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History
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Collier
County |
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Everglades City • |
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Streetcars
used to run here, along one of the two roads now separated by medians
throughout the downtown area. Tracks can be seen in some exposed parts
of the ground near the waterfront. Descendants of the Shorter and
Smallwood families who originally settled here still live in this
area, and some stories of their ancestors can be followed in the local
museum. Look for “A Short History of Everglades City”
by Marya Repko (available in English and Spanish) |
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Skunk Ape • |
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- exhibits
are being prepared now, since the building is going through renovations.
Currently, animals (including snakes and alligators) form the main
attractions at this site. A giant (10 feet high and 30 feet long)
plaster panther welcomes visitors arriving south on U.S 41. You literally
cannot miss this attraction; if you see Turner River canoe launch
site you have gone too far south. David Shealey will be happy to answer
any questions about the site in the meantime. |
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Names
of interest • |
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Deaconess
Harriet Bedell |
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...born
in 1875, was a missionary to the Miccosukee and Seminole Indians in
the Everglades. Her first assignments were in Oklahoma and Alaska.
In 1933 she was seeking donations for her Alaska mission when she
was invited to speak in Florida. She visited a Seminole reservation,
and decided not to return to Alaska. She was assigned to the Everglades
and she sought to revive the patchwork, doll making and basket weaving
skills of the Indians. Also, she traded her food for items they made,
then took the native objects of art, sold them to retailers and bought
food and supplies which she gave back to the Indians. Deaconess Bedell
presided over her mission until it was destroyed by Hurricane Donna
in 1960. Her Great Floridian plaque is located at the Museum of the
Everglades, 105 West Broadway, Everglades City. |
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David
Graham Copeland |
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...
was born in 1885. He came to work for Barron Gift Collier in 1924
as engineer and architect for the Tamiami Trail (U.S. 41). Copeland
oversaw the entire project and the Trail was completed in April 1928.
Copeland also managed the planning and construction of Everglades
(now Everglades City), which was the county seat of Collier County
from 1923 to 1962. Copeland managed many Collier companies operating
from Everglades, including hotels, a steamship line, the United Telephone
System of Florida, Bank of Everglades (which today serves as a hotel
and spa), retail stores, an ice plant and schools. He was also instrumental
in bringing the Atlantic Coast Line Railway to southwest Florida.
He later served as a representative, and wrote a history of the area
which became the basis for Charlton Tebeau’s Collier County
history, Florida’s Last Frontier. His Great Floridian plaque
is located at the Museum of the Everglades, 105 West Broadway, Everglades
City. |
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Tommie
Camilla Stephens Barfield |
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...was
born in 1888. She came to Marco Island with her family in 1901.
They bought a house from James Madison Barfield, who became her husband
in 1906. In 1910 she turned her home into a small hotel and produced
candies and jellies for her guests. Barfield lobbied Lee County Commissioners
for better roads, schools and amenities lacking on Marco Island.
At one meeting she met Barron Gift Collier and together they
worked for the creation of Collier County, which occurred in 1923.
She lobbied for schools and teachers and was appointed the first superintendent
of Collier County Schools. She served as superintendent and remained
on the school board for two decades. Tommie Barfield Elementary School
is named in her honor. Tommie Camilla Stephens Barfield died
in 1949. Her Great Floridian plaque is located at the Tommie Barfield
Elementary School, 101 Kirkwood Street, Marco Island. |
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William
David "Captain Bill" Collier |
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...was
born in 1852, a son of the first American settler on Marco Island.
In 1883 he opened a mercantile store on Marco Island,
when it was the only port between Punta Rassa and Key West. In 1895,
he discovered one of the richest collections of Indian artifacts in
North America. This led to a major archaeological excavation,
the 1895-96 Pepper Hearst Expedition. The excavation recovered
2,500 artifacts, all of which Collier donated to museums and institutions
of higher learning. Many of these artifacts are housed at the Smithsonian
Institution today, or at the Florida Museum of Natural History in
Gainesville. In 1910 Collier helped establish a clam factory
on Marco Island. He invented a clam-dredging machine that allowed
for harvesting of clams at a greater depth. Collier also served two
years on the Lee County Board of County Commissioners before Collier
County was formed in 1923. William David Collier died in 1934. His
Great Floridian plaque is located at the Old Marco Island Inn &
Suites, 100 Royal Palm Boulevard, Marco Island. |
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Henry
Nehrling |
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...
famed ornithologist and horticulturist, was born in 1853 in Wisconsin.
His early education was in a parochial school several miles from his
home. During walks to school, he developed a great interest in nature.
In 1890, he took the job of Custodian of the Public Museum in Milwaukee
where he was given the opportunity to collect plant specimens for
their greenhouse. Nehrling then used his knowledge to develop a garden
in Gotha, Florida, where he had bought land in 1884. Nehrling grew
and popularized many unusual and exotic plants for the general public.
Caladiums, palms, bamboo, and amaryllis were all introduced to the
United States by way of his Palm Cottage Gardens. Nehrling’s
garden became so well known during the 1890s that people like John
Burroughs, Thomas Edison, and Theodore Roosevelt came to visit and
learn gardening tips from him. Nehrling had resigned his post with
the Public Museum of Milwaukee and permanently settled in Gotha in
1894. In 1917, he purchased land in Naples, to pursue an interest
in Caladiums. In 1922, Nehrling settled permanently in Naples, calling
his garden there"Garden Solitude" and "Tropical Gardens".
Henry Nehrling died in 1929. His Naples garden was preserved as the
Jungle Larry’s Caribbean Gardens. Today, plans are underway
to connect these gardens to the Naples Zoo, which many residents think
is a bad idea, and something that alters the historic character of
the gardens. |
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