Lee County is located in southwestern Florida, United States, on the Gulf Coast. As of the 2020 census, its population was 760,822. In 2022, the population was 822,453, making it the eighth-most populous county in the state. The

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

is Fort Myers, with a population of 86,395 as of the 2020 census, and the largest city is Cape Coral, with an estimated 2020 population of 194,016. The county comprises the Cape Coral–Fort Myers Metropolitan Statistical Area ( MSA), which, along with the

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

- Marco Island ( Collier County) MSA and the Clewiston ( Hendry County, Glades County) Micropolitan Statistical Area ( μSA), is included in the Cape Coral-Fort Myers-Naples Combined Statistical Area ( CSA). Lee County was established in 1887 from Monroe County. Fort Myers is the county seat and a center of tourism in Southwest Florida. It is about south of

Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

at the meeting point of the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

and the Caloosahatchee River.Jane Colihan
"Spring Break", ''American Heritage'', February/March 2006 Lee County is the home for spring training of the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

and the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

teams.

History

Protohistory and European contact (500–1799)

The area that is now Lee County has several archaeological sites that show evidence of habitation by peoples belonging to the Caloosahatchee culture (500 to 1750 AD). By the time of European contact, the area was more specifically occupied by the Calusa. After European contact, fishermen from Cuba and other Spanish colonies set up fishing camps, known as ''ranchos'' in Spanish, on the southern portion of the Gulf Coast of Florida. These ''ranchos'' extended from Charlotte Harbor south to San Carlos Bay and the mouth of the Caloosahatchee. Likely established in the latter part of the 1600s, they were precursors to the larger European settlements that would be established in the following centuries. As the 18th century came to an end, the Calusa who had once inhabited the area were replaced with the

Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, ...

. In particular, in 1799, an Indian agent noted the existence of a Seminole town on the "Cull-oo-saw-hat-che" or Caloosahatchee River.

Fort established (1850s–1860s)

After Florida became a U.S. territory in 1821, a number of settlers moved into Florida, causing conflict with the local Seminole Indians. Fort Myers was built in 1850 as a military fort to fend off Seminole Indians during the

Seminole Wars The Seminole Wars (also known as the Florida Wars) were a series of three military conflicts between the United States and the Seminoles that took place in Florida between about 1816 and 1858. The Seminoles are a Native American nation which co ...

. The fort was named after Col. Abraham C. Myers, who was stationed in Florida for seven years and was the son-in-law of the fort's establisher and commander. In 1858, after years of elusive battle, Chief Billy Bowlegs and his warriors were persuaded to surrender and move west, and the fort was abandoned. Billy's Creek, which flows into the Caloosahatchee River, was named after a temporary camp where Billy Bowlegs and his men awaited ships to take them west. In 1863, the fort was reoccupied by federal troops during the Civil War. In 1865, in the Battle of Fort Myers, the fort was attacked by a small group of Confederates. The Union's garrison, led by Captain James Doyle, successfully held the fort and the Confederate forces retreated. After the war, the fort was again deserted. The fort was later disassembled and some of its wood was used to build parts of downtown Fort Myers.

Settlement and early growth (1860s–1920s)

During the Civil War, Fort Myers was occupied by federal troops with the intention of disrupting the Confederate cattle supply from Florida. In February 1865, it was the site of the Battle of Fort Myers. The first settlers in Fort Myers arrived in 1866. In the 1870s, Tervio Padilla, a wealthy merchant from the Canary Islands, came by way of Key West to Cayo Costa and established trade with natives and "ranchos" that extended northward to Charlotte Harbor. His ships often made port at Cayo Costa at the entrance to the harbor. Enchanted by the tropical island, he eventually decided to settle there. Padilla prospered until the outbreak of the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

