FLORIDA PLACE TO EXPLORE
Mound House
Lee County · Gulf Coast
The oldest standing structure on Fort Myers Beach, built on a Calusa shell mound, at 451 Connecticut Street.
ABOUT THIS PLACE
The mound under the house was raised by the Calusa between roughly the fifth and the seventeenth centuries, built up out of discarded shell both as a platform above coastal flooding and for ceremonial use. By the 900s the Calusa had a centralized government running much of this coast. Spanish fishing camps used the abandoned mound sites through the 1700s and 1800s, and American settlers followed; the Case family put up the house that forms the core of the museum in 1921. The site covers 2.86 acres. Three exhibits in the William H. Case House hold artifacts and reconstruct how people lived here in each period. The underground gallery, which cuts into the mound itself so that visitors can see the layers of shell, was closed by Hurricane Milton damage in October 2024, so check before going if that is the reason for the trip. Outside there is an observation pier, a native plant garden, a kayak launch and boat docks. The museum runs Wednesday to Saturday from nine until four; the grounds open daily from seven until six
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