Clerk’s Office Celebrates Collier County

Did you know the first civil case filed in the newly minted Collier County in 1923 was for a divorce? Or that the County’s first elected woman judge was in 1975? These are just some of the fascinating details on display at a reception held by the Clerk of the Circuit Court office on July 7th, the exact date Collier became a county 100 years ago. The Courthouse Atrium had a fantastic interactive display showing the history of the Clerks, the Courthouse and other county events through the decades. Posters also included other informational tidbits to put the year in context, from the cost of gas (25 cents in 1923) to the most popular TV shows (Bonanza and Candid Camera from 1954-1963). But the displays weren’t limited to posters. You could see the bubble gum machines used to select judges for criminal cases. (Yes, judges were assigned a specific marble color and the bubble gum machine spit out who got which case.) Or the Bingo Board for jury selection. There was a fragile box of tax certificates from Lee County starting in 1894 through 1923. The displays also provided QR codes enabling guests to access even more details. 

Many Collier County dignitaries, both current and from the past, were in attendance, including County Commissioners McDaniel and Hall, County Manager Amy Patterson, Sheriff Rambosk, newly appointed County Supervisor of Elections Melissa Blazier, County Attorney Klatzkow, former NAACP Director Harold Weeks, well-known local historian Lila Zuck, Cheryl Brock, daughter of former Clerk of the Court Dwight Brock and Valeri Wenzel Carson whose father, Clifford Wenzel was a county commissioner from 1966-1982. Light refreshments were served, including punch served in Margaret Scott’s punch bowl. Scott was County Clerk of the Circuit Court from 1959 through 1976.

You can see this informative and detailed history put together by the Clerk’s office by going to their website at collierclerk.com. Click on the gold “Collier Centennial” button on the right-hand side. Besides being able to watch videos ranging from the history of the courthouse to the county’s most notorious cases, you can also flip through a brochure of the posters that were on display: “Our First 100 Years Through The Eyes of the Collier County Clerk of Courts and Comptroller.”