, when his fleet was burned and scuttled. He then turned to another means of livelihood – fishing. When the government claimed his land, he was disinclined to set up another ranch, so moved with his wife further down the island and as before, simply homesteaded. The Padilla family is one of the first pioneer families of Lee County and many still reside within the county, mainly around the Pine Island area. In 1882, the city experienced a significant influx of settlers. In 1885, when Fort Myers was incorporated, its population of 349 residents made it the second-largest city only to Tampa on Florida's west coast south of Cedar Key, even larger than Clearwater and Sarasota, also growing cities at the time. Lee County was formed in 1887 from Monroe County, with Fort Myers serving as the county seat. It was named for Robert E. Lee, Confederate general in the American Civil War. Fort Myers first became a nationally known winter resort with the opening of the Royal Palm Hotel in 1898, built by

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

department store magnate Hugh O'Neill."Remembering the first tourist attraction in Fort Myers"
News-Press, February 13, 2016. Fort Myers was the frequent winter home of

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February11, 1847October18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventions, ...

, as well as Henry Ford. In 1911, Fort Myers was incorporated as a city. In 1923, Collier and Hendry Counties were created by splitting these areas from Lee County. Construction of the Tamiami Trail Bridge, built across the Caloosahatchee River in 1924, sparked the city's growth. After the bridge's construction, the city experienced its first real estate boom and many subdivisions sprouted around the city. In 1927, a property purchased by the City of Fort Myers was turned into an airport, eventually called Page Field.

Modern growth (1940s–present)

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Page Field served as an advanced fighter training base and home to the several bomber groups. Following the war, a small terminal was built in the mid-1950s as the airport transitioned to commercial use. Another airfield was constructed in 1942 called Buckingham Army Airfield. The base was closed down in 1945, after which the barracks served as classrooms for Edison College until 1948. Following the end of World War II, the Royal Palm Hotel was closed permanently, and in 1947, the hotel on the corner of First and Fowler was torn down. Lee County has been the host to several

teams for

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

over the past several decades. The county received a boost in 1983 when Southwest Florida Regional Airport (now known as Southwest Florida International Airport) opened.

Hurricanes

On August 13, 2004, the county was struck by Hurricane Charley, a category 4 storm, particularly on the northwestern islands of Captiva, Gasparilla, and North Captiva. On September 10, 2017, Lee County was struck by

Hurricane Irma Hurricane Irma was an extremely powerful and devastating tropical cyclone that was the first Category 5 hurricane to strike the Leeward Islands on record, followed by Hurricane Maria, Maria two weeks later. At the time, it was considered ...

as a category 2 storm. On September 28, 2022, Hurricane Ian made landfall on Lee County as a category 4 storm, causing major damage to Sanibel, Pine Island, and surrounding areas. Sanibel Causeway partially collapsed in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. 71 deaths occurred in Lee County as of October 4.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which (35.3%) are covered by water. Rivers and streams include the Caloosahatchee River, the Imperial River, the Estero River, Hendry Creek, and Orange River. Lee County is on the southwest coast of Florida. It is about south of

, west of Fort Lauderdale via Interstate 75, and roughly west-northwest of

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

via U.S. Highway 41.

Adjacent counties

* Charlotte County (north) * Glades County (northeast) * Collier County (southeast) * Hendry County (east)

National protected areas

* Caloosahatchee National Wildlife Refuge * J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge * Matlacha Pass National Wildlife Refuge * Pine Island National Wildlife Refuge

Islands

* Big Hickory Island * Captiva Island * Cayo Costa ( Cayo Costa State Park) * Cabbage Key * Estero Island (Town of Fort Myers Beach) * Gasparilla Island (community of Boca Grande) * Little Hickory Island (Beaches of Bonita Springs) * Lovers Key / Carl E. Johnson State Park * Matlacha Island Matlacha, Florida * Mound Key Archaeological State Park * North Captiva Island * Pine Island * San Carlos Island (Town of Fort Myers Beach) * Sanibel Island (Town of Sanibel) * Useppa Island

Climate

Lee County has a year-round warm,

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

-influenced climate that is close to the boundary between tropical and subtropical climates ( in the coldest month), thus is either classified as a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Cfa''), which is the classification used by

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with Weather forecasting, forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, Hydrography, charting the seas, ...

, or a

tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry "winter") and ''As'' (for a dry "summer"). The driest month has less than ...

