Tarpon Lodge on Pine Island celebrates 100 years

PINE ISLAND, Fla. —

The Tarpon Lodge on Pine Island is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, offering guests a piece of old Florida and a storied past filled with mighty fish tales.

Built in 1926, the historic inn has been many things over the years, including a fishing lodge, drug rehab center, and even a Bible college. It is still an effort to get to the Tarpon Lodge, hidden off a narrow two-lane road on northwest Pine Island.

"People loved this property so much that they had to figure out how to dredge a channel out here. There was no bridge to the island to get any of the things down here to build the house. I mean, these are people who really want to be in this location, true pioneers," Rob Wells said.

Those first pioneers, a Philadelphia family, came here for the fishing.

"They wanted to be close to Boca Grande Pass for tarpon fishing. Those are the driving factors as to why they picked the northwest corner of Pine Island," Wells said.

Anglers are still traveling here from around the world in search of the mighty kingfish. After World War II, the Pine Aire Lodge turned into an upscale sportsman retreat. Then in the 1950s, it became a Christian Bible college, and in the 1980s, a drug and alcohol rehab center.

"My parents bought it in 1999," Wells said.

The Wells family lived on Captiva at the time and needed a place to dock on the mainland. Rob's dad had a vision for the property's vast waterfront.

"Let's bring this back to an old historic fishing lodge. My dad's an avid fisherman, and the idea of a classic throwback fishing lodge was really interesting to him," Wells said.

The Tarpon Lodge was born.

"This offers them a step back where they feel they can leave some of the hustle and bustle of everyday life behind and have a little peace and quiet and just enjoy outside," Wells said.

After the pandemic, major damage from Hurricane Ian, and extensive flooding from Helene and Milton, the Wells family keeps moving forward.

"Just the serenity when you walk out the door and you look out, and you're going, 'Wow, I mean, how lucky am I? Here we are looking out of miles of water. I can see Captiva, North Captiva, Boca Grande.' It never gets lost on me how special this place is," Wells said.

DOWNLOAD the free Gulf Coast News app for your latest news and alerts on breaking news, weather, sports, entertainment, and more on your phone or tablet. And check out the Very Local Gulf Coast app to stream news, entertainment and original programming on your TV.