Discover the history of the Murphy-Burroughs Home on Otocast

One of Fort Myers’ most elegant historic landmarks is the Murphy-Burroughs Home on the northeast corner of First and Fowler Streets. You can now discover the history of this scenic property on Otocast, the free mobile phone app that the City of Fort Myers has installed to acquaint the public with its artistic and historic points of interest.

Managed since 2008 by the Uncommon Friends Foundation, the Georgian Revival Mansion, gardens and open-air pavilion serve as one of Fort Myers’ most sought-after wedding, engagement and special event venues. Ordered from a Sears-Roebuck catalog in 1901 by Montana cattleman John T. Murphy, it is one of the few surviving mansions from Fort Myers’ gilded age. Following Murphy’s death in 1914, Nelson Burroughs acquired the mansion, where he held lavish parties for the rich and famous who either lived in or visited Fort Myers each winter. Following Burroughs’ death, title ultimately passed to Nelson’s daughter, Mona. The sociable heiress deeded the much-loved historic home to the City of Fort Myers in 1978 when she died.

The audio tells little-known tales about John T. Murphy and the stag Dutch parties he held in the home; how Walter Langford purchased the home from his friend’s estate to settle the very public brouhaha that embroiled Murphy’s daughters, Addie and Francis, and their father’s second wife, Clara; and some of the antics of Nelson Burroughs’ own debutante daughters, Jettie and Mona and the spectacular high-society parties they threw for Fort Myers’ wealthiest families.

If you are new to Otocast, the app is free and available for download in your phone’s app store and on Google Play. Otocast works through geo-location mapping. Users don’t need to know anything about an artwork or historic building they happen upon. There’s no need to look for a plaque or QR Code.  Simply tap on the app and the guide automatically comes up, providing access to an array of information about the historic building you’re looking at.

The app will also identify other public artworks and historic points of interest that are located nearby.

In addition to the 17 historic points of interest now on Otocast, the Fort Myers Guide also contains narrative, photos and audios for 49 murals and 30 other artworks scattered about town.

By virtue of its audio component, Otocast is like having your very own tour guide who knows all the facts, figures and inside stories about the artworks and historic buildings you see. In fact, in the other towns and cities where Otocast is already in use the app serves as a platform for self-guided audio tours that encourage exploration and discovery, helping people gain a better appreciation of their cultural legacy. This feature is particularly useful in a town like Fort Myers, where many of the century-old buildings and pieces in the city’s public art collection encapsulate tales about the pioneers who built a rough-and-tumble cow town out of the remnants of an old wooden frontier outpost in the years following the end of the Civil War.

Otocast currently hosts guides containing in excess of 4,500 points of interest in more than 200 cities in 90+ countries.

Watch this space for more articles on the historic points of interest that are already live and that will be added to Otocast in the coming weeks. For more information, please contact the City of Fort Myers’ Office of Communications and Public Affairs.

Visit the Fort Myers Guide on Otocast here.

February 14, 2024.

RELATED POSTS

• Fort Myers adds historic points of interest to Otocast mobile phone app
• Text, photos and audio for Casa Rio now on Otocast
• Text, photos and audio for Dean Hotel now on Otocast
• Text, photos and audio for First National Bank building on Otocast
• Text, photos and audio for Heitman-Evans Hardware Store on Otocast
• Text, photos and audio for Kress Building added to Otocast