(Köppen ''Aw''). Lee County has short, warm winters, and long, hot, humid summers, with most of the year's rainfall occurring from June to September. The temperature rarely rises to or lowers to the freezing mark. At 89, Lee County leads the nation in the number of days annually in which a thunderstorm is close enough for thunder to be heard. The monthly daily average temperature ranges from in January to in August, with the annual mean being . Records range from on December 29, 1894 up to on June 16–17, 1981.

Demographics

2020 Census

As of the 2020 United States census, 760,822 people, 288,916 households, and 187,877 families resided in the county. About 4.6% of that population was under 5 years old, 17.3% was under 18, and 29.2% was 65 or older; 51.0% was female; 89.3% was 25 years or older were high-school graduates and 28.5% of those 25 years or older had a bachelor's degree or higher. The median household income was $59,608 with a per capita income of $34,818. About 10.5% of population below the

poverty threshold The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

. The median value of owner-occupied housing units between 2016 and 2020 was $235,300 and the median gross rent was $1,225. Around 94.2% of the households had a computer and 87.2% of households had a broadband internet subscription.

Languages

As of 2010, 78.99% of residents spoke English as their first language, and 15.19% spoke Spanish, 1.28% French Creole (mostly Haitian Creole,) 0.88% German, 0.59% Portuguese, and 0.55% spoke French as their main language. In total, 21.01% of the population spoke languages other than English as their primary language.

Economy

Lee County's stronger economic sectors include construction, retail, leisure, and hospitality. Hertz moved its headquarters from New Jersey to Estero in 2016, the first major corporation to relocate to Lee County. The largest employers in Lee County as of 2019 are:

Law enforcement and crime

The Lee County Sheriff's Office is the primary

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of the government or other social institutions who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by investigating, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms gove ...

agency for Lee County, Florida headquartered in Fort Myers, Florida. The Lee County Sheriff's Office responds to all calls for service within unincorporated Lee County and employs civilian dispatchers who provide dispatch for LCSO Deputies and Florida Southwestern State College Police. The Cape Coral Police Department, Fort Myers Police Department, Sanibel Police Department and Lee County Port Authority Police maintain their own police dispatch centers. The Lee County Sheriff's Office is also responsible for corrections, court operations, and civil proceedings. There are multiple specialized units within the agency including Aviation, K9, SOU, Fugitive Warrants, Marine, Electronic Surveillance, and Tactical Narcotics Teams.

Education

Colleges in Lee County include Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU), Barry University, Nova Southeastern University, Florida SouthWestern State College, Cape Coral Technical College, Fort Myers Technical College, Hodges University, Keiser University, Southern Technical College, and Rasmussen College. FGCU is a public university located just south of the Southwest Florida International Airport in South Fort Myers. The university belongs to the 12-campus

State University System of Florida The State University System of Florida (SUSF or SUS) is a system of twelve public universities in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2018, over 341,000 students were enrolled in Florida's state universities. Together with the Florida College Sy ...

. FGCU competes in the ASUN Conference in

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Division I sports. The school is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is a regional educational accreditor recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. As of 2022, the organization oversees ap ...

to award associate's, 51 different types of

bachelor's A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ( ...

, 29 different master's, and six types of doctoral degrees.

Parks and recreation

The parks are maintained by the county's Parks & Recreation Department. The department also maintains

facilities for the

and

Beaches

Some of the main tourist attractions in Southwest Florida are its beaches. Lee County is home to ten beach parks and an additional seven beach accesses, maintained by Lee County Parks & Recreation. Popular beaches include Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel and Captiva Island, Bonita Beach, Bunchee Beach, and Lovers Key.

Libraries

The Lee County Library System has 13 branches. The towns of Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel Island, though located in Lee County, maintain their own independent public library entities. The Lee County Library System currently provides more than 294,000 county residents with over 1.5 million items and materials available for use or patron circulation, as well as an online library materials catalog, free wi-fi, public computer access, and scanning and printing capabilities.

Politics

Unlike most urban counties, Lee County is a Republican stronghold in presidential elections. It was one of the first areas of Florida to break away from a Solid South voting pattern. The last Democratic presidential candidate to win the county was

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

in 1944. Since then, Adlai Stevenson II,

Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after assassination of John F. Kennedy, the assassination of John F. Ken ...

