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Looking Back: More classic photos of Naples landmarks

This 1953-54 photo is unusual. It shows Port Royal in its earliest years, looking north from Gordon Pass. Vast mansions rise from these rough-cut streets and cleared lots today. Readers can clearly see that most of Port Royal remained to be carved, dredged and filled — to the condition it is in today.

Photo courtesy of Gerry Lansinger

This 1953-54 photo is unusual. It shows Port Royal in its earliest years, looking north from Gordon Pass. Vast mansions rise from these rough-cut streets and cleared lots today. Readers can clearly see that most of Port Royal remained to be carved, dredged and filled — to the condition it is in today.

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  • The grille work says 'Naples On The Gulf' in an undated family photo of local teacher Leila Canant and her husband, Adolph (A.E.) Canant, who worked for Florida Power & Light at the ice factory near the schoolhouse in Old Naples.
  • The 1933 Old Naples schoolhouse looked more like a house; from left, teachers Anna Lee McSwain, Edith Bryan (Leila's sister), Lucille Buckles and Leila and A.E. Canant.
  • When Jack M. Lamb owned the Cities Service station at Central Avenue and U.S. 41 in Naples in 1963-64 — where the Mobil station and convenience store now reside — he was the lone employee.
  • When Jack M. Lamb owned the Cities Service station at Central Avenue and U.S. 41 in Naples in 1963-64 — where the Mobil station and convenience store now reside — he was the lone employee. He is at right in the photo; the others are unidentified. The cars and architecture are vintage.
  • This undated postcard says Cove Standard Service was at Naples’ Eighth Street and 11th Avenue South — 'adjacent to City Pier and Sports Spot Marina.' However, the scene seems to more resemble U.S. 41 in the heart of the city. Longtime residents differ on whether they recall a gas station by Crayton Cove — in addition to the stations at Four Corners and the one that became The Mole Hole on Third Street — yet there are no county records to that effect. Nevertheless, the picture-postcard station offered 'wash and polish and free pickup and delivery.' Bob Adams was the manager. Wanda Rimes Rodriguez of Naples, whose parents — Ronnie and Evelyn Rimes, were the owners and operators of the Crayton Cove Standard Oil station in the early 1960s, settles the debate. The station was located at the corner of 12th Avenue South and Eighth Street South, indeed in Crayton Cove.
  • The unique design of the former Charlene's Restaurant, previously a Dairy Queen, brightens the intersection of Bonita Beach Road and Old 41 Road. Now, it is Taqueria San Julian.
  • The Dome was a bar with an orange thatched roof at Old 41 and East Terry Street in Bonita Springs. It came down in 1992.
  • Nowadays, we are accustomed to mega-houses and others done in near-day-glo colors. We are not easily impressed, or so we think. In 1981, all it took to get neighbors talking and the newspaper running was an Aztec sunburst painted on an already distinctive home at Central Avenue and Second Street South in Old Naples by artist Jim Renfro. 'Bringing some light into the neighborhood' was the comment to the Daily News at the time by owner Kirk Crist, who lives elsewhere in town these days and shares this news clipping with readers. The ripped edge at the bottom of the photo was an artistic element.
  • This postcard, featuring a photograph by Mike Lee, touts Golden Gate as Collier County's city of the future.
  • In its heyday, Monroe Station looked like this — as captured on a 1970s postcard shared by reader Alvin Lederer. The National Park Service announced plans to restore the outpost on U.S. 41 East. It was one of a string of stops — including Belle Meade, Royal Palm, Fakahatchee, Turner River and Paolita — between Naples and Miami for Tamiami Trail travelers to get gas and food from 1928 until closing in the early 1990s. Trivia: Monroe Station was in the Danny Glover/Joe Pesci movie 'Gone Fishin'' in 1995.
  • Lots of today's area residents will feel they saw this for themselves before the old Swamp Buggy Lounge was razed in 2004 to make way for a new Orion Bank on U.S. 41 one block north of the Four Corners in Naples. But this view is older than it looks. The spot had been in the booze business, in one building or another, since 1931. When this postcard was made — circa 1960s? — the place was part of the local Nick's Liquors chain. Note the old Sinclair gas station peering in at left.
  • This undated promotional Naples postcard was part of a souvenir package put out by the Edwin M. Watson real estate firm. Caption: Broad Avenue in the heart of downtown Naples. This is only one of many beautiful palm-lined streets for which Naples is famed.
  • Yes, it's an old postcard; it just looks new because the Ochopee Post Office does not change much, mostly because there is not much to change. The so-called nation's smallest post office is on U.S. 41 about 35 miles east of Naples and 70 miles west of Miami. The tiny office is a converted shed of a general store that housed the area's first post office in 1932 and burned down 21 years later. The sign to the left of the post office says it doubled as a Trailways Bus Depot when this undated postcard photo was made.
  • This postcard, from 1971, shows that Naples' landmark Lowdermilk Park hasn't changed much over the years. The beachfront site with its Polynesian-flavor picnic/dining/restroom hut still looks much the same despite facelifts and expansions over the years on Gulf Shore Boulevard North.
