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Looking Back: Historic photos from Naples (2010 edition)

The Vanderbilt Beach Motel, about a block north of Vanderbilt Beach Road and the public beach park, dominated the skyline of a very different landscape in 1962.

The Vanderbilt Beach Motel, about a block north of Vanderbilt Beach Road and the public beach park, dominated the skyline of a very different landscape in 1962.

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  • Looking back Linda Soto Harvard from Estero and Coconut, Fla., has this photo in her vintage collection and wants to know if anyone could identify the players on a 1930s Estero baseball team. Chester Keene of Naples, who corresponds with Harvard, says he is advised the auto is a 1932 Ford. Readers with clues can contact Keene at 649-0836. The Daily News will let you know what he learns.
  • With the headlines these days about the former Daily News headquarters on Naples' Central Avenue being razed, we take a look back to the Daily News coverage when the building was going up in 1969. Among the construction movers and shakers in the photo at left is the late Tim O'Connor, the publisher at the time; in the center photo, the trademark ceiling/roofing goes into place; at right there is a scene that few construction sites would have these days, even around the holidays. The Daily News site crew is enjoying some beer. Pat Adams/Naples (3)
  • With the headlines these days about the former Daily News headquarters on Naples' Central Avenue being razed, we take a look back to the Daily News coverage when the building was going up in 1969. Among the construction movers and shakers in the photo at left is the late Tim O'Connor, the publisher at the time; in the center photo, the trademark ceiling/roofing goes into place; at right there is a scene that few construction sites would have these days, even around the holidays. The Daily News site crew is enjoying some beer. Pat Adams/Naples (3)
  • With the headlines these days about the former Daily News headquarters on Naples' Central Avenue being razed, we take a look back to the Daily News coverage when the building was going up in 1969. Among the construction movers and shakers in the photo at left is the late Tim O'Connor, the publisher at the time; in the center photo, the trademark ceiling/roofing goes into place; at right there is a scene that few construction sites would have these days, even around the holidays. The Daily News site crew is enjoying some beer. Pat Adams/Naples (3)
  • Looking back Before the memories of this election year fade away, look back to other years' local campaign gear. Peter Van Arsdale ran for mayor of Naples in 2000, losing to the late Bonnie MacKenzie; the late Lyle Richardson ran for mayor in 1990, losing to Rudd Crawford; Mike Volpe ran for Florida House District 76 in 1994, losing to Burt Saunders. The Sabal Bay button is from the late 1980s and refers to a Naples Bay marina project that caused a major controversy for Naples City Council; it stands completed today as Hamilton Harbor.
  • Looking back For the movie "Swashbuckler," the employees at the former Kon Tiki theater in Naples dressed in period garb and posed for snapshots. One of the employees, Alena Sager, still has photos and is happy to share. That is her with the manager, Jim Bell Jr., in the lobby. "We were trying to look mean," she says. They joined the rest of the crew out front for another photo. The Kon Tiki later became the home of the Naples Players; now the site hosts the Allen Systems Group headquarters at Bayfront at U.S. 41 East and Goodlette-Frank Road.
  • Looking back For the movie "Swashbuckler," the employees at the former Kon Tiki theater in Naples dressed in period garb and posed for snapshots. One of the employees, Alena Sager, still has photos and is happy to share. That is her with the manager, Jim Bell Jr., in the lobby. "We were trying to look mean," she says. They joined the rest of the crew out front for another photo. The Kon Tiki later became the home of the Naples Players; now the site hosts the Allen Systems Group headquarters at Bayfront at U.S. 41 East and Goodlette-Frank Road.