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

and

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

have been the only Democrats to manage 40 percent of the vote. Lee County is represented in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

by Byron Donalds of the 19th district and by Greg Steube of the 17th district. Most of the county is in the 19th, while the far eastern portion is in the 17th.

Voter demographics

As of May 31, 2024.

Transportation

Airports

:* Southwest Florida International Airport (

IATA airport code An IATA airport code, also known as an IATA location identifier, IATA station code, or simply a location identifier, is a unique three-letter geocode designating many airports, cities (with one or more airports) and metropolitan areas (citie ...

- RSW), in South Fort Myers, serves over 8.37 million passengers annually. Currently, the airport offers international non-stop flights to Cancun, Mexico; Frankfurt, Germany; Nassau, Bahamas; and Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto in Canada. In addition, nine airlines operate flights to 29 domestic nonstop destinations. On September 9, 2005, the airport opened a new terminal. :* Page Field (IATA airport code - FMY), also in South Fort Myers, just south of the incorporated limits of the City of Fort Myers, is the county's general aviation airport. Prior to the opening of Southwest Florida Regional Airport in 1983 (now Southwest Florida International Airport), Page Field was the county's commercial airport.

Seaports and marine transport

A small

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

operation continues in Boca Grande, being used as a way-point for oil distribution. However, Port Boca Grande has been in decline for many years as the shipping industry has moved north, especially to the Port of Tampa. In addition, a private enterprise operates a high-speed, passenger-only

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

service between Fort Myers Beach from San Carlos Island and

Key West Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida, at the southern end of the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it con ...

. Another ferry service is offered from Fort Myers to Key West.

Major highways

Major road bridges

* Caloosahatchee Bridge (U.S. Highway 41): 4-travel-lane single-span bridge connects North Fort Myers with Fort Myers, over the Caloosahatchee River. * Cape Coral Bridge (College Parkway/Cape Coral Parkway): 4-travel-lane single-span bridge (two eastbound, two westbound) connect Cape Coral with Cypress Lake, over the Caloosahatchee River. * Edison Bridge ( State Road 739): Two 3-travel-lane spans (one northbound, one southbound) connect North Fort Myers with Fort Myers, over the Caloosahatchee River. *Interstate 75: Two 4-travel-lane spans (one northbound, one southbound) between the State Road 78 ("Bayshore Road") and State Road 80 ("Palm Beach Boulevard") interchanges, over the Caloosahatchee River. * Matanzas Pass Bridge ( State Road 865): 3-travel-lane single-span bridge crosses Hurricane Bay and Matanzas Pass within the incorporated limits of the Town of Fort Myers Beach, connecting the mainland to the barrier islands. * Midpoint Memorial Bridge ( County Road 884): 4-lane single-span bridge that connects Cape Coral with Fort Myers, over the Caloosahatchee River. * Pine Island Causeway ( County Road 78): a small single-leaf

drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable b ...

connecting Cape Coral to Matlacha and Pine Island * Sanibel Causeway: series of three 2-travel-lane single-span bridges and two 3-travel-lane island

causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet T ...

s crossing the mouth of the Caloosahatchee River at the

. The causeway connects Punta Rassa with Sanibel. * Wilson Pigott Bridge ( State Road 31): 2-travel-lane single-span drawbridge between State Road 78 ("Bayshore Road") and State Road 80, over the Caloosahatchee River.

Mass transportation

Fixed-route bus service is provided by the Lee County Transit Department, operated as " LeeTran". Several routes extend outward from the Downtown Intermodal Transfer Center; in addition, suburb-to-suburb routes are operated, as well as park-and-ride service to and from both Fort Myers Beach and Southwest Florida International Airport. The Downtown Intermodal Transfer Center in Fort Myers also serves as an intermediate stop on Greyhound Lines bus service.

Media

Newspapers

Newspapers include '' The News-Press and Florida Weekly''.

