www.yoursun.com Page 17
"There was a fish co-op
over here in the '40s, and
when the hurricane came
along, it blew the building
away and sunk all the
boats," Tim Birdsey said.
"They moved over here and
started in the live shrimp
business."
Jack Pearson and his
wife Minnie started the
Englewood Cooperative
Fisheries Ltd. with 22 other
fishermen in 1944, according
to Englewood historian
Diana Harris. A co-op, it was
declared a first for the state
of Florida.
However, it was in busi-
ness for only six months.
Disaster struck when the
unnamed 1944 hurricane
wrecked all the fishermen's
boats and nets and nearly
destroyed the building and
its docks.
FISHING
FROM PAGE 16A
PHOTO COURTESY OF DIANA HARRIS
The 1944 hurricane put the short-lived co-op out of business. It had lasted only six months. The shermen expected the storm would
be coming from the Gulf, so they took their boats and put them under the Gottfried Creek Bridge on the side where they thought
they would be safe. The wind turned and wrecked every single boat anchored in the creek. In this photo the co-op sh house as seen
from the old wooden bridge, now the Bill Anger Fishing Pier. It remained as a bait house. It was called Minnie Pearson's Bait house
and became a landmark in town.
FISHING | 18A
IT'S NOT LIKE HOME.
IT IS HOME.
™
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