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Looking Back: Historic photos from Naples (2009 edition)

And they’re off! Swamp buggies line up on this undated postcard as they have done for 60 years in Naples. The thrice-a-year races now boast bigger, more sophisticated machines, but the idea remains the same — going as fast as one can through water and mud that supposedly is impassable. And having fun doing it. This card is courtesy of Mimi and Brandt Watson, who have lived in Naples for 50 years. Brandt Watson was a pioneer with the Collier Mosquito Control District and Mimi Watson was a teacher.

And they’re off! Swamp buggies line up on this undated postcard as they have done for 60 years in Naples. The thrice-a-year races now boast bigger, more sophisticated machines, but the idea remains the same — going as fast as one can through water and mud that supposedly is impassable. And having fun doing it. This card is courtesy of Mimi and Brandt Watson, who have lived in Naples for 50 years. Brandt Watson was a pioneer with the Collier Mosquito Control District and Mimi Watson was a teacher.

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  • Lawyers today would have a field day with the gap between the railing and the boardwalk if someone fell even the short distance into the water at the Naples Pier. This 1956 photo from the Naples Historical Society shows the landmark Naples Pier four years before Hurricane Donna and an extreme makeover. This scene is from a package of 15 postcards newly offered at local book, drug, hardware and gift stores for $7.99 by Arcadia Publishing of South Carolina. The Naples Historical Society shares in the proceeds. Readers with local memorabilia to share are encouraged to call the Perspective editor at 263-4773.
  • Gulfshore Life magazine shows sportscaster Joe Klimas, right, interviewing today’s Naples Mayor Bill Barnett at a pro tennis event.
  • In the dock space at Naples’ Tin City now anchored by the Double Sunshine tour boat, its 1960s-70s predecessor was self-named Capt. Elwood Starn. (The Dalis was there in between.) Starn and the boat even put out their own postcards. This undated card is courtesy of a Daily News reader who wishes to remain anonymous. The postcard promotional material said: “In Naples, Florida, on the Gulf of Mexico; deep-sea fishing aboard the 65-foot boat ‘Capt. Elwood Starn.’ Fish finder, twin G.M. diesels, snack bar, rod and reel rental; free parking at boat. Daily 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Gordon River Bridge on U.S. 41 East.” Yes, that is the landmark Kelly’s Fish House in the background, to the east. Readers with local memorabilia to share are encouraged to call the Perspective editor at 263-4773.
  • Bill Westman sends a note with the Daily News clipping above: “Attached is a photo of my sister Shelley (Ralston) Westman, who was a carrier for the Daily News in Aqualane Shores back in the late 1960s. This photo was printed in the paper on Christmas Eve 1969. The caption mentions the Santa outfit given to Clyde, the dog, by Shelley’s customers.
  • On the 60th anniversary of Naples’ swamp buggy races, local historian Lila Zuck has compiled “Naples Oldest Tradition, Swamp Buggy Days.”
  • In 1959, the year before Hurricane Donna, modern Naples was taking shape. That is Coquina Sands in white at lower left. The landmark links at the Naples Beach Hotel and Golf Club is above it to the south, with Old Naples and Naples Bay beyond. Look closely and you can see Aqualane Shores and Royal Harbor taking shape on the west and east sides of the bay, respectively. Photo archive courtesy of Art Ullman of Naples; photo made by Roy Caple Sr. Readers with local memorabilia to share are encouraged to call the Perspective editor at 263-4773.
  • In this undated photo, looking southwest from Naples High School, there was no Golden Gate Parkway west of Goodlette-Frank Road and no Coastland Center in Naples. Submitted
  • Nature and fashion. That was the formula for Gulfshore Life magazine in its early days. The April 1979 edition’s cover featured a butterfly, while a Jami’s ad reflected styles du jour and a photo for an ad for The Mueller Company Realtors of Naples and Marco Island combined style and nature. Courtesy of Muriel Lutgert
  • Nature and fashion. That was the formula for Gulfshore Life magazine in its early days. The April 1979 edition’s cover featured a butterfly, while a Jami’s ad reflected styles du jour and a photo for an ad for The Mueller Company Realtors of Naples and Marco Island combined style and nature. Courtesy of Muriel Lutgert
  • Nature and fashion. That was the formula for Gulfshore Life magazine in its early days. The April 1979 edition’s cover featured a butterfly, while a Jami’s ad reflected styles du jour and a photo for an ad for The Mueller Company Realtors of Naples and Marco Island combined style and nature. Courtesy of Muriel Lutgert
