Estero

Estero is a census-designated place (CDP) in Lee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2000 census, the CDP population was 9,503. It is the home of Germain Arena, which hosts the home games for the Florida Everblades ECHL hockey team and the Florida Firecats af2 arena football team. Florida Gulf Coast University is also located just outside of the Estero Planning District. Historically and culturally, the heart of Estero is the spring-fed Estero River, which flows to Estero Bay.

Some of the earliest European settlers of the area (notably the Alvarez, Fernandez, Johnson, and Soto families) were fishing families that lived on Mound Key, a mangrove-ringed island that dominates Estero Bay. During the early 20th century, these families moved upriver to the settlement which came to be known as Estero. Estero is also the location of a utopian community called the Koreshan Unity, which is now preserved as the Koreshan State Historic Site. Until the 1970's, most settlement and development in Estero was near the river. The borders of the area of Estero include Estero Bay to the west, the city of Bonita Springs to the south and the remainder of the CDP bordering with unincorporated Lee County and the CDP of San Carlos Park. Graphic sourced with thanks from http://eamerivest.com