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More About Naples Florida History

By Jony Mozen


Naples history started in the late 1880s, when this beautiful city was first created in heads of John S. Williams and Walter N. Haldeman. You will find several interesting historic facts Naples Florida museums offer to their visitors. Naples Florida history might surprise you.

The entire area where this town is built on was occupied by the Caloosa tribe. The first white settlers were Roger Gordon and Joe Wiggins. They came here in 1960, but back then there were only swamps on this area. In any case, the coast is so lovely, especially the bay, that some people soon realized the value of this territory. Comparing this bay with the one in Naples, Italy, they concluded that this one is more beautiful.

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.

Their first project was to build large T-shaped pier. Although this area became really popular tourist resort for several rich families, the problem was that there was no trains or good quality roads to get there. That's why this small town was really isolated in next few decades, with only eighty residents. Well, the idea was not enough.

Thirty years later, another visionary, Barron Collier, bought entire swampland, all in all more than one million acres. Today's town is mostly built on his land. He understood the importance of paved roads, and thanks to him, the Tamiami Trail has been built. He believed in amazing opportunities this entire area offered. Well, he was absolutely right.

The first passenger train came here in 1927, in January 7. The train was called the Orange Blossom Special. The last train left this area in 1971. The Depot is now restored and used by numerous community organizations. Every day at noon, the train whistle can still be heard, just as it was for years.

After The Second World War the town started to develop faster. Still mainly tourist resort, it was interesting to many famous people of that period. Greta Garbo spent her holidays here, as well as Gary Cooper and many other celebrities. In 1932, they got the library. In 1949 the first bank. Telephone came in 1945.

Some other famous people spent their time here as well. For example, Charles Lindbergh. He and his wife Ann landed here in 1932, and bought supplies in the store. They were spending their holiday nearby. The first airport was military one, because pilots were trained here during the war. Civil airport was built 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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