  • Looking Back: The Naples pier and Old Naples. Courtesy the Whitaker family
  • This southwest view, believed to be from 1968, looks across the Country Club of Naples toward Royal Poinciana, top left, and the city of Naples and Gulf of Mexico. Photo courtesy the Whitaker family
  • This was the northwest view in 1968 of The Moorings looking toward Doctors Pass and Park Shore at upper right. Houses and condos are small by today’s standards. Courtesy of Yvette and Greg Whitaker, from the aerial photo archives of their late father, Les, who was a prominent local Realtor.
  • Forty-one years ago, Port Royal in southern Naples was well under way — with homes much smaller than new ones, some of which have replaced these. Courtesy of Yvette and Greg Whitaker, from the aerial photo archives of their late father.
  • Also from Gulfshore Life magazine: One ad is for a restaurant that has given way to condos on Bonita Beach.
  • Gulfshore Life magazine is still around after 37 years. Its covers in the early days, such as this one from January 1979, featured nature scenes; these days the focus is on the rich and famous.
  • Forty-one years ago, this is how Goodlette-Frank Road (then just Goodlette Road) shaped up south of Pine Ridge Road. Photo courtesy Greg and Yvette Whitaker
  • Dr. Mike Womble is a well-known Naples dentist. When he first visited Naples at age 7 with his family, from Miami, they tried their fishing luck at the Naples Pier. Photo courtesy of his mother, Betty Womble.
  • “Thought you might like this comparison/contrast of Third Street South’s trees in the 1950s.” So says the note to the Daily News from Naples history guardians Lavern Gaynor and Lois A. Bolin. For more information about Gaynor and Bolin’s work, go online to www.naplesbackyardhistory.org
  • Here is another breathtaking aerial of Collier County mosquito control methods of yesteryear. Like the shot shared last week (July 19, 2009) by Bob Geroy, a longtime member of the local bug board, these show 1970s combat on Marco Island. In fact, new residents caught unaware at the time wondered if war had been declared — with early-morning spray assaults at full speed at altitudes near tops of trees and roofs. Now the same job is handled by smaller planes using different chemicals and higher altitudes while most of us sleep.
  • Here is another breathtaking aerial of Collier County mosquito control methods of yesteryear. Like the shot shared last week by Bob Geroy, a longtime member of the local bug board, these show 1970s combat on Marco Island. In fact, new residents caught unaware at the time wondered if war had been declared — with early-morning spray assaults at full speed at altitudes near tops of trees and roofs. Now the same job is handled by smaller planes using different chemicals and higher altitudes while most of us sleep.
  • As chemical fog lingers in the distance, a Collier Mosquito Control takes aim near the Marco Marriot Beach Resort in 1976. Photo courtesy of Bob Geroy
  • This photo is of Port Royal in May 1969 — 40 years ago this month.
  • The scene is from February 1960. The occasion: the newly merged Naples Airlines/Provincetown-Boston Airline began regular passenger service between Naples and Miami, with three daily round-trip flights during season. That airline ended Naples service, which also included trips to and from Tampa, in 1988. Collier County Museum at the Collier County Government Center in East Naples. For more information about the museum, call (239) 252-8476 or go online to www.colliermuseums.com.
  • No, this did not take place in Southwest Florida. But the photo was made by a Naples woman and will stir memories for many others. President Barack Obama’s visit to Fort Myers led Rita Chartier to share this snapshot of Dwight Eisenhower in 1962, two years after he left the White House. His motorcade — on Kennedy Drive — came within a block of her home in Kankakee, Ill., south of Chicago. Note the level of security, that mysterious hand and arm to the left of Ike, and the driver’s casual attire.
  • And they’re off! Swamp buggies line up on this undated postcard as they have done for 60 years in Naples. The thrice-a-year races now boast bigger, more sophisticated machines, but the idea remains the same — going as fast as one can through water and mud that supposedly is impassable. And having fun doing it. This card is courtesy of Mimi and Brandt Watson, who have lived in Naples for 50 years. Brandt Watson was a pioneer with the Collier Mosquito Control District and Mimi Watson was a teacher.
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These classic photos were published in 2009 in the Sunday Perspective section of the Naples Daily News.

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