  • Looking back A cap, T-shirts, pins, schedules, press clippings. Tools of the trade for an airline public relations staffer such as Donna Fiala, now a Collier County commissioner. Fiala has fond memories of the airline that serviced New England and Florida for 40 years until 1989. It was alternately known as PBA, for Provincetown-Boston Airline, and Naples Airlines, because it moved planes and staff between the seasonal areas — and routinely rolled out extra planes on a moment's notice to handle passenger loads. The former NBC comedy series "Wings" was patterned after Naples/PBA and its owners/managers/pilots in the Van Arsdale family. Naples/PBA, which ran into trouble when it tried to expand, last serviced Naples in 1987. Fiala was there for that historic moment, and shares these items from her personal collection.
  • Naples on the Gulf? Changing the name of the city of Naples to that longer moniker causes a debate these days. But the longer name is nothing new. It has been part of the city logo and even the official patch of the city's police department for decades. To prove it, Chester Keene shows off his uniform shirt, complete with sergeant's stripes, from 1989. He started with the force in 1965. Keene also served with the Fort Myers Police Department and Collier County Sheriff's Office in a 40-year career.
  • Looking back Linda Soto Harvard from Estero and Coconut, Fla., has this photo in her vintage collection and wants to know if anyone could identify the players on a 1930s Estero baseball team. Chester Keene of Naples, who corresponds with Harvard, says he is advised the auto is a 1932 Ford. Readers with clues can contact Keene at 649-0836. The Daily News will let you know what he learns.
  • Looking back Gulfshore Life Magazine
  • Nature and the environment used to be the staple of Gulfshore Life magazine, as this cover attests. Today the accent for lifestyle publications, for which Gulfshore Life helped pave the way, is high society and lavish living. (Magazines courtesy of Kathy Hunt of Marco Island)
  • 'Winner of Swamp Buggie (cq) Race heads for finish line in Naples, Florida.' We are left to guess everything else, including the age, of this vintage postcard loaned by Kathy Hunt of Marco Island. (Readers with local memorabilia to share are encouraged to call the Perspective editor at 263-4773.)
  • This 1968 aerial view looking east shows Naples' Third Street South cutting across the bottom of the photo, with 12th Avenue South running from Third Street South to Naples Bay in the middle of the photo. The channels on the right are part of Aqualane Shore. Photo by Roy Caple Sr.; from the collection of Art Ullmann
  • Looking back Before the memories of this election year fade away, look back to other years' local campaign gear. Peter Van Arsdale ran for mayor of Naples in 2000, losing to the late Bonnie MacKenzie; the late Lyle Richardson ran for mayor in 1990, losing to Rudd Crawford; Mike Volpe ran for Florida House District 76 in 1994, losing to Burt Saunders. The Sabal Bay button is from the late 1980s and refers to a Naples Bay marina project that caused a major controversy for Naples City Council; it stands completed today as Hamilton Harbor.
  • In 1970, this was the aerial view looking northwest from above woods where today's Coastland Center rules. The tenant at the right end of the Naples Shopping Center, still anchored by Publix, was Grant's. U.S. 41 North is wider now and the homes to the west are larger. That's Doctors Pass at upper left; that's the old golf driving range if you look hard at middle right, east of 41. Photo by Roy Caple Sr., from the collection of Art Ullmann
  • Looking back Looking southwest at the heart of Naples in 1948: It was the Four Corners, Cambier Park, the water tower, the Gulf and not much else. Photo is from a 1966 Collier County News clipping courtesy of Richard and Rachel Holland of Naples.
  • The train had seen better days by the 1960s. It now is at the Collier County Museum,
  • Today’s Copeland Baptist Church had lesser, mission status in the 1970s. Chester Keene (2)
  • Looking back It was so 'Naples.' The Naples Daily News Carrier of the Year would get chauffeured for a day by a generous company, Maxi Taxi. This particular year's winner (about 1980, it seems) was Mike LaMendola, who serviced 100 customers in Naples Park as a high school freshman. News clipping courtesy of Maxi Taxi. Daily News readers with memorabilia to share are encouraged to call the Perspective editor at 263-4773.
