In an effort to encourage settlement, the Homestead Act was passed in 1862 and Southwest Florida was platted in 1875 to enable the deeding of properties. Americans occupying unsettled lands for five years, and demonstrating improvements, were granted land.
In 1889, the Gilbert Family settled on the Mound House grounds, built three structures and in 1895 was granted approximately 170 acres by then President Harrison. The Gilbert family was associated with a utopian religious community known as the Koreshan Unity, which owned properties around Estero Bay. The exact nature of the relationship between Robert Burton Gilbert, the original homesteader, and the Koreshan Unity is not known. Robert Burton's eldest son, Robert Burnhardt Gilbert married Rose Mary Welton in 1897. Rose Mary became a member of the Koreshan community in Moravia, New York through her mother prior to the relocation of the settlement in Estero. Shortly after their marriage, Robert and Rose left southwest Florida and settled in Miami. By 1900, Rose Mary returned to Moravia to give birth to their son Francis Deane Gilbert and eventually returned to the Koreshan settlement in Estero prior to her divorce in 1903. The Mound House parcel was transferred to the Koreshan Unity Cooperative in 1909 for a sum of $1,000.
The property was deeded over to William Harrison Case and his wife Milia the same year, although they were already living on the mound and had erected a small Tudor-style structure that served as a kitchen and dining room. The Case's lived on a houseboat tied to the docks adjacent to the property in Matanzas Pass. The Cases' son, Henry Carleton Case, was listed on the Koreshan register and may have served as a personal assistant to Cyrus Teed. In 1909, the Tudor structure was expanded to include a front sitting room with fireplace and a sleeping loft. This section of the Mound House represents the oldest standing structure on Estero Island. The property was locally known as the "Bungalow by the Banyan". In truth, the banyan is a strangler fig tree, but it too still stands testament of this time gone by.
In many ways life for the homesteaders was much the same as their Calusa counterparts. Transportation networks were aquatically focused so that inland bays and rivers served as liquid highways. Mr. Case served as post master as the mail moved by boat. There were few roads and railways.
The twenties marked Florida’s first land boom. Southwest Florida’s idyllic climate and beautiful beaches became a playground for the rich and famous. Gambling houses and dance pavilions were built on Estero Island and little cottages dotted the dunes behind "Crescent Beach." A bridge was built connecting the beach to the dirt roads that ran to Fort Myers and beyond. Intellectual entrepreneurs such as Ford and Edison explored avenues of science and many of their experiments incorporated the advantages of the sub-tropical environment. Meanwhile, Flagler pushed his rail line south from New York to Miami, and Henry Plant ran his rail lines down to Florida’s southwest coast connecting Chicago to Tampa and Punta Gorda. The rail lines spurred agricultural intensification and land development, but they were also limited in size and bottle-necked the flow of needed construction supplies.
In 1921, a man by the name of Captain Jack DeLysle was arrested off the shores of Naples for smuggling rum from Cuba. Four months later he was acquitted and an active and popular local entrepreneur. He moved into the Mound House, more than doubled it in size, and the Mound House became the first electrified structure on Estero Island. He also built a casino known as the Seminole Sands on the Gulf of Mexico at Connecticut Street.
After the hurricanes of 1921 and 1926, several of the barrier island settlements were abandoned including the one on Mound Key. Why some island sites were abandoned while others pervaded would make an interesting study. In some instances, such as on Mound Key, "hermit" type squatters moved onto the abandoned sites and lived in apparent isolation. By the late twenties the land-boom had burst and Florida’s idyllic climate was also recognized to be dangerous.
In the late 1940's the Mound House grounds changed ownership several times, and in 1947 became known as the Shell Mound Experiment Station, which was run by a group of "retired" scientists and scholars affiliated with the James Foundation. These individuals worked in the vein of Edison and Ford in the early 1900's. The board was comprised of an impressive group of engineers, geologists, mathematicians, and Jay N. 'Ding' Darling served on the board as their ornithologist. Their list of inventions is impressive. They found that kelp served as a cure for arthritis and, when rubbed into the hulls of wooden boats, prevented barnacle growth. They invented a portable aluminum grill and windows that reflected UV light and prevented solar damage to furniture and excessive heat buildup inside of homes. They discovered that the fibers of palmetto could be used to construct fire-resistant panels and bricks. They also developed slow-release fertilizer mats made from 'trash' fish that combated the effects of excessive leaching from heavy summer rains. Finally, they also discovered how to make frozen concentrate orange juice - a technique later perfected on the mainland. With the death of Dr. James, his widow sold the property in 1951 to William and Florence Long.
With the advent of the air conditioner, development and population growth in the south and Florida increased at a rate never seen before.
The Longs were the last family to reside at the Mound House, but they, too, left their mark on the landscape. Mr. Long was a retired developer, but no more retired than had been the scientists of the James Foundation who preceded him. Between 1953 and 1959 Mr. Long bulldozed much of the shell mound and dug a series of canals, developing Shell Mound Park Subdivision. Mr. Long died in 1966 while Mrs. Long lived on the property until her death in 1994.
During the 1960s much of Florida’s east coast and sections of the Everglades were densely developed. The U.S. Departments of Environmental Protection and the Interior became concerned about development impacts to wetlands and teamed up with the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration to better define and protect wetlands. In 1969, when General Development Corporation proposed a major development project around Estero Bay, the watershed became a battleground. The result was the formation of the Estero Bay Buffer preserve in 1973.
The development of Fort Myers Beach has continued to the present day where year round and seasonal residents coexist with a vibrant business community oriented to the steady stream of island visitors. As early as 1935 the residents of Fort Myers Beach began discussing incorporation. However, Lee County's approval of high rise development on Estero Island brought incorporation efforts to a successful passage. In 1995 a referendum passed to incorporate Estero Island as a means to engage citizens of the island in the preservation of their own small town character. After legislation was enacted by the State of Florida, on December 31st, 1995 the Town of Fort Myers Beach was born.