Members of the Richmond Hill Convention and Visitors Bureau -- including Sherri Broome, Shannon GaNun and Christy Sherman -- recently visited the Edison Ford Winter Estates in Ft. Myers, Fla. The trip was intended to raise awareness for the Henry Ford historic sites in the two cities.

“We’ve heard so much about the historical preservation and interpretive work at the Edison Ford Winter Estates that we wanted to go and learn from them,” said Christy Sherman, executive director of the Richmond Hill Convention and Visitors’ Bureau. “We look forward to sharing more information about the Edison Ford Winter Estates with our visitors and we have supplied them with information about Richmond Hill for visitors who might want to see where the Fords went after leaving Ft. Myers.”

Henry and Clara Ford owned winter homes in Ft. Myers, Fla., and Richmond Hill. They were first introduced to the area of Richmond Hill while they were sailing from New York to Ft. Myers almost 100 years ago. John Burroughs joined them on board and pointed out to them the beauty of coastal Georgia which led to the Fords to buying large parts of land. The couple eventually owned upwards of 85,000 acres of land in Richmond Hill where they built a new winter home and grew more than rubber; they grew a community.