  • This photo, taken from the top of the Bank of the Everglades, shows the heart of Everglades City during a parade on June 26, 1928, when Tamiami Trail — spearheaded by Barron Gift Collier — celebrated its linkage of Tampa and Miami. Note Ed Black's little black & white dog in the lead. The jail building is top center. At the intersection is the first bus from Miami to the Everglades. Directly above it is the Liberty Building.
  • The Collier County News, the predecessor of the Daily News, published this photo in 1957 with the following caption: 'Doubled Trouble: There are seven sets of twins in the Naples Elementary enrollment of 360, believed to be some kind of record. The look-alikes frequently cause amusin' confusion for Principal Clinton West, the teachers and other pupils. Pictured, from left, Paula and Lizabeth Van Wyk, grade 6; Barbara and Beverley James, grade 6; Betty and Barbara Savidge, grade 6; John and Jim Fleiter, grade 6; Barbara and Carol Hogue, grade 5; David and Daniel Bass, grade 4; and Julie and Gail Chickering, grade 4.'
  • A private school, where students follow clear policy on grooming and dress? No, it is a sixth grade class at Naples' Lake Park Elementary School in 1963-64. No air conditioning then, as evidenced by the open windows. Elizabeth Woodruff, rear, was the teacher of this 30-plus student class. Photo courtesy of Sally Workinger, whose son, Dewey, now 51 and a carpenter in Naples, is in the third seat from the right in the fourth row from the front.
  • Ah, yes. The boys hit the links for a friendly round. Boys indeed. These young golfers on 'an outing' were featured in this newspaper more than 40 years ago, as one of the players recollects, at Palm River Country Club, which now is private. Back row, from left: Pete Winters, Alex Winters, Mike Deason, Jeff Abbott, Terry Arick and Buddy Powell; front row, Gregg Deason, Mike Arick and, probably, Mike O'Green.
  • Clue: The golf course on the horizon (toward the west) is one of Collier County's first. Answer: It's Palm River. The neighborhood taking shape in the foreground, north of Immokalee Road, is Willoughby Acres. The year: 1968.
  • Ho, ho, ho. This was the view from Santa’s sleigh in 1957 as Seagate on the northern edge of the city of Naples was taking shape. The highlights of this vantage point today would be the former Registry Resort (now Naples Grande) and Pelican Bay; both would be to the left. The beach and Gulf are in foreground.
  • This is the heart of Naples as seen looking north exactly 40 years ago — in August 1965, five years after Hurricane Donna. Key landmarks are Eighth Street, running diagonally from top to bottom. Fifth Avenue South is hard to see, running left (west) to right just above center. Check Cambier Park and its Community Center; both look a lot different today. The water tower came down in 1977 to make way for today's City Hall.
  • This 1953-54 photo is unusual. It shows Port Royal in its earliest years, looking north from Gordon Pass. Vast mansions rise from these rough-cut streets and cleared lots today. Readers can clearly see that most of Port Royal remained to be carved, dredged and filled — to the condition it is in today.
  • This is a fascinating photo for several reasons. One is the circa 1970 image of the Wiggins Pass Marina, which will become condominiums and a private yacht club north of Naples and south of Bonita Springs. That is Vanderbilt Drive from left to right. The road leading from U.S. 41 near the top of the photo directly to the old marina is Wiggins Pass Road. All of the people who now live and work in the area on either side of Wiggins Pass Road will want this photo as a souvenir.
  • Now a hotbed of development, the former Kelly Road area of East Naples was barely waking up in 1963 — three years after Hurricane Donna. Kelly Road, running diagonally top to bottom to the right of center, is now named Bayshore Drive. Thomasson Drive runs left to right just above center. Naples Bay is at left.
  • To the south of Bonita and 20 years earlier looking south, North Naples was barely starting to take shape in 1960, the year of Hurricane Donna. That left-to-right (east-to-west) road is Immokalee Road. The elbow at right is the old route of U.S. 41 — hence the nickname Old 41 as it heads toward Bonita. The road grid of Naples Park is easy to spot at middle right, while Palm River is taking shape in the sandy area in the middle. In the distance to the south is the city of Naples. Train tracks can be seen running from the bottom of the picture south toward Naples. Can you find Naples Municipal Airport? (Hint: Look for an X where runways cross.)
  • The old Naples pier and the devastation of Hurricane Donna. Old Newspaper photo from June 18, 1967
  • Charley rekindles memories of 1960's Hurricane Donna. The predecessor of the Harp's Pest Control company using the 'No-Risk' slogan was owned and operated by the late Bob Deason on Fifth Avenue South. Deason's son, Mike, of Naples, remembers his dad rented space — enough for a desk, chair and phone — from Realtor John R. Wood, whose sign is seen at right. After Donna the No-Risk Chemical Co. moved around the corner to its own storefront on Park Street. The Wood realty firm eventually moved on to bigger and better things as well.
  • A sign for Everglades Wonder Garden is ripped in two from Hurricane Donna.

These historical photos were published in 2005 in the Sunday Perspective section of the Naples Daily News.

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