Collier Family Helps Celebrate Tamiami Trail 95th Anniversary

It was like stepping back in time Saturday morning. Terry Collier, grandson of Barron Collier, delivered a dramatic reading of his grandfather’s speech on the steps of City Hall in Everglades City in 1923, announcing that the million acres he owned in southern Lee County would become known as Collier County. 

"I had kind of mixed feelings about it,” Terry Collier said after delivering his grandfather’s speech to a receptive crowd, gathered on the lawn in front of Everglades City Hall.

"On the one hand,” Collier said, "I wish I could have known him. He died before I had an opportunity to. But at the same time, I felt very honored that I had the opportunity to recreate his great personality. I'd seen the speech before, and I'd always imagined what it must have been like in those days and kind of channeling yourself back through history. And if you like watching the History Channel, then you know what I'm talking about."

Collier was happy with his performance, though he’s not sure he nailed it.

"Well, no,” he said. "I didn't. I started slipping into a British accent instead of a Southern accent. But then, of course, there's a lot of similarities between the two because they all came from the same part of the world.”

Barron Collier’s speech was pointed.

“Today,” Barron Collier said, "the eyes of the world are focused on Florida, and the world sees the completion of the greatest highway that the splendid Peninsula has ever possessed. Not only to the value of millions of visitors who will use it but the entire population of southeast Florida. A wholesome feeling of gratitude predominates in the mind of those who know and those who have a feeling of admiration and gratitude to the governor of this great commonwealth. The chairman of our State Road Department. And our corps of masterful engineers. They performed what seemed a nebulous dream, but which now is a vital accomplishment linking the Atlantic to the Gulf Coast. I'm stretching a belt of granite highway to the 237 miles between the Wonder City of Mammoth and the busy metropolis of Tampa."

Collier says he has an idea how his grandfather would have reacted to his reenactment.

"He'd be laughing at me,” Collier jokes. "It’s like my older brother said when he came over. 'Once a ham, always a ham.' And I couldn't disagree with him.”

Richard Collier was in the audience watching his brother portray their grandfather and congratulated his brother immediately afterward.

And how does the Collier family feel about the whole centennial of Collier County?

"Oh, it's a big deal,” Collier said with reverence. "Grandpa was an amazing man. The more I learn about him, the way stories keep coming back. Like, one day I had a phone call out of the blue from this lawyer saying this Eskimo tribe up in Alaska wants permission to put a road through your gold claim. I said, ‘What?' 'Oh, yeah. Your grandfather won it in a poker game.’ That's the kind of guy he was, you know?"