa
spp., Parmentiera cereifera, Plumbago auriculata
, Solandra
nitida, Spathoglottis plicata
, Tabernaemontana corymbosa
, Tecoma stans
, Thunbergia
erecta
, Tibouchina semidecandra, and hundreds more.
), Edison became concerned that the cost of rubber was going to drastically rise. He was aware that the cost of production and transportation of this good would, over time, go up, so he began to work with Harvey Firestone and his already good friend Henry Ford to try to find a crop that could grow quickly and, above all, contain enough latex to support his research endeavor. In 1927, the three men contributed $25,000 each and created the Edison Botanic Research Corporation in an attempt to find the "solution" to the rubber crisis. In 1928, the final location of the EBRC was constructed and was the predominant laboratory utilized in this corporation. It was in Fort Myers, Florida that Mr. Edison would do the majority of his research and planting of his exotic plants and trees, sending any results or sample rubber residues up to West Orange, New Jersey
, to his large Thomas A. Edison "Invention Factory".
It was not until later in Edison's life (around 1928) that they finally deduced that the weed Goldenrod (Solidago leavenworthii) was the best producer of latex. Much work would be conducted for months on this plant after this conclusion came about. From distillation of chemicals, to the vulcanization of the wet residues produced, anything and everything was attempted by Edison and his workers.
Although herculean efforts were put forward to the EBRC (both financially and physical labor from the workers), the project failed to find the solution they were looking for. The office/laboratory in Fort Myers shut down in 1934 and the remaining laboratory in West Orange diminished in 1936. Despite Edison's desires, the research was not able to produce rubber from a plant on a large enough scale to deem it economically feasible or commercially successful.
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
and 17 acre (6.9 hectares) botanical garden
Botanical garden
A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...
on the adjacent sites of the winter homes of Thomas Alva Edison
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...
and Henry Ford
Henry Ford
Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...
beside the Caloosahatchee River
Caloosahatchee River
The Caloosahatchee River is a river on the southwest Gulf Coast of Florida in the United States, approximately long. It drains rural areas on the northern edge of the Everglades northwest of Miami...
in southwestern Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. It is located at 2350 McGregor Boulevard, Fort Myers, Florida
Fort Myers, Florida
Fort Myers is the county seat and commercial center of Lee County, Florida, United States. Its population was 62,298 in the 2010 census, a 29.23 percent increase over the 2000 figure....
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is open daily from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm, including Sundays.
History
The present site dates from 1885, when Edison first visited Florida and purchased the property to build a vacation home. His home, completed in 1887 and dubbed "Seminole Lodge", served as a winter retreat and place of relaxation until Edison's death in 1931. Edison’s good friend Henry Ford purchased the adjoining property in 1916 where he purchased "The Mangoes" from Robert Smith of New York. Ford's craftsman style bungalow was built in 1911 by Smith. In 1947, Mrs. Mina Edison deeded the property to the City of Fort Myers in memory of her husband for the enjoyment of the public. It was opened for public tours in 1950. By 1988, the adjacent Henry Ford winter estate was purchased and opened for public tours in 1990. In 2003, the governance of the site was transferred from the City to a new non-profit corporation, Thomas Edison & Henry Ford Winter Estates, Inc. (dba Edison & Ford Winter Estates, Inc) whose mission is to protect, preserve and interpret the site and future growth and development. The new corporation successfully completed a $10 million restoration project in 2006. A separate fundraising arm, Edison-Ford Winter Estates Foundation, Inc., was created to assist the restoration project with no function in governance, programming or development but rather to assist the governing board with the initial restoration.Gardens
Edison's botanical garden contains more than a thousand varieties of plants from around the world, including African Sausage TreesKigelia
Kigelia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Bignoniaceae. The genus comprises only one species, Kigelia africana, which occurs throughout tropical Africa from Eritrea and Chad south to northern South Africa, and west to Senegal and Namibia.-Etymology:The genus name comes from the...
and a 400 feet (121.9 m) banyan tree
Banyan
A banyan is a fig that starts its life as an epiphyte when its seeds germinate in the cracks and crevices on a host tree...
given by Harvey Firestone
Harvey Firestone
Harvey Samuel Firestone was an American businessman, and the founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, one of the first global makers of automobile tires.-Family background:...
in 1925. It was originally an experimental garden for industrial products. Later Mrs. Edison gave the garden an aesthetic turn with plantings of rose
Rose
A rose is a woody perennial of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae. There are over 100 species. They form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles. Flowers are large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows...
s, orchids and bromeliads.
At present the collections include: Acalypha hispida, Arenga pinnata
Arenga pinnata
Arenga pinnata is an economically important feather palm native to tropical Asia, from eastern India east to Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines in the east...
