Collier County Gets Ready to Celebrate

The Centennial Anniversary of Collier County in 1923 is on the horizon! Yes, Collier County will be celebrating their 100th birthday, and Marco Island is celebrating their 25th Anniversary. And we in this part of the world are relieved that we weren’t damaged as badly as we could have been with Hurricane Ian. Many people suffered some losses, but for the most part, as people helping people do, the cleanup is taking place and new growth is already sprouting everywhere. My orange trees even made it through, and my avocado tree is sprouting new growth. In fact, the weather has been lovely and cool! People are working together, neighbor helping neighbor! Storms like this bring out the best in people for the most part.

As you learned in last week’s Coastal Breeze from a terrific Historian, Lila Zuck, Collier County is preparing to celebrate her Centennial, turning 100 years old in just about two months, including the City of Naples and Everglades City; both incorporated as towns in 1923, with Everglades designated by Barron G. (Gift) Collier as the County Seat from Everglades to East Naples. Some Collier County residents may recall that unique period in our history. Some were too young or hadn’t moved here yet. Population projections through 1980 indicated Everglades City would not fluctuate to a huge degree, yet the City of Naples was expected to grow dramatically. Tremendous consideration was placed on whether to retain the Courthouse in Everglades City, East Naples, or Naples. The City Fathers held a runoff election on May 19th, 1959. The election results revealed that 53% of Collier County’s 4,737 registered voters narrowed the choices down to two options: retain the courthouse in Everglades City or relocate it to East Naples. The relocation of the County Courthouse was governed by Florida’s General Election Laws at the time. The results of the election indicated 1,674 voters favored relocation of the County Seat to East Naples. (By the way, did you notice there was never a South Naples, which was a phrase coined by the realtors, nor is South Naples mentioned along the interstate or the location signs? It’s East Naples. That’s the real name of the area!)

If you’re a history buff, you would enjoy reading about the history of Collier County “Town of Everglades and Town of Naples,” written and produced by an historian of the highest regard by most locals: Lila Zuck. If you’d like to buy her easy-to-read book, “Collier County - Town of Everglades and Town of Naples Centennial – 1923-2023,” you can contact Lila via email at lilazuck@comcast.net. It’s just $20! I’ve written, with approval, information from that book in this column.

And make sure to read this lovely poem sent to me by James Witham! He’s been writing his wife a poem every year since their 50th anniversary. Married for 66 years but together since high school, making them a “power” couple for 73 years! Love truly does make the world go round!