FunFacts
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1885
General John Williams was a Kentucky senator in 1885 when he and Walter Haldeman dropped anchor off Gordon pass. According to stories passed down through the years, over a toddy of fine Kentucky bourbon, Williams decided that in the memory of his service in the army to the King of Naples, the newly discovered paradise be called Naples.
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1900
River Park Community Center connection to George Washington Carver High School.
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1918
The first road between Naples and Fort Myers was completed in 1918, when the ox trail was improved with shell, making regular bus service possible during the dry season.
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1920
During World War II, the Seaboard Air Line Railway, turned over part of the depot for use as a USO club. Bea Bridges headed the club and recruited the townswomen to take over the task of decorating the depot and entertaining the troops. Dan House contributed a jukebox, and every Saturday night the main base at the airport came into town to enjoy music and refreshments.
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1920’s
The roaring 20s did not pass Naples by. During these racy times, the towns people and winter visitors danced the Charleston under the stars to phonograph music on the pier. Signs were erected, which read: “do not throw fish on the dance floor.”
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1921
Ed Frank built the very first Swamp Buggy in 1921. The swamp buggy innovation was a necessity for people to travel during the rainy season. Ed Frank helped organize the first Swamp Buggy race in 1949.
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1925
The City’s first Mayor, Speed Menefee, served for less than one hour. On April 13, 1925, Mayor Menefee took the oath of office, then resigned during the meeting when it was learned that the commission of the Notary Public who performed the Mayor’s swearing-in ceremony had expired. Town Council quickly appointed E.G. Wilkinson as the new Mayor of Naples.
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1927
In January 1927, the Orange Blossom Special raced into town and transportation by train opened a new era in Naples history. The current Naples Depot was at one time a working train station. 1972 was the last train to depart from Naples.
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1928
The Naples baseball team of 1928 was considering the best in Southwest Florida. the team played in Philadelphia Athletics at their training camp in Fort Myers improved be a formidable opponent.
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1928
After the Tamiami Trail was completed in 1928, stations were built along the road in 10-mile intervals. Travelers could buy gasoline, food and drink, in their operators double does police. Once every hour, there are required to mount their motorcycles and patrol the trail. This colorful organization, the Southwest Mounted police, was disbanded during the depression.
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1936
Naples first softball team was organized in 1936. The Naples Tigers were Wilson Dyches, Felix Mills, Jack Mills, George Fox, Albert Cameron, Bill Tiptons, A.L Day, and H. House.
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1936
The first school in Naples, built in 1905, was a one room structure at 151 Broad Avenue South. All grades were taught by one teacher. The second school building was built in 1924, between 10th and 11th Avenues South on 4th Street South. In 1936, when a school was built on Third Avenue South, now Gulfview Middle School, the school buildings on Fourth Street South were divided into four residences.
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1940
Cows once grazed at Broad Avenue at 5th Street South where a dairy was located. School children would walk over at noon to buy fresh milk for lunch from the dairy, owned by the young men family. The original her consist of three cows, and as they all increase the dairy, moved out to Rock Creek.
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1940
The only original builder in Port Royal and still in operation is A. Vernon Allen.
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1947
In 1947, there were 142 telephones in Naples in the Directory included in the Fort Myers book. 89 phones were for residences, and 53 were business phones. There were no dial telephones; all calls were handled by Miss Booker in the telephone office at Fifth Avenue and 8th Street South.
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1950’s
Roasting Peacocks was a dish enjoyed by the “elite”
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1950s and 60s
Julius Fleischmann, Jr., 1900-1968, born in Cincinnati, Ohio, relocated to Naples in 1946, following service in the U. S. Navy during World War II. He was a philanthropist, with an innate interest in art, the arts, the preservation of nature and its wildlife, people all over the world and their cultures, and locally the Naples community. In 1953, he preserved the 1917 gardens of renowned botanist Dr. Henry Nehrling as Caribbean Gardens, and in 1960 donated a five-acre tract and his 4,200-square-foot home for the Big Cypress Nature Center in Naples. As the first nature museum and cultural center of its kind in Southwest Florida, the Big Cypress Nature Center merged with the Collier County Conservancy in 1976 as the Conservancy Nature Center. As a major landowner in Old Naples, Julius Fleischmann, in addition to numerous contributions to the local community, laid the foundation for the orderly development of Third Street South.
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1959-1968
Carver High was open as a school for black students from 1959-1968.
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1960
Everglades City sustained tremendous damage during Hurricane Donna in 1960. Shortly thereafter, the county seat was moved to the City of Naples.
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1960’s
River Park is one of the City’s oldest neighborhoods built in the 1960’s.
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1962
The high school had 33 Students Graduate.
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1962
Carver High Cafeteria became part of the original Rec. Center when it was converted.
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1969
The City of Naples named the Charlie C. Anthony Park in honor of Private Charlie C. Anthony who lost his life in combat on May 12, 1969 while assigned to 3rd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment of the 11th Light Infantry Brigade in the Vietnam War. The Charlie C. Anthony Park is 7.92 acres of pristine landscape on the Gordon River.
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1970
Where the bandshell is today at Cambier Park was the only youth football that was used by the public until Fleischmann Park built a football field in the late 70s.
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1977
Until 1977 when the Coastland Mall was opened, the closest mall was the Edison Mall in Fort Myers.
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1980
Ronald Reagan spoke from the top floor of what is now the baseball concession stand when he was running for office.
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1980
When Naples was originally platted, a road ran down the beach and was called Gulf Street. The beach was once nearly 100 feet wide and over the years has eroded until Gulf Street is now way out in the Gulf of Mexico.
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1980
The playground at Cambier Park was called Candy Cane City and the famous water fountain was built into the Lion head.
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1980
Santa Claus used to arrive in by helicopter at the Grands Department store which is now Office Depot
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2000’s
Wild Monkeys roamed the Lake Park and Naples High neighborhoods for years.
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2002
Today’s River Park Community Center held its grand opening on December 16, 2002.
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2020
Test
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2023
May 8, 2023 Collier County celebrated their centennial at Everglades City Hall.
