Black History Month Starts with Wins, Setbacks, Events in Naples

An unmarked black cemetery in Naples may finally honor the lives lost while the City of Naples eyes a property purchase that could once again displace many of the city’s living population of black people.  

Meanwhile, Collier County Museums, in partnership with the Collier County NAACP and other organizations, is working on a permanent exhibit of Naples’ black history in a baggage car at the Naples Depot. 

Unmarked Cemetery Site to Now Honor Naples Pioneers of Color  

Rosemary Cemetery was long known to be the resting place of some of Collier County’s pioneers and earliest settlers, including John and Madison Weeks, Naples first residents. However, less is known about the people laid to rest in Plot N, the segregated portion of the cemetery.  

Plot N is a small patch of grass on the southwest corner of the intersection of Goodlette-Frank Road and Pine Ridge Road that most passersby never knew was a burial site. 

In January, Collier County donated the land, and with the help of high school student Jonathan Rodriguez, Collier County Museums, and Collier County NAACP, the unmarked graves are to get recognition.  

Due to segregation being the law of the land prior to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, there were no markers of the cemetery or the eight graves there. 

“We’re going to make sure they’re getting dignity in death in comparison to what they experienced in life,” said Vincent Keeys, president of Collier County NAACP.  

“Unfortunately, somehow, they’ve lost the names of the heroes buried at plot N,” said Keeys. 

“All we know now is there are eight burials there, which happens to be seven adults and one child,” said Keeys. 

Historic Rosemary Cemetery includes a more visible cemetery on Pine Ridge Road and U.S. 41 near the CVS parking lot. This portion of the cemetery was restored and rededicated by Collier County Museums in the 1990s with headstones. A few blocks away, on Goodlette Frank Road, however, is the portion of the cemetery with unmarked graves. Their initial burials likely occurred between 1931 and 1947, according to Amanda Townsend, director of Collier County Museums.  

The graves were originally located near St. Ann’s Catholic Church, at 3rd Street South and 10th Avenue South. The high water table caused the human remains to rise and the graves needed to be relocated to make way for the church expansion, recounts Keeys. 

Edward Crayton, namesake of Crayton Road, donated the 20 acres of land for Rosemary Cemetery, which was later divided by development following purchases by wealthy Naples businessmen John Pulling and Robert Benson. Heirs deeded plots to the County in the 1970s, but not all of them. 

The 17 grave sites, segregated into two sections at the southwest corner of Pine Ridge and Goodlette-Frank roads, remained under private ownership until Collier County Commissioners received the lots by quitclaim deeds and designated them historically significant this January. Headstones, a fence, historical data on a sign, and other plans are finally in the works for Plot N, said Keeys. 

Potential Displacement of Naples Black Population in Historical District 

Over the decades, the black people of Naples were often displaced with development, leaving smaller and smaller populations, said Keeys. This may happen again with City purchase of a black-occupied apartment complex, he said. 

The City of Naples was long home to a small black neighborhood of people who worked for the railroad, lumber, or other industries.  

Approximately five percent of the City of Naples population is black, according to the most recent data from the US Census Bureau in 2024. That’s less than the state average of about 17 percent.  

The newest potential displacement could occur with Naples purchase of Stillwater Cove Apartments, formerly Gordon River Apartments, now owned by Corridor Ventures, said Keeys. The property is 3.35 acres in River Park East and houses many black families. The site was developed as a segregated community in the 1960s. The apartments, along with much of the black neighborhood along the Gordon River, took a big hit from Hurricane Ian in 2022.  

Collier County NAACP was integral to helping people in the area get back on their feet, said Keeys.  

“If they displace them again, there will no longer be an African American historical site,” he said. 

“McDonalds Quarters used to be the slums of the City of Naples,” said Keeys of the property located near the old Naples Daily News site.  

“City Council declared it a health hazard, and so it was mowed down, and now $6 million condos are sold in that area,” he said.  

“This displaced people to George Washing Carver Complex, the affordable housing complex to replace McDonalds Quarters,” recalled Keeys. 

