Long before Del Prado Boulevard became Cape Coral’s busiest artery, it was a crooked dirt road cutting through mangroves and wilderness. Formerly known as Harney Point Road, its transformation from a desolate path into a six‑lane highway mirrors the growth of Cape Coral.
The road’s story stretches back to November 1957, when developers broke ground on what they marketed as the “Waterfront Wonderland.” At the time, the Gulf American Land Corporation relied on Harney Point Road as the main route into the city. Salesmen routinely drove the dirt road each morning to “clear away dead snakes and other unsightly roadkill” before showing lots to prospective buyers, Cynthia Williams wrote in The News-Press in 2018.
Former Cape Coral Council Member Gloria Tate arrived in 1960 during Hurricane Donna, when Del Prado was still little more than a track through scrub. “It was a dirt road,” she recalled from her arrival. “There was no one here. It was very desolate.”
That same year, the corridor was renamed Del Prado Boulevard, and Lee County quickly recognized its importance. What began as a rural connector soon became essential infrastructure, linking a fledgling city to the rest of Southwest Florida. By 1965, Del Prado was already the busiest road in Lee County, carrying roughly 5,000 vehicles a day.
“Originally, Del Prado was our connection to life, basically,” Tate said. “It is a commercial corridor. It is our main artery that connects us for Cape Coral.”
As Cape Coral shifted from a bedroom community to a regional hub, the road evolved with it. Homes along Del Prado gradually gave way to strip malls, offices and businesses.
“Del Prado was single-family homes, and those homes that are still there today are now businesses because it went from a residential street to a commercial corridor,” Tate said. “That’s the story of Cape Coral. It was a bedroom community with nothing, and now we have so much to offer.”
Today, Del Prado continues to shape the city’s future, connecting history to new development. From dirt road to major thoroughfare, Del Prado Boulevard remains a living timeline of Cape Coral’s past, present and growth.
Mickenzie Hannon is a watchdog reporter for The News-Press and Naples Daily News, covering Collier and Lee counties. Contact her at 239-435-3423 or mhannon@gannett.com.
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This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: How a crooked dirt road built Cape Coral’s ‘Waterfront Wonderland’
Reporting by Mickenzie Hannon, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News / Fort Myers News-Press
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