Radio

Arbitron Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron) is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio broadcasting audiences. It was founded as the American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by mergin ...

standard radio market: Ft Myers-Naples- Marco Island. With an Arbitron-assigned 783,100 listening area population, the metropolitan area ranks 62/299 for the fall of 2006. The metropolitan area is home to 32

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

Television

Nielsen Media Research Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

designated market area: Ft. Myers-Naples Number of TV homes: 479,130 2006–2007 U.S. rank: 64/210 * WBBH – NBC affiliate * WFTX – Fox affiliate * WGCU – PBS member station *

WINK A wink is a facial expression made by briefly closing one eye. A wink is an informal mode of non-verbal communication usually signaling shared hidden knowledge or intent. However, it is ambiguous by itself and highly dependent upon additional c ...

– CBS affiliate * WINK-DT2 –

MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV (stylized as mynetworkTV; unofficially abbreviated MNT or MNTV) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its Fox Television Stations ...

/ Antenna TV affiliate * WRXY - Christian Television Network affiliate * WTPH – Azteca America affiliate * WUVF - Univision affiliate * WWDT - Telemundo affiliate * WXCW –

CW television network The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial terrestrial television, broadcast television television network, network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. Th ...

affiliate * WZVN – ABC affiliate

Sports

Fort Myers is home to Florida Gulf Coast University. Its teams, the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles, play in NCAA Division I in the ASUN Conference. The Eagles' men's basketball team had an average attendance of 2,291 in 2013.

MLB spring training

The

hold their annual spring training at JetBlue Park at Fenway South in the Fort Myers area. A cross-town rivalry has developed with the

, which conduct their spring training at Hammond Stadium in south Lee County, which has a capacity of 7,500 and opened in 1991. The Red Sox' lease with Fort Myers ran through 2019, but the Red Sox were considering exercising the early out in their contract that would have allowed them to leave following the 2009 spring season. On October 28, 2008, the Lee County commission voted 3–1 to approve an agreement with the Boston Red Sox to build a new spring-training facility for the team in south Lee County. That stadium, named JetBlue Park at Fenway South, is located off Daniels Parkway near Southwest Florida International Airport. The stadium opened in time for the 2012 season. City of Palms Park had been built in 1992 for the Red Sox' spring training. Former Red Sox left fielder Mike Greenwell is from Fort Myers, and was instrumental in bringing his team to the city for spring training. The deal for JetBlue Park left City of Palms Park without a tenant. County officials have discussed the possibility of securing another team for City of Palms. Terry Park Ballfield (also known as the Park T. Pigott Memorial Stadium) in East Fort Myers is also not currently in use by a Major League Baseball team, though it is the former home of the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, they became the Oakland ...

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

, and

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

Communities

Cities

* Bonita Springs * Cape Coral * Fort Myers * Sanibel

Town

* Fort Myers Beach

Village

Estero Estero ( Spanish for "estuary") is an incorporated village in Lee County, Florida, United States, located directly beside the first aquatic nature preserve established in Florida: The Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve, otherwise referred to as Estero ...

Municipal district

* Lehigh Acres

Census-designated places

* Alva * Bokeelia *

Buckingham Buckingham ( ) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,890 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census. The town lies approximately west of ...

* Burnt Store Marina * Captiva * Charleston Park * Cypress Lake * East Dunbar (former CDP; since annexed by city of Fort Myers) * Florida Gulf Coast University * Fort Myers Shores * Gateway * Harlem Heights * Iona * Lochmoor Waterway Estates * Matlacha (on Matlacha Island) * Matlacha Isles-Matlacha Shores * McGregor * North Fort Myers * Olga * Page Park * Palmona Park * Pine Island Center * Pine Manor * Pineland (on Pine Island) * Punta Rassa * San Carlos Park * St. James City * Suncoast Estates * Tanglewood (former CDP) * Three Oaks * Tice * Verandah * Villas * Whiskey Creek

Other unincorporated communities

* Babcock Ranch (part) * Boca Grande (part) * Cayo Costa

CDP'S and Unincorporated Communities

* Burnt Store Marina

Notes

References

External links

*
Lee County government website
{{Authority control 1887 establishments in Florida Charter counties in Florida Populated places established in 1887