Thomas Edison’s Botanical Laboratory

Toward the end of his life, the great inventor Thomas Edison became obsessed with one final project: finding a source of rubber that could grow in the United States. It would transform his Florida home into a bonafide botanical laboratory.

This episode was produced in partnership with Fort Myers – Islands, Beaches and Neighborhoods.

Find more information about the Edison and Ford estates here. If you’d like to learn more about Edison’s life in Florida check out this biography by Michele Wehrwein Albion. Find out more information about Henry Ford’s search for rubber sources in a previous episode of the Atlas Obscura podcast, “Fordlandia.”

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