About the Estero, Florida Area 

Estero is a unique city of approximately 23,929 people, known for its relaxed lifestyle, natural beauty and top-notch amenities. This city has pristine Florida beaches, as well as excellent schools and healthcare facilities, and a thriving business community. It is a haven of unlimited recreational opportunities, fine dining, and numerous performing arts centers, museums and art galleries. Everything you could want is here in Estero.  

Location 

Estero is located in Lee County, in the Cape Coral-Fort Myers metro area on the southwest Florida Gulf Coast. Ideally situated between Naples and Bonita Springs to the south and Fort Myers to the north, the city offers easy access to I-75 and U.S. 41, the area’s major north-south corridors. 

Estero is located 106 miles southeast of Saint Petersburg, 105 miles west of Fort Lauderdale, and 147 miles southwest of Orlando. 

Geography 

Estero has a total area of 21.1 square miles, 21 square miles of which is land and 0.1 square miles, or 0.24% of which is water. It sits at an altitude of 11 feet. The city is situated on the scenic, spring-fed Estero River, which flows to Estero Bay, a treasured and protected aquatic preserve. 

Jobs 

Estero is a thriving business community. Educational, health and social services provide16.2% of the employment here, retail trade provides15.4%, finance, insurance, real estate, and rental and leasing provide 12.2%, arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation and food services provide12.0%, professional, scientific, management, administrative services provide 11.4%, and construction provides 11.0%. 

The major employers in the area are: Lee County School District Public Schools; Lee Memorial Health System; Publix Super Markets Grocer; Lee County Administration; Wal-Mart Corporation; SWFL Regional Medical Center Hospital; Bonita Bay Group; Lee County Sheriff's Office; and U.S. Postal Service. 

Unemployment in Estero is 3.3%, and the average time to travel to work is 28.2 minutes.

Housing  

Estero offers a wealth of housing options, with an impressive collection of gated communities featuring estate homes, villa homes, and condos. The median price for a condo is $299,950 and $440,000 for a single-family home. Single home prices range from $400,000 to over $3.500,000, while attached villas and condos range from $250,000 to over $700,000. The overall median home price in the area is $378,100. 

Recreation 

Estero offers unlimited recreational opportunities, enhanced by its year-round sunshine. Some of the sports offered are hockey, basketball, football and ice-skating. And of course, there are golf courses and white sandy beaches. Estero has tennis courts, miles of bike paths, canoe and nature trails, the scenic Estero River and the shimmering Gulf of Mexico, just minutes away.  

Estero is a haven of natural beauty with its nature preserves and parks. The Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve is the first aquatic preserve established in Florida and is home to a wide variety of wildlife, including the bald eagle. You can canoe or kayak in the bay or on the Estero River. Miles of trails are available for hiking, biking, or studying the wildlife and native vegetation. 

Little Estero Island is a favorite spot for birders, and it is an important over-wintering area for at least 68 species of shore and wading birds.  

At the Koreshan State Historic Site you can fish, picnic, boat, and hike.  

Mound Key Archeological State Park is an island in Estero Bay framed in forests of mangrove trees, while the shell mounds and ridges rise more than 30 feet above the water. A trail with interpretive displays spans the entire width of the island. 

For enthusiastic golfers, Estero has its share of excellent golf courses. These include semi-private courses; Pelican Sound Golf and River Club, and the Villages at Country Creek, as well as private courses; Fountain Lakes, The Club at Grandezza, West Bay Golf Club and Wildcat Country Club. There is also the Miromar Lakes Golf Club Resort. The Pelican Sound Golf and River Club features 27-holes of championship golf, with rolling terrain, which is unusual for Southwest Florida. In 1999 the course hosted a qualifying round for the Senior PGA Tour Ace Classic.  

Special Attractions/Events 

Estero is home to Miromar Mall, Florida Gulf Coast University and the Germain Arena. Miromar is a 70-acre, 700,000-square-foot outlet center.  

The Germain Arena, which houses up to 6,500 people, is the home of the Florida Everblades professional hockey team, the Sea Dragons basketball team, and the Firecats, a minor league arena football team. 

Estero Community Park will soon be opened to the public as a lush recreation area. The first phase includes a 37,000 square foot recreation center and a new amphitheater, which will definitely bring the "Arts" to Estero. The Park will have four lakes, picnic shelters, horseshoe pits, bocce courts, and a dog park. Soccer fields will be constructed on an additional 10 acres where the park property meets the Estero High School football field. 

Florida Gulf Coast University, is just minutes away from Estero, as is Southwest Florida International Airport. 

And of course, all the amenities and activities offered in Cape Coral and Fort Myers are readily available to Estero residents and visitors. 

Interesting Facts/Historic Buildings and Places 

Estero was inhabited thousands of years ago by ancient tribes of Native Americans called Calusa, who fished the Gulf and established settlements in the area. In the 1500’s Spanish explorers, like Ponce de Leon, and also pirates, sailed these coastal waters. They named this area “Estero,” the Spanish word for estuary.  

The Calusa drove back the Spanish but were eventually conquered by European diseases such as smallpox and influenza which spread like wildfire among these sheltered tribes. The last known Calusa died in the late 1700’s. 

By the mid 1800’s, Florida was a land of opportunity for pioneer families who came and raised citrus and cattle. One of Lee County’s early pioneers, Frank Johnson, settled on Mound Key and began excavating the historic site, gathering Calusa artifacts and gold left behind by the Spaniards. 

Mound Key is a mangrove-ringed island that dominates Estero Bay. The Calusa are credited with creating its complex of mounds with seashells, fish bones, and pottery. In 1566, the Spanish governor of Florida created a settlement on the island with a fort and the first Jesuit mission in the Spanish New World. However, it was abandoned three years later after violent clashes with the Indians. 

Some of the earliest European settlers of the area, the Alvarez, Fernandez, Johnson, and Soto families, were fishing families that lived on Mound Key. During the early 20th century, they moved upriver to the Estero settlement.
Until the 1970's, most settlement and development in Estero was near the river. 

In 1904, the Koreshans, a celibate Utopian society who had settled by the Estero River, built a post office at their settlement and Estero officially became a town. The four last Koreshans deeded the property to the State of Florida in 1961. Currently, the Koreshan State Historic Site includes several preserved buildings.  

Estero is the birthplace of Kevin Spicer, a college basketball player for the Alabama State Hornets. 

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