Buckingham FL Homes & Real Estate

Buckingham is a town in Florida with a population of 3,958. Buckingham is in Lee County. Living in Buckingham offers residents a rural feel and most residents own their homes.

In Buckingham there are a lot of parks. Many young professionals live in Buckingham and residents tend to be conservative. It is a very quiet and peaceful area.

Buckingham is a mid-sized-city complex, 130 miles south of Tampa–St. Petersburg. December, March and February are the most pleasant months in Buckingham, while July and August are the least comfortable months

Buckingham is located in northeastern Lee County. It is bordered to the southwest by Ft Myers and to the south and east by unincorporated Lehigh Acres.

Buckingham Airpark  is a “live with your plane” community. The official airport designation is FL59 and 122.9 is the common advisory frequesny. The runway is 14/32 and is 4000 feet long, hard surface/concrete, 400 feet wide.  Buckingham Airpark is a private community which currently has 54 homes. The roads ar shared with aircraft and vihicles. Due caution needs to be observed when driving and taxing as this is a residential neighborhood with many children. Buckingham Airpark is a deed restricted community and also has a Homeowners Association.

Florida Gulf Coast University Buckingham Center - FGCU’s property in Buckingham in eastern Lee County was acquired from the State of Florida as surplus land BUCKINGHAM FACTS in 2010. The 500-acre gated site off Buckingham Road was long operated as Gulf Coast Center, a residential facility for people with development disabilities. FGCU’s Board of Trustees accepted the land donation after the state phased out such large-scale institutions in favor of smaller, community-based group homes. Approximately 300 acres of the land are developed with paved roads and about 60 structures built mostly in the 1950s and ‘60s. They include residences that housed 300 people, a gymnasium, chapel, swimming pool, softball field, dining hall, water plant, laundry facilities and infirmary. The remainder of the property remains in its natural state and lies adjacent to Lee County 20/20 preservation lands. In September 2011, FGCU’s Campus Recreation staff opened the Eagle Challenge Course on 10 acres of grassland amid pockets of pine uplands and oak hammocks at the complex. Funded by FGCU’s Student Government, the course includes rope-climbing exercises, a zip line and other challenging activities that are used by groups on retreat to build teamwork, trust, communication and fitness. A staff trained by Campus Rec’s Outdoor Pursuits division books and supervises programs and maintains the site. Facilities Planning is working with other university departments to identify feasible future uses for the Buckingham property, including short-term and long-term uses. Although most of the buildings are not currently being used, they are connected to water and sewer utilities. Located 18 miles north of the FGCU campus, the property could accommodate research facilities, renewable energy projects or other educational or recreational uses.

Buckingham Trails Preserve - Located in east Lee County in the Buckingham area, this 572-acre preserve consists of mostly pine flatwoods and open scrub habitat. There is a 2.3-mile trail for hiking only and nearly 5 additional miles for combined equestrian use and hiking.

Buckingham Air Park East and West - Originally constructed for the United States Army Air Corps as Buckingham Field, the airfield had its origins as an aircraft gunner training base to train the aerial gunners who would defend bombers. The airfield was constructed starting in 1942 at a cost of $10 million on a total of 7,000 acres of swamp land, which had to be drained with an extensive system of newly constructed canals. The airfield originally had three 5,000-foot runways, with 2 oval tracks of the Ground Moving Target Range, located to the west of the airfield, as well as nearby skeet ranges & trap ranges.

After the war, the barracks at Buckingham were briefly used as the Edison College, but this closed in 1948. Most of the buildings of the original base were subsequently removed over time.

A street grid for a planned housing development named Lehigh Acres was eventually built over the area formerly occupied by Buckingham's runways in the 1950s. By the mid-1970s, the runways were gone except for the concrete ends. The street grid built over the location of the former runways remained undeveloped for some period of time, before eventually being partially filled in with houses, it remains, however, about 90% unoccupied.

By 2000, the northern portion of the ramp was used as a runway, being operated as a private field, Buckingham Field Airport, by the Lee County Mosquito/Hyacinth Control District, which operates a fleet of 23 aircraft & helicopters. Portions of the ramp area are also used for automobile racing.

**Bonus Information**

Buckingham has an infamous character that was born and raised in the backwoods country along the Caloosahatchee River in Buckingham. John Ashley was an outlaw, bank robber, bootlegger, and occasional pirate active in southern Florida during the 1910s and 1920s. Between 1915 and 1924, the self-styled "King of the Everglades" or "Swamp Bandit" operated from various hideouts in the Florida Everglades. His gang robbed nearly $1 million from at least 40 banks while at the same time hijacking numerous shipments of illegal whiskey being smuggled into the state from the Bahamas.

Included below are homes for sale and real estate in Buckingham, FL.

If you would like more information on any of these Buckingham real estate listings, just click on a property to access the full details. From there, you can request more information or schedule a tour. And I'd be happy to provide you with disclosures, past sales history, dates and prices of properties which have recently sold nearby, and more, so just let me know how I can help!

And, for your convenience, feel free to register for a free account to receive email alerts whenever new Buckingham listings come on the market that match your specific criteria.