Southwest Florida Real Estate History Museum

Timeless photos from

The Southwest Florida Real Estate History Museum

Brought to you by John R. Wood Properties

Swimming by the Naples Pier in 1912.

The home of Juan “John” Gomez, an early settler, who claimed to have been born in Portugal in 1781 and was a former pirate. He died in 1900 while living on Panther Key (south of Marco Island), so he was over 120 years of age. (circa late 1800’s)

Building the Tamiami Trail in 1927.

Barron Collier completed the huge road-building task with machines and men that fought mosquitos, heat, and swamps to accomplish the feat.

A gathering at The Naples Hotel in 1927 to celebrate the opening of the Seaboard Coast Line Train Station in Naples.

A 1927 photo of the Naples Hotel showing the town name painted on the roof, the direct freight/walkway to the pier, and the hotel water tower.

The first mosquito spraying truck in Naples. These trucks, predecessors to planes and helicopters, were used for several decades to help control the bugs.

Neighborhood kids used to run behind the trucks as they slowly went down the street, belching flames and a thick white DDT smoke out the rear.

The first jail in Naples, known as the PawPaw Patch, built in the early 1940’s. It had two jail cells.

The original John R. Wood office on 5th Ave. South, with its plate glass window busted out after Hurricane Donna hit on Sept. 10, 1960.

Very few store owners boarded up their storefront windows, but Donna changed that strategy forever.

Bonita Springs was hit even harder than Naples by the hurricane. The young newspaper known as the Bonita Banner had to be hand written in order to publish an edition 5 days after the storm, due to the lack of electricity.

The Naples Pier was mostly destroyed by the hurricane, but was rebuilt through the generosity of the Lester Norris family, who owned Keewaydin Island just south of Port Royal. The family has continued to be a major benefactor over the years for many local causes.

The original Coquina Sands sales office.

The development was the first subdivision that was north of the Beach Club and west of U.S. 41.

An early aerial showing Coquina Sands under development (the large sand area just north of the Beach Club Golf Course). Doctor’s Pass is just north of Coquina in what would become The Moorings. Note that there are already homes in Lake Park and other areas between U.S. 41 and the train tracks.

Goodlette-Frank Rd. would eventually be built on the old train right of way.

Park Shore in the early development stages with the serpent shaped road of Mermaid’s Bight. Gulf Shore Blvd. North (at top of photo) would eventually be extended allowing beach and bayfront condos to be constructed.

The one and only indoor theater in Naples was the Quonset hut just off the SE corner of Broad Ave. South and Third St. South (far left side of photo) The theater entrance was on 3rd Street. Inside was a Coke machine that dispersed a paper cup and then filled it with your 10 cent drink, if the cup had been fortunate enough to land upright. The only other theater was the drive-in on the SW corner of what is now Immokalee Road and U.S. 41, where patrons could battle the local mosquitos during the movie.

Located beside the Naples Theater was the popular Beach Store, where many would stop after the movie for an ice cream soda.

The first Chamber of Commerce office. (circa late 1920’s)

The long standing Rexall Drug Store, at the SE corner of 5th Avenue South and 8th St. South. It had a popular soda fountain lunch counter inside, a more casual spot than the nearby Piccadilly Pub or St. George and the Dragon.

The old Dome Building in Bonita Springs, that was used for a variety of uses including a bar, before eventually being torn down.

Naples Air Lines operated a proppowered set of commercial aircraft that served Naples in the winter and Provincetown/Boston in the summer. The planes were generally WWII vintage, and flew mostly to Miami and Tampa.

The missile tracking station at Cape Romano (just south of Marco), which became important during the Cuban Missile Crisis, as Floridians were concerned since only 90 miles of ocean separated Cuba and Key West, Florida.

In the 1960’s, John Slater, the former CEO of a food management company before retiring to Naples, built an estate on Gordon Drive and created a mini-zoo enclosed with an electric fence. He had deer, seals, dolphins, manatees, flamingos, pelicans, sea turtles, and a trainer, and allowed thousands of children to visit his home and interact with the animals.

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