, Artocarpus heterophyllus
Jackfruit
The jackfruit is a species of tree in the Artocarpus genus of the mulberry family . It is native to parts of Southern and Southeast Asia. It is the national fruit of Bangladesh, . The jackfruit tree is believed to be indigenous to the southwestern rain forests of India...
, Billbergia
Billbergia
Billbergia is a genus of the botanical family Bromeliaceae, subfamily Bromelioideae. The genus is named for the Swedish botanist, zoologist, and anatomist Gustaf Johan Billberg. This genus is divided into two subgenera: Billbergia and Helicodea...
spp., Blighia sapida, Bougainvillea glabra
Bougainvillea glabra
Paper Flower , also known as lesser bougainvillea, is the most common species used for bonsai. It has shiny green, slightly hairy leaves and magenta colored bracts....
, Bougainvillea
Bougainvillea
Bougainvillea is a genus of flowering plants native to South America from Brazil west to Peru and south to southern Argentina . Different authors accept between four and 18 species in the genus...
spectabilis, Calliandra
Calliandra
Calliandra is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae, subfamily Mimosoideae. It contains about 200 species that are native to tropical and subtropical regions of southern Asia, Africa, Australia and the Americas.-Biological description:...
haematocephala
Calliandra haematocephala
Calliandra haematocephala is a species of flowering plants of the genus Calliandra in the Fabaceae family.-References:*...
, Cananga odorata
Ylang-ylang
Cananga odorata, commonly called Ylang-ylang , cananga tree, ilang-ilang, kenanga , fragrant cananga, Macassar-oil plant or perfume tree),is a tree valued for its perfume...
, Cattleya
Cattleya
Cattleya is a genus of 113 species of orchids from Costa Rica to tropical South America. The genus was named in 1824 by John Lindley after Sir William Cattley who received and successfully cultivated specimens of Cattleya labiata that were used as packing material in a shipment of other orchids...
hybrid, Cattleya
Cattleya
Cattleya is a genus of 113 species of orchids from Costa Rica to tropical South America. The genus was named in 1824 by John Lindley after Sir William Cattley who received and successfully cultivated specimens of Cattleya labiata that were used as packing material in a shipment of other orchids...
spp., Chorisia speciosa, Citrus
Citrus
Citrus is a common term and genus of flowering plants in the rue family, Rutaceae. Citrus is believed to have originated in the part of Southeast Asia bordered by Northeastern India, Myanmar and the Yunnan province of China...
spp., Clerodendrum
Clerodendrum
Clerodendrum is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae. Its common names include glorybower, bagflower and bleeding-heart...
speciosissimum
Clerodendrum speciosissimum
Clerodendrum speciosissimum is a tropical shrub of the family of Verbena, originally from Java.- Description :The shrub can reach up to 4 m. The leaves are square-shaped, and the large heart-shaped flowers can reach up to 30 cm. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant, in particular for its bright...
, Cordyline terminalis, Cycad
Cycad
Cycads are seed plants typically characterized by a stout and woody trunk with a crown of large, hard and stiff, evergreen leaves. They usually have pinnate leaves. The individual plants are either all male or all female . Cycads vary in size from having a trunk that is only a few centimeters...
spp., Dendrobium
Dendrobium
Dendrobium is a huge genus of orchids. It was established by Olof Swartz in 1799 and today contains about 1,200 species. The genus occurs in diverse habitats throughout much of south, east and southeast Asia, including the Philippines, Borneo, Australia, New Guinea, Solomon Islands and New Zealand...
, Dombeya
Dombeya
Dombeya is a flowering plant genus. Traditionally included in the family Sterculiaceae, it is included in the expanded Malvaceae in the APG and most subsequent systematics. These plants are known by a number of vernacular names which sometimes, misleadingly, allude to the superficial similarity of...
spp., Epidendrum ciliare, Ficus
Ficus
Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemiepiphyte in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The Common Fig Ficus is a genus of...
auriculata, Ficus benghalensis
Ficus benghalensis
Ficus benghalensis, the banyan, is a large and extensive growing tree of the Indian subcontinent. Ficus benghalensis produces propagating roots which grow downwards as aerial roots. Once these roots reach the ground, they grow into woody trunks that can become indistinguishable from the main...
, Ficus
Ficus
Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemiepiphyte in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The Common Fig Ficus is a genus of...
saussureana, Hibiscus schizopetalus
Hibiscus schizopetalus
BotanyHibiscus schizopetalus is a species of Hibiscus native to tropical eastern Africa in Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique.It is a shrub growing to 3 m tall. The red or pink flowers are very distinctive in their frilly, finely divided petals...
