Pine Island: Old Florida in the New Millennium | Untold Stories

Pine Island: Old Florida in the New Millennium | Untold Stories

You could almost call Pine Island the “anti-Florida. No crowed beaches. No high rise condos. No fancy resorts. No sprawling subdivisions. But to these who live there, it represents all that Florida used to be. It’s more than just an island; it’s a way of life, much as it’s been since the first white settler put down roots in 1873.

The sunshine state has a rich and colorful history. For hundreds of years the state has attracted dreamers, opportunists, inventors and fortune-seekers. WGCU’s Untold Stories aims to preserve the history of Southwest Florida communities.

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Pine Island: Old Florida in the New Millennium | Untold Stories
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50 Comments

  1. Brandy Fromdaburg on February 21, 2022 at 7:43 am

    Great. Now people are going to rush to pine island and turn it into another wasteland of condos and McMansions.

  2. Ronnie Delahoussaye Chauvin on February 21, 2022 at 7:48 am

    I never heard of Pine Island.

  3. Tigger on February 21, 2022 at 7:51 am

    I miss Phil ❤️

  4. ScoriacTears on February 21, 2022 at 7:52 am

    13:05 By my reckoning that’s about forty miles, now I could understand how it might take even longer through the Everglades or Big Cypress but I don’t understand how it could take three days from Pine Island to Fort Myers, what am I missing?

  5. Frank James English on February 21, 2022 at 7:54 am

    Great video thanks!! Such a beautiful natural wonder! My great grandfather Frank English moved there with a lot of our family in the early sixties after retiring from the family TV/Radio business our family had just south of the Detroit border several generations.. Still have some great photos of their fish and stories..

  6. DAM8658 on February 21, 2022 at 7:55 am

    A Winn-Dixie? I thought for certain a Publix would’ve been there instead.

  7. Nick Boles on February 21, 2022 at 7:55 am

    She says oh we dont know where they came from but the estuaries weren’t even formed until 6000 yrs ago. That’s when God made the Earth. The ENTIRE Bible is true. Jesus Christ is the way, truth, and life.

  8. ComplyOrDye on February 21, 2022 at 7:57 am

    At 2:05, what is that jumping in the water off that lady’s right ear?

  9. Jo on February 21, 2022 at 7:57 am

    Wonderful documentary.

  10. Keino Smith on February 21, 2022 at 7:58 am

    Show us on the map ..where ..pine lsland..is located

  11. sandie nesta on February 21, 2022 at 7:58 am

    dog on ice, that’s hot! thank you, for all these new videos being released!

  12. Robert J. Oliver on February 21, 2022 at 7:59 am

    um…um…um..

  13. George Streicher on February 21, 2022 at 8:00 am

    When I saw the title I thought of Pine Island NY which is close to Florida NY. I grew up in Orange county not far from these towns.

  14. SSHitMan on February 21, 2022 at 8:01 am

    2:01 blowup in the water as big fish chases smaller fish.

  15. JOANN CRANE on February 21, 2022 at 8:02 am

    my home, Bokeelia

  16. Christopher Liebler on February 21, 2022 at 8:03 am

    Wouldn’t it have been good to actually shell in the beginning where the hell Pine Island is

  17. echo davis on February 21, 2022 at 8:04 am

    We are not Indian we are Native Americans

  18. walt churchill on February 21, 2022 at 8:06 am

    Wow nearly a mirror image of my island Cedar Key, Fla. up the gulf a piece.

  19. DPL 26 on February 21, 2022 at 8:06 am

    Was considering moving to the island. It was the junkie, and trailer park atmosphere that turned me off…

  20. Dustin Welch on February 21, 2022 at 8:06 am

    Great documentary! I moved to St. James City in 1983 with my grandparents and will always cherish those years!

  21. Mariano Lim on February 21, 2022 at 8:07 am

    Note: As much as the current residents of Pine Island want to retain its "unique" culture… remember the Colusa Native american residents wanted to preserve their way of life and culture too….

  22. Contact Bixwiz_hack on Instagram on February 21, 2022 at 8:07 am

    In the 1970s and 1980s that was my favorite spot to fish pine island sound great snook trout redfish and tarpon fishing and flounder

  23. Dennis Budzynski on February 21, 2022 at 8:08 am

    M

  24. Jorge Toloza on February 21, 2022 at 8:10 am

    Grew up in Florida never knew Pine Island is the biggest island in Florida

  25. Eleventh Hour on February 21, 2022 at 8:11 am

    If the Caloosa were so superior, then why are they virtually extinct/no more? Isn’t the human immune system part of evolution? Slaves are made such against their will, etc?

  26. Jo on February 21, 2022 at 8:12 am

    Forty years ago we raised our children to appreciate nature and old Florida life. I am glad they had that experience.
    About 5 years Ago, I wanted to write a piece called Ding Darling Wildlife Sanctuary has lost its ding. Comparing what it was like decades ago to what it was becoming and what it is now, void of the wild life. It was sad to see a decline in the waters been altered and I won’t comment by who.

