Lorelei - Fort Myers, Florida, USA
Posted by: 
BoomersOTR
N 26° 38.080 W 081° 52.622
17R E 412703 N 2946272
A statue of the siren Lorelei and her interesting history and travels.
Waymark Code: WM1516J
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 09/25/2021
Views: 2
Hidden within the foliage covered fence and hedges of the Berne Davis Botanical Garden is the headless ghostly statue known as Lorelei. Her travels, adventures and misadventures are a story worth telling.
Her origins begin when she was sculpted in Italy from a single block of white marble measuring 60-68 inches high. Her sculptress was Boston-born Emma Elisabeth Phinney. Her exact date of creation is unknown but it is estimated she was sculpted circa 1880. She is based on the German legend of a beautiful maiden who threw herself into the Rhine River in despair over a faithless lover and was transformed into a siren who lured fisherman and boaters to their destruction.
In 1930 she was purchased by Evelyn D. Rea during a trip to Italy. Evelyn was a member of the Periwinkle Garden Club and maintained a lovely garden with a goldfish pond at her home in Fort Myers along the Caloosahatchee River. Here she placed Lorelei along the edge of the pond where she resided until 1960. Evelyn bequeathed Lorelei to the Fort Myers Public Library in 1955 upon her death. Evelyn passed away in 1959 and a year later Lorelei was given to the library.
The library staff kept her in storage for approximately a year while it was decided as to what to do with her. In 1961 Fort Myers resident James Butler found her covered in dirt and dust and no longer her beautiful white image but instead a muddy grey. He asked if he could borrow her to use as the centerpiece theme of his senior prom to be held at the exhibition hall. After extensive cleaning she was once again the beautiful Lorelei and after her prom night she was returned to the library. When staff saw how lovely she looked they placed her in front of the library on display.
She graced the entrance to the library for nearly 40 years until the fateful night of October 29, 1997 when unknown vandal(s) beheaded her. Besides the loss of her head she also lost her left elbow and toes from her foot. Her head was never recovered and the vandal(s) where never identified. Not knowing what to do with her the library wrapped her in plastic and tape, but local citizens protested and eventually the plastic covering was removed and she was left headless in the garden of the library.
On January 6, 2014 Lorelei was moved from the library location to her hopefully forever home at the Berne Davis Botanical Garden and Mina Edison Botanical Reference Library. The local firm of Flint and Doyle transported her to a new location near the Hibiscus Garden at the Fort Myers-Lee County Garden Council’s headquarters.
It seems only fitting that she now resides at this location. In 1957 the Fort Myers Garden Council was created by 9 local garden clubs and societies joining together. In 1967 it was renamed the Fort Myers - Lee County Garden Council and today consists of 24 garden clubs and societies and 2 affiliates. Evelyn Rea, who originally brought Lorelei to Fort Myers, was a member of the Periwinkle Garden Club which is one of the founding clubs the Fort Myers - Lee County Garden Council, Inc. It truly is as if she has finally come home. You can visit the Lorelei and the Berne Davis Gardens on Tuesdays, from 10am-1pm, October thru May. See the Fort Myers-Lee County Garden Council website for more information: (
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A beautifully detailed history of Lorelei written by Tom Hall is available on the ARTSWFL.com website. Mr. Hall’s article is a must read for more in depth details of Lorelei. It can be accessed at the following link:
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The Lorelei statue can be found at the Berne Davis Botanical Garden and Mina Edison Botanical Reference Library at the Fort Myers-Lee County Garden Council, Inc. at 2166 Virginia Ave., Fort Myers, Florida 33902. Phone 239-332-4942 for hours. (
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