Placida Harbour Club is quite literally immersed in history. A book written by longtime resident Donald Ocker (The History of the Placida Harbour Club) and two books by marine biologist Dr. Eugenie Clark offer many intriguing highlights.
In 1955 “Genie” Clark established the Cape Haze Marine Laboratory right on the northern boundary of our present-day harbor condos. The local Vanderbilt family was so impressed with her shark research that they provided her with an underwater holding pen, a specimen building, and a boat for diving expeditions.
Dr. Clark outgrew her lab next door to PHC in the late 60’s. With a new local investor onboard, William Mote, she relocated to Sarasota and became the founding director of Mote Marine Laboratory. (William Mote, incidentally, was a shipping/container magnate who’d purchased a lovely Placida home and surrounding property from the heirs of a banana importer. That home now serves as our beloved clubhouse.)
Skipping ahead to 1980, an influential Swede named Peder Wallenberg bought Mote’s home and surrounding property. He soon developed an upscale condominium community along the existing manmade harbor. Wallenberg also purchased undeveloped land for house lots (Placida Pointe) and additional acreage on Little Gasparilla Island which became the Placida Beach condos. All three properties together make up our present-day Placida Harbour Club.
In May of 2022, the US Postal Service issued a stamp in the late Dr. Eugenie Clark’s honor - just four months before Hurricane Ian came barreling through. Ian caused significant damage to PHC, its neighboring properties, and huge swaths of Charlotte and Lee Counties. Framed photographs that covered an entire clubhouse wall, illustrating Placida Harbour Club’s history, were temporarily removed to allow for storm repairs and upgrades to the clubhouse.
Learn more about the 2022 Eugenie Clark stamp here.
