Interesting Things About Naples Florida History

By Jony Mozen


There are some interesting historic facts Naples Florida visitors often don't know. Although there are several nice museums in this town, most people simply don't visit such places. If you would like to find out more about Naples Florida history, here are some interesting things you might want to know. So, the founders of this lovely place were John S. Williams and Walter N. Haldeman, back there in 1880s.

This all area was once inhabited by the Caloosa Indians. The first settlers, Roger Gordon and Joe Wiggins, came here in the late 1860s. The whole area was mainly swampland, but there were some people who believed that it can become prosperous. Some even considered this bay more beautiful than the one in Naples, Italy, and that's how the town got its name.

One of the city founders, Kentucky U. S. Senator John S. Williams, was former Confederate general. His partner Walter N. Haldeman was businessman and the owner of Louisville Courier Journal. They formed the Naples Company and designed and launched their town building program. Their idea was to build the town that will become a tourist destination on the coast.

The first project was to build a T-shape pier six hundred feet into the Gulf of Mexico. Although everything was great in the beginning, for the next thirty years this town was only used as a winter retreat for a handful of wealthy families from Ohio and Kentucky. Without good roads and railway, the whole area was practically isolated.

Another visionary, Barron Collier, made the next important step. He bought over million acres of swampland and spent great deal of money in building the paved highway called Tamiami Trail. It was called so because it connected two cities, Tampa and Miami. Collier understood the importance of good roads and trains, and the whole county was named after him.

The first train brought its passengers in January 7, 1927. Today, there are no railways here any more. The last train was gone back in 1971. The old Depot now serves as home for community organizations, entirely restored. Even so, one thing is still the same. Every day at noon, you can hear the train whistle blown, just as it was blown for years.

The town got its first bank back in 1949. It was placed on 5th Ave. They got their library in 1932, and phone company in 1929. It is known that there were seventeen phones there in 1945. Numerous celebrities of that time visited this place, including Gary Cooper and Thomas Edison, as well as Greta Garbo.

In 1932, famous Charles Lindbergh landed his plane here, accompanied by his wife, Ann, to get some supplies for their holidays. They were spending some time in this area. During the Second World War, hundreds of pilots were trained here for combat flying. After the war, the civil airport was established in 1953.

Today, you can say that this town is an example of really impressive growth and development. This is the fastest growing town in Collier County. Constructing, tourism, banking and real estate are the major industries in this area, and today this is one of the wealthiest communities in this county.




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