Calaboose – c.1889:

​

Back in 1886, Punta Gorda—then called Trabue—had a reputation as a rowdy and unruly place. Tired of the boisterous cowboys and fishermen who partied and caused trouble every Saturday night, the town leaders decided they needed to take action.

​

In pursuit of improved municipal security, the town acquired a portable steel-barred enclosure known as a "calaboose." Manufactured by E. T. Barnum Wire and Iron Works of Detroit, Michigan, the steel lattice cage was purchased for nearly $200 and functioned as the city jail between 1889 and 1928. The calaboose was stored in a shed behind the city Marshal’s residence on Taylor Street, the current location of the Charlotte County Courthouse.

​

The calaboose had iron bands, an iron roof, two fold-down bunks at each end, and swinging doors secured with a padlock.

 

Afterward, this primitive jail was used on Jim and Patsy Parker’s Washington Loop Ranch as a livestock pen. The Parkers donated the calaboose in January 2000 to the Punta Gorda Historical Society in honor of Jim’s father, Edwin M. Parker, who was Mayor of Punta Gorda in 1941.