Master’s Grove

The area along both sides of Stringfellow Road just south of Flamingo Bay used to be the community of Master’s Grove in the 1920s.  It stretched from west side of Pine Island to the far east side.  The area was planted with 135 acres of fruit trees.  The community was comprised mostly of the people who worked in the groves.  There were some homes there for the workers, warehouses and a dock on the east side at Matlacha Pass for loading the barges that the Kinzie Brothers Steamer Line would tow over from Fort Myers.

As the community grew, they added a school for the children of the workers.  The first teacher was Mrs. Irene Mickel, who lived in St. James City.  The Master Grove Foreman, Corbell Keene, loaned Mrs. Micket his brand new Model T Ford to commute back and forth.  She only taught one year until her husband made her quit because he was dead set against her working.

After the death of Mr. Masters in the 1940s, the groves declined and parcels were sold off.  Today the Lee County Electric Cooperative power lines come across Matlacha Pass to their sub station located on the property.

Credit Elaine Jordon in Pine Island  the Forgotten Island

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