By Pam Nicholls, GSAC Board Member
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One of the County’s most historic sites, the Naples Depot Museum on Fifth Ave, reopened to the public in January after being closed for nearly four years.
When Hurricane Ian swept into town it sent 3.5 feet of water into the museum damaging the walls and three exhibit areas. Ten display cases were lost but the museum was able to preserve their artifacts and the original 1920’s terrazzo flooring at the entrance of the museum.
The Board of County Commissioners awarded a $1.268m contract for the museum’s renovation last year. The comprehensive project, which included re-wiring, new flooring, walls and doors, took 10 months to complete.
The Depot, built in 1927 as the passenger terminal, along with the Seaboard Budd Observation Tavern Car (1947), Baggage Car (1920) and Caboose (1909) are stewarded by Southwest Heritage Inc and became part of Collier County Museums in 2005. Exhibits celebrate the railroading boom days of the 1920s, a period when trade and travel transformed Naples from frontier village to glamorous Gulf coast resort.
The Museum is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and opened to the public in 2011 on the 84th anniversary of the first passenger train, the Orange Blossom Special, arriving in Naples.
The Lionel Train Museum is a separate entity, but the two museums occasionally collaborate on special events.
The Baggage Car has been completely re-vamped and re-christened in a separate initiative led by Friends of Collier County Museums. Over $550,000 was raised, including a $400,000 grant from the department of state’s division of historical resources to create
a Black History museum within the Baggage Car. Exhibits will highlight the roles African Americans played in the railroad industry and the contributions they made to the development of Collier County. The Black History Baggage Car is due to open in June.