  • Wonderful Neighbor on the Gulf. WNOG, get it? Just like the Naples radio station that used to do the daily salutes to listeners. Not only are the salutes gone; so is the station. This certificate verifying 'wonderful neighbor' status is signed by the late William Ryan, who was a pioneer in Naples radio and cable TV. Lena Burke was the grandmother of Daily News reader Alena Sager, who kindly shares this piece of personal and community history.
  • New matchbooks 1
  • Daily News reader Tom Whalley of Berkshire Lakes in East Naples saw our three-Sunday series of photos of matchbooks from local restaurants-bars, and thought of his own, global collection over the past 70 years. His dad was a traveling salesman and got him started; his own Navy travels started in 1942 and took the collection to the next level. Here are some delightful samples, looking back. Readers with memorabilia to share are encouraged to call the Perspective editor at 263-4773.
  • The year is 1961. The horizon is sky, not the Gulf of Mexico. The little row buildings to left and center are what they look like — barracks. The skinny road running from left (north) to right (south) is today's Airport-Pulling Road. And the cleared spot to the left of Radio Road trailing into the horizon is the old swamp buggy and stock car race track. Welcome to East Naples and the edge of Naples Municipal Airport, with its World War II pilot-training facilities still intact, nearly a half-century ago. The bright white sandy road to the right of center appears to be today's Hazel Road, although airport officials are certain it is Westview Drive. This breathtaking, nostalgic view is courtesy of local photographic historian Art Ullmann.
  • Mamie and Clarence Tooke in front of the first Bank of Naples building circa 1950. Photo by Gladys Hunt Tooke; submitted by Richard Tooke.
  • The Motel Stewart was located on U.S. 41 North about a block from Central Avenue in Naples.
  • The Motel Stewart was located on U.S. 41 North about a block from Central Avenue in Naples.
  • This undated Sea Shell Motel postcard is unusual because, believe it or not, the Old Florida motel is still there — on U.S. 41 two blocks south of Central Avenue in Naples. From the collection of Bill Meek of Naples.
  • This undated postcard is unusual because, well, it was at one time considered funny. From the collection of Bill Meek of Naples.
  • Naples Pier postcard from 1968. Come to wonderful Naples on the Gulf — where you can feed a loggerhead turtle that just nested in broad daylight, and gather starfish and conch shells on the beach. The woman model is unidentified, but the gent is Richard Segalman, now an accomplished artist, says Bill Meek, a longtime local art dealer who collects Florida memorabilia and shares this vintage postcard. Meek writes, “I can’t believe this faked shot with the turtle — like Richard would really stick his finger at the beak of a live turtle after she just laid her eggs?”
  • Ah, those were the days ... when gas stations handed out free maps — to tourist spots. From the collection of Naples News reader Bill Meek. Readers with memorabilia to share are encouraged to call 263-4773.
  • Caribbean Gardens post card from the 1960s.
  • On April 9, Meinhardt Raabe, the eldest surviving Munchkin from the classic 1939 film "The Wizard of Oz," died. He was 94. Some people in Naples may remember Raabe, who portrayed the coroner, as one of the Munchkins who paid a visit to the Naples Community Hospital (now called the NCH Downtown Naples Hospital) infant day-care center in 1998. In this photo, from Debbie Curry of NCH Healthcare System, Raabe appears at the far right. Readers with local memorabilia to share are encouraged to call the Perspective editor at 263-4773.
  • The Vanderbilt Beach Motel, about a block north of Vanderbilt Beach Road and the public beach park, dominated the skyline of a very different landscape in 1962.
  • Once famous for its architecture and ice cream, the Howard Johnson Motor Lodge gave way to the Bellasera resort north of the Four Corners — the intersection of U.S. 41 and Fifth Street South in Naples. This is an ad from a copy of a 1962 Know Naples visitors guide shared by Daily News reader John Samplin.
