How Whiskey Creek Got Its Name

Place names have a way of hiding stories in plain sight.

Drive south on McGregor Boulevard past Colonial, and you pass over Whiskey Creek, a name so distinctive it practically demands an explanation. The neighborhood takes its name from the creek itself, the winding waterway that slips beneath the road and flows toward the Caloosahatchee. But how did such a peaceful place come to be called Whiskey Creek?

According to long-standing local tradition, the answer begins with William S. “Bill” Clay, an early Fort Myers settler whose reputation was built on whiskey.

Clay arrived in Fort Myers in 1867, part of the early wave of settlers who came after the Civil War. A local historical account says he first settled near what is now downtown Fort Myers before moving his operation to a fast-running creek outside the settlement. There, he returned to the craft he had brought with him from the Tennessee mountains: distilling whiskey. Before long, the story goes, that creek became known as Whiskey Creek. His customers reportedly included cattlemen, boat crews, seasonal Cuban fishermen, local residents, and Seminoles trading in the area.

As local history tells it, Clay’s product became popular enough that Monroe County (a dry county) officials could not ignore it forever. Arrested in Fort Myers, to stand trial, Clay would have to be taken all the way to Key West, along with the still itself as evidence.

That is where the story takes its most memorable turn.

Somewhere on the boat trip to Key West, the still supposedly went overboard. Without the evidence needed to convict him, the case fell apart, and Clay was acquitted. And if the arrest raised questions about the future of his business, those questions were answered the moment he returned. According to local tradition, supporters were waiting at the dock with a replacement still. By the time Bill Clay stepped back ashore, he was already in business again.

Whether every detail survived exactly as it happened or was sharpened in the retelling, the story has lasted because it captures something true about early Fort Myers. This was a small, isolated frontier settlement where distance mattered, official authority could be hard to enforce, and local loyalties often carried as much weight as the law. In that world, a man like Bill Clay could be condemned by some and admired by others.

The tradition was later repeated by Karl H. Grismer in The Story of Fort Myers, helping preserve it for future generations. The earliest documented reference located so far places Whiskey Creek in official use by 1912, showing that the name was already established in Fort Myers by the early twentieth century.

Whiskey Creek, then, is more than just a place name. It is a reminder that Southwest Florida’s landscape still holds traces of its frontier past, and that behind many familiar names is a story worth telling.

Learn more local history at IMAG History & Science Center—where Southwest Florida’s stories come to life.