Monday, November 10, 2014

Learn Something 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.

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.

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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