J.N. "Ding" Darling had the Island Store built in the 1930s.
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FOLKLORE

Political cartoonist and naturalist J.N. "Ding" Darling did at one time own the Island Store and was responsible for remodeling it. However the structure, built in 1915, was originally Mrs. Miller’s two-story boarding house which occasionally was dormitory for underclassmen of the Snyder School for Boys.

"Ding" sold the Island Store to Mr. and Mrs. Parker and Pintard Mills. Over the years it had a variety of interesting owners and operators.

Mrs. Signe Wightman, the original owner of the “Gulf View Inn,” who after moving off-island, would commute from their new home in Alva, Florida to operate a restaurant within this space. Old time Captiva residents Jack Van Bell and Ted Levering also served tasty meals within the in-store dining room, where diners could eat dinner and place their grocery order at the same time. Architect George Tuttle and his wife Louise, Dick and Dee Hahn, and the Michael Gulnac and Larry Roberts families were also owners.

After the years the building has played numerous roles in Captiva history; boarding house, beauty parlor, school dormitory, general store, restaurant, hurricane shelter, architect’s office, polling precinct - and rumored at one point to even feature a brothel!

The building was last restored in 2019-2020 and is currently operated by Bailey’s of Sanibel.