Over its twenty mile course Burnt Store Road runs through Charlotte County in its northern half and Lee County in its southern half. In this chapter we take a closer look at that Charlotte-Lee county line and how the responsible jurisdictions have changed over time. Learn about U.S. Army Lt. Col. Robert E. Lee’s visit to Charlotte Harbor in 1849 and how Charlotte Harbor gained its feminine name in 1775.
Since publishing the book we’ve become aware of an important community service message relating to “911” emergency calls which is directly pertinent to the material in the Straddling the County Line chapter of the book. The default area code for land lines assigned to someone in Burnt Store Marina is a “941” phone number (normally associated with Charlotte, Sarasota and Manatee county mailing addresses). This is because BSM residents have a Punta Gorda address in the “33955” Zip code. Residents of Burnt Store Road south of the Marina will be assigned “239” home numbers (associated with Lee and Collier Counties). Those purchasing cell phones in the area usually have the option of obtaining a “239” or “941” area code.
If you have a medical emergency and need to call 911, YOU MUST SAY YOU ARE IN LEE COUNTY when using an out of area cell phone. Charlotte County EMS cannot transport people to Charlotte County from BSM. They must call Lee County EMS. This means critical time is lost when it is needed the most.
An abridged version of this chapter was previously published in the Burnt Store Marina Beacon.