Biohazard Cleanup Near North Alva Alva, FL

Alva is an unincorporated census-designated place in northeastern Lee County, Florida, on the Caloosahatchee River about 18 miles upriver east of Fort Myers, and it is among the oldest communities in the county.

Alva was founded by Danish immigrant sea captain Peter Nelson, who bought a 160-acre homestead in 1883 and platted the town in 1892 with a 100-foot-wide main street, reserving land for schools, churches, and two parks.

Contrary to a common assumption, Alva was not named for Thomas Edison — local accounts say Captain Nelson named it for the small white flowers called 'alvas' that he found growing there.

Alva's first school was built in 1884 on land donated by Nelson, and the historic Alva school buildings (today's Alva Elementary and Middle School campus) are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Alva Library Association, organized from a 1901 book club and incorporated in 1906 on a lot donated by Nelson, provided the first public library in Southwest Florida.

By the beginning of the twentieth century, Alva had become Lee County's leading center for citrus cultivation, and its post office opened in 1884.

Alva had a population of 2,725 at the 2020 census, up from 2,596 in 2010, when the census counted about 1,044 households.

Just east of Alva, the Hickey Creek Wildlife and Environmental Area — established in 1994 as a gopher tortoise mitigation park, with about five miles of trails — protects pine flatwoods where Florida scrub-jays live, and it is a Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail site.

Alva is also home to the nearly 770-acre Caloosahatchee Regional Park on North River Road, a Lee County park with mountain biking and hiking trails and campsites along the river.

Alva is the birthplace of NASCAR stock car racing driver Ross Chastain.