  27. Ron Leduc on February 21, 2022 at 8:13 am

    Aaaaaaaaa

  28. Benjamin O'Malley on February 21, 2022 at 8:14 am

    I love Pine Island

  29. Snook On the fly on February 21, 2022 at 8:14 am

    Our way of life is being strangled to death by “progress”.

  30. jim winters on February 21, 2022 at 8:17 am

    vince tapager is slow

  31. MADAM X on February 21, 2022 at 8:17 am

    pine island also was a huge mango plantation

  32. B WS on February 21, 2022 at 8:18 am

    "Soon as the Colusa Indians left Pine Island"…that’s a way to gloss over the total decimation of a people after thousands of years…

  33. Sonny Reeves on February 21, 2022 at 8:21 am

    We love SJC

  34. Gg Storm on February 21, 2022 at 8:22 am

    Loving these videos…thankypu

  35. Veve Dehavilland on February 21, 2022 at 8:23 am

    I live on pine island

  36. jackgoldman1 on February 21, 2022 at 8:24 am

    Wiped out by slavery? Do we know that or is that just a guess? Is there evidence or story telling here?

  37. SlightlY StAcY on February 21, 2022 at 8:25 am

    Love the history… as a native Floridian it’s a true source of pride so the more knowledge the better! Shalom from Plant 🌱 City…

  38. Jakeornot on February 21, 2022 at 8:25 am

    I wonder how islanders determine a newcomer who is welcomed as opposed to those they wish to prohibit, and how long it takes for them to make that decision.  When I lived in Florida in the mid-1990s, on the Gulf Coast, I witnessed the further destruction of natural habits – and in that I include "civilizing" natural paths and beaches – but, in particular, I witnessed a large, wild area destroyed in a matter of a few weeks, including the destruction of the nature-planted palm trees, and the rise of condos, and "imported" palm trees.  The emotional and psychological toll was severe and translated into physical illness as well.   At my stage of life, I am convinced that the only place to move and not be an "other" would be a borough of New York City, but I’d bet that no longer holds true either.  Besides, I am, by most standards, poor.  But I am no threat, either.  I don’t want places I have lived to change beyond their soul identities.  I’m glad I saw the video. That they haven’t been able to keep the palm tree growers out isn’t surprising.  But who would choose to live there… or here where I am.  (By the way – you were filming long enough to tell the older woman historian to stick her bra strap under her blouse).  But this video was thoroughly informative and well-produced, save for the need for better audio levels in the voice-over.

  39. Thomas Boston on February 21, 2022 at 8:27 am

    hello i would like to give you all a heads up on a
    mind blow dynamic of migration-al transition and adaptive fact
    the Calusa as you call them are the survivors of the Mayan /Aztec Inca populations of south America
    as of the post chietz sunnitize impact that is the I dotted and the T Crossed
    if you think about it the Native American Indian is actually the ancestor
    of the survivors of that event that migrated north to occupy and become
    the Hopei Pueblo Anasazi Apache Seminole and all the other tribes history has recorded
    in error

  40. Jose Alberto on February 21, 2022 at 8:30 am

    A touching and inspirational video about the wonderful, Pine Island. The first time I visited Pine Island was in 1989. I should have bought a piece of property, then…especially near the water or canals. I have been back several times since then, and each time…I fall in love with it, again! There is just something very different, very unique, very old-fashioned, about it. Yet, you can drive to several towns nearby, quickly! I do have a friend at the gym, who has a mobile home on a canal there and he travels from Fort Lauderdale to Pine Island to fish. He says he may build a regular house there, one day. I want to learn more about the island now. My spouse loves mangos so it would be easy to live there now!

  41. JennyO. LuvsFLA on February 21, 2022 at 8:30 am

    Plant some pine trees.

  42. David Christner on February 21, 2022 at 8:30 am

    What a production very good.i grew up in sarasota

  43. Peter Mcdougall on February 21, 2022 at 8:32 am

    Awesome. I live in Cape, so I always wondered Pine islands story. Love learning new stuff

  44. Ryan long on February 21, 2022 at 8:34 am

    Pine island. A place for Karens

  45. Harold Fletcher on February 21, 2022 at 8:36 am

    The jackasses at YouTube f’d up the aspect ratio.

  46. jamesfreddyc on February 21, 2022 at 8:37 am

    @2:05 you can see a big fish busting bait in the background.

  47. Jeff Fletcher on February 21, 2022 at 8:38 am

    I really enjoyed this. I had family in St. James City and spent many vacations there as a kid. No it’s not a resort town and I hope it never becomes one. Yeah you’d probably hate it so check out Marco or something.

  48. claris drouet on February 21, 2022 at 8:38 am

    Being born in Florida and missing it so much as I have lived and served overseas for 26 years, I adore the spirit and determination of these islanders for their desire to maintain such a humble and lovely community! I pray one day to be able to see this place for myself!

  49. michael ratcliffe on February 21, 2022 at 8:38 am

    Somehow the Natives have paid again.I hope they were compensated and provided an opportunity to use their talent and abilities of their beautiful environment I would love to go see the Art. Peace

  50. Super Spooker on February 21, 2022 at 8:40 am

    Sick of the ages old "they practiced human sacrifice", without any evidence, so white men had to take their lands and sacrifice them and their cultures for jesus.

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