July/August • 2020 • GASPARILLA MAGAZINE 39
Not too terribly long ago,
the drive to Boca Grande
was fi lled with cows and
orange groves. Whether you were
coming from Englewood down
toward Placida, or from State Road
776 down Gasparilla Road, that is
predominantly what you saw. In the
past 30 years, though, development
has taken over what used to
be rural farmland. Whether you’re
a fan of progress or not, the southern
tip of the Cape Haze Peninsula
– particularly on the Gasparilla
Road side – doesn’t look much like
it used to.
There is one little spot, though,
that makes you catch your breath just a bit.
Across the road from the Coral Creek Club,
and just a couple of minutes from the Boca
Grande Causeway, is a scene right out of an
old Western. A long drive lined with stately
palms leads up to a little ranchette painted
turquoise. Cows dot the landscape, and
are often found lounging in the shade of a
giant strangler fi g tree that is well over 100
years old. The pastures and salt fl ats seem
to stretch on and on, framed in the distance
by the deep woods of Charlotte Harbor
Preserve.
It’s like taking a deep breath of history. If
you’ve been in this area long enough, some
days it can almost bring tears to your eyes.
That’s what Archie Hager and his wife,
Debbie, thought, too. They have been
residents of Boca Grande for years now, and
when the last owners of the land decided it
was time to sell after keeping the property in
the family for many generations, Archie’s
interest was piqued. Actually, that is an
understatement ... the property was haunting
him.
“Last summer I was literally laying awake at
night, thinking, I need to do something. It was
a calling to do something,” he said.
It wasn’t cheap, though, and Archie isn’t
ashamed to admit he bought more than one
lottery ticket, hoping to win and be able to
purchase the 91-acre little farm.
“When I pulled in the driveway with Debbie
and the realtor, she walked out through gate
and out with the cows, she said, “OK. This
looks fi ne.”
Shown above, a trio of calves born this spring;
top right, a century-old strangler fi g that was
freed from its overgrown prison by Archie Hager
and his crew; at right, Debbie Hager hand-
feeding some of her friends on the farm.