“The displacement of African Americans is a very common thing in city governments all over the country,” he said. 

The City considered acquisition of the Gordon River Apartments, now Stillwater Cove, in previous years as well, spending at least $100,000 on plans and appraisals, but didn’t meet the asking price of sellers. Most recently, the City Council, acting as the Community Redevelopment Agency, the governing body of the area that is collecting special taxes to redevelop, voted in January to approve getting appraisals that could pave the way for purchase of the property. City officials described the purchase as an opportunity to redevelop the hurricane-prone area as well as to provide affordable workforce housing, at least for a few years.  

Keeys was skeptical that the housing would be any less expensive or even remain affordable.  

“This is one of the last stands, should I say, in the City of Naples,” said Keeys. 

“They’ll be selling maybe $10 million condos as opposed to $6 million this time,” he said.  

“They’ll be displaced again. It’s a very common story of displacement. That’s why we’re developing this project at the Baggage Car, so we can tell this story,” Keeys said. 

Black History Baggage Car at Naples Depot 

Naples Depot Museum, originally built in 1926 as a passenger train station by Seaboard Air Line Railway, is located on Fifth Avenue South near 10th Street in what was an African American neighborhood where many railroad workers lived. An old baggage car being used for years to store holiday decorations is being restored to create a permanent exhibit of the history of Naples’ black residents and of African American history.  

“It’s a 1920s Pullman baggage car that currently is used for storage at the Naples Depot museum, and we will be transforming it into the first permanent space to tell the Black History story of Collier County,” said Townsend. 

Much of the depot itself, as well as the tracks of the railroad running from Miami to Naples, were built by African Americans. 

Workers, known as Pullman porters, accommodated riders across the country. 

George Pullman, inventor of the sleeper car in 1864, hired African Americans at the end of the Civil War, helping lift them from poverty, Keeys recounted. 

“They were coming out of slavery and finding gainful employment,” he said. “Before rail, the primary means of employment for African Americans was agriculture. Pullman was one of the richest people at the time and employed a lot of black labor.” 

“We’re trying to make the baggage car a space to tell the story of the Pullman porters along with other African American storytelling pieces, exhibits of African American artists such as Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes,” Keeys said. “There’s a lot to be told and so many historical pieces we could share.” 

The Black History Baggage Car Project was founded in 2022 and has raised approximately $400,000 from the Department of State African American Historical Grant, $50,000 from the City of Naples, $25,000 from the Friends of the Collier County Museums, $15,000 from the Community Foundation of Collier County and at least $30,000 in other private donations. 

Donations of time, artifacts, stories, and monetary contributions are being accepted. Email info@foccm.com.  

Exhibits are to open later this year, Museum officials said.  

Stay informed through thewebsite blackhistorybaggagecarnaples.org, 

instagram.com/blackhistorymuseumnaples and through Facebook. 

Black History and Cultural Events 

Upcoming events include: 

• The Black Experience in Collier County, 3:30 PM Thursday, February 6, will include conversations and more details on the above historical and current events, and more, at 5200 Crayton Road, Naples.  

• Sunday Dinner, feeding all in need, at Assembly of the Rock Eternal, 2737 Bayshore Drive, noon, Sunday, February 9, with a free warm Haitian American meal and other festivities, following 11:00 AM church service.  

• A Black History Tribute to Religious Organizations and their Impact on the African American Community, 3:00 PM, Sunday, February 23 at Collier County Museum, 3331 Tamiami Trail East. 

• A Conversation with James McBride, a New York Times Bestselling Author and writer of “The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store,” 7:30 PM Tuesday, February 25, at Hayes Hall, Artis—Naples, 5833 Pelican Bay Blvd. Among other accolades, McBride won the National Humanities Medal for his role in enriching the national conversation about race. 

• NAACP Literacy Luncheon, March 11 at Vineyards Country Club. Keynote speaker is Rev. Dr. Oliver Phipps.  

More recent and upcoming events from throughout Collier County relevant to Black History Month are coming soon to Coastal Breeze News.