The Happehatchee Center is a nature sanctuary and spiritual center operated by a non-profit organization in Estero, Florida. It is located on 4.5 acres of subtropics forest, spanning 150 feet on both sides of the Estero River. It is adjacent to the Koreshan State Historic Site and together these lands host a variety of flora and fauna along the river.In 1947 the Girl Scouts of the USA acquired a camp site in Estero and purchased two buildings from Buckingham Army Airfield which were moved to the camp. In 1954 the land was deeded to the Lee County Council of Girl Scouts.The Girl Scout camp was named Camp Caloosa at Estero from the 1940s to the 1960s. The main house was a WWII bunker, used for overnight camping. Among the camp activities in the 1940s were solar cooking contests. The property between the pond and Girl Scout butterfly garden was cleared in the early 1950s for tents, and trees were put in to line the main driveway from Corkscrew to the Estero River. During the 1950s the Girl Scouts camped and held meetings and ceremonies on this land. On August 15, 1962 the Caloosa Council of Girl Scouts, formerly the Lee County Council of Girl Scouts, deeded over the land to the Girl Scouts of Gulfcoast Florida, a non-profit Florida corporation. In 1963 the Girl Scouts of Gulfcoast Florida sold the land to Herman and Catherine Polhamus, later building another camp in North Fort Myers.On November 6, 1972 Ellen Peterson an eco-warrior acquired the property from Herman and Catherine Polhamus and began using it to host private retreats, classes and workshops by small groups, including the Girl Scouts. She named it Happehatchee, the Native American words for Happy River.In 2006 Peterson established a non-profit eco-spiritual center for the Lee County community and named it Happehatchee Center. Upon her death October 14, 2011 her estate established a trust with a board of directors charged with making the property open to the public. Six months later the center was closed for two months while the programs were restructured. The Happehatchee Center building acquired from the Buckingham Airfield in 1947 was declared an Individual Historic Resource by the Lee County Historic Preservation Program on November 28, 2012.
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Google map-https://goo.gl/maps/VnhnK4C8dawqGfSx8
Address: 20400 TRAILSIDE DR, ESTERO, FL 33928
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