, Holmskioldia
Holmskioldia
Holmskioldia is a genus of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae.-Name:The genus name is derived from Johan Theodor Holmskiold , a Danish and botanist...
sanguinea
Holmskioldia sanguinea
Holmskioldia sanguinea, whose common names include Chinese hat plant, cup-and-saucer-plant or mandarin's hat, is a plant species in the genus Holmskioldia found in tropical Asia. The plant contains oroxindin, a type of polyphenolic compound. It is grown as an ornamental shrub in tropical and...
, Ibosa riparia, Ixora
Ixora
Ixora is a genus of flowering plants in the Rubiaceae family. It consists of tropical evergreen trees and shrubs and holds around 500 species. Though native to the tropical and subtropical areas throughout the world, its centre of diversity is in Tropical Asia. Ixora also grows commonly in...
chinensis, Kigelia africana
Kigelia
Kigelia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Bignoniaceae. The genus comprises only one species, Kigelia africana, which occurs throughout tropical Africa from Eritrea and Chad south to northern South Africa, and west to Senegal and Namibia.-Etymology:The genus name comes from the...
, Leea
Leea
Leea is a genus of plants that are distributed throughout Northern and eastern Australia, New Guinea, South and Southeast Asia and parts of Africa. Leea contains approximately 70 species and is placed in the Vitaceae family. The APG II system places Leea in the subfamily Leeoideae...
coccinea, Malvaviscus arboreus
Malvaviscus arboreus
Malvaviscus arboreus is a species of flowering plant in the hibiscus family, Malvaceae, that is native to the Southeastern United States, Mexico, Central America, and South America. The specific name, arboreus, refers to the tree-like appearance of a mature plant...
, Musa
Musa (genus)
Musa is one of three genera in the family Musaceae; it includes bananas and plantains. There are over 50 species of Musa with a broad variety of uses....
spp., Parmentiera cereifera, Plumbago auriculata
Plumbago auriculata
Plumbago auriculata, also called Plumbago capensis, Blue plumbago, Cape plumbago or Cape leadwort, is a well known houseplant originally from South Africa....
, Solandra
Solandra
Solandra is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. It is named after the Swedish naturalist Daniel C. Solander....
nitida, Spathoglottis plicata
Spathoglottis plicata
Spathoglottis plicata or Large Purple Orchid is a species of terrestrial orchid found from tropical and subtropical Asia to the western Pacific including Tonga and Samoa....
, Tabernaemontana corymbosa
Tabernaemontana corymbosa
Tabernaemontana corymbosa is a species of plant in the Apocynaceae family. It is found in Brunei, China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.-References:...
, Tecoma stans
Tecoma stans
Tecoma stans is a species of flowering perennial shrub in the trumpet vine family, Bignoniaceae, that is native to the Americas. Common names include Yellow Trumpetbush, Yellow Bells , Yellow Elder, Ginger-thomas, and Esperanza...
, Thunbergia
Thunbergia
Thunbergia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Acanthaceae, native to tropical regions of Africa, Madagascar and southern Asia. Its members are known by various names, including thunbergias; clockvine on its own usually refers to Thunbergia grandiflora, while Thunbergia alata is often...
erecta
Thunbergia erecta
Thunbergia erecta is a herbaceous perennial climbing plant species in the genus Thunbergia native to western Africa and Asia....
, Tibouchina semidecandra, and hundreds more.
Rubber Laboratory
During the period of 1914-1918 (World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
), Edison became concerned that the cost of rubber was going to drastically rise. He was aware that the cost of production and transportation of this good would, over time, go up, so he began to work with Harvey Firestone and his already good friend Henry Ford to try to find a crop that could grow quickly and, above all, contain enough latex to support his research endeavor. In 1927, the three men contributed $25,000 each and created the Edison Botanic Research Corporation in an attempt to find the "solution" to the rubber crisis. In 1928, the final location of the EBRC was constructed and was the predominant laboratory utilized in this corporation. It was in Fort Myers, Florida that Mr. Edison would do the majority of his research and planting of his exotic plants and trees, sending any results or sample rubber residues up to West Orange, New Jersey
West Orange, New Jersey
West Orange is a township in central Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 46,207...
, to his large Thomas A. Edison "Invention Factory".
It was not until later in Edison's life (around 1928) that they finally deduced that the weed Goldenrod (Solidago leavenworthii) was the best producer of latex. Much work would be conducted for months on this plant after this conclusion came about. From distillation of chemicals, to the vulcanization of the wet residues produced, anything and everything was attempted by Edison and his workers.
Although herculean efforts were put forward to the EBRC (both financially and physical labor from the workers), the project failed to find the solution they were looking for. The office/laboratory in Fort Myers shut down in 1934 and the remaining laboratory in West Orange diminished in 1936. Despite Edison's desires, the research was not able to produce rubber from a plant on a large enough scale to deem it economically feasible or commercially successful.