  • Here is an aerial of the Naples area in 1959 and shows the start of Royal Harbor, Royal Bay Villas, Oyster Bay, East Rail, Naples Bay and Goodlette. The year on this one is obvious — the year before Hurricane Donna. Naples as we know it today was already well under way, as shown by the start of Royal Harbor on the east side of Naples Bay in this view looking north. Submitted by Art Ullmann, Naples
  • This Naples postcard postmarked 1961 shows Trinity-by-the-Cove Episcopal Church in Port Royal, with the parish house and rectory adjacent to Jamaica Channel, with the Gulf in the background. "More homes and bigger homes are now adjacent to the church property," said Bill Meek of Naples. "The boat-storage facilities and the land just above them (facing west) is now the Little Harbour development that set a record of $17 million for the land when it was sold more than a decade ago." Meek discovered postcard glimpses of Naples’ past at an arts and crafts “extravaganza” featuring 1,000 dealers in Mount Dora, a Central Florida town famous for such events.
  • The caption on the back says: "Loading a great Loggerhead turtle at Boat Haven. Visit America's finest small boat marina located on Naples Bay and the Tamiami Trail (U.S. 41). ... Boat Haven (now part of Naples Bay Resort) covering 14 acres and 3,800 feet of waterfront, offers the finest in marina facilities, storage, services and supplies." Submitted photo
  • This classic is from the former Rip Frazer's Sports and Specialties Shop on Fifth Avenue South, postmarked 1964. The message on the back says, "Come in and see us again. Lots of new things are arriving every day. Remember, we have the Yacht Club blazers, emblems and glasses."
  • The Lamplighter Cafeteria, that used to help anchor U.S. 41 at Four Corners (Fifth Avenue South), is shown on this postcard. The building had other tenants and was razed only last year. "How in the world did an advertising postcard get saved in the first place and then end up with a postcard dealer 46 years later?" said Naples resident Bill Meek, who discovered this postcard at a Mount Dora event. "I can't imagine anyone saving a card like this, can you?"
  • A nurses station in 1990 of the current NCH North Naples Hospital. Submitted photo
  • The lobby of NCH Healthcare System's North Collier Hospital in 1990. Photo courtesy NCH
  • The NCH Healthcare System's North Collier Hospital in an aerial view from 1990 (the view is looking northeast). Photo courtesy NCH Healthcare System
  • Looking back: Beach, boating and new sewers. Those were among the selling points for Naples’ Moorings neighborhood between Park Shore and Coquina Sands west of U.S. 41. This ad was in the 1962 winter edition of the Know Naples visitors’ guide. Courtesy of Daily News reader Jerry Sapir.
  • Looking back: Beach, boating and new sewers. Those were among the selling points for Naples’ Moorings neighborhood between Park Shore and Coquina Sands west of U.S. 41. This ad was in the 1962 winter edition of the Know Naples visitors’ guide. Courtesy of Daily News reader Jerry Sapir.
  • This sales pitch worked for the Key West Fragrance & Cosmetic Factory, which had stores in Naples and Fort Myers, in 1979 when it placed the ad in Gulfshore Life magazine, provided by Muriel Lutgert.
  • This whale beached in Naples more than 50 years ago. Photo courtesy Naples Historical Society
  • Martha Irving Moxley, left, who inherited “Martha’s Cottage,” a charming cottage originally owned by Martha Moxley (1917-1935), poses with friends, including John “Jack” Hackmeister, right, after catching a tarpon in March 1917. Courtesy photo
  • This is a classic photo of the Naples Pier, looking west, in 1934. What differences can you see from the pier as you know it today? Naples Historical Society
  • Believe it or not, the Naples Pier used to be a haven for dancing, and dancers would sprinkle flour on the boards to add to their dancing enjoyment. At times, the day’s fishing remnants would mix with the flour and shoes would stick to the floor. Thus, a sign was posted, “Please keep fish off the dance floor.” This circa 1945 photo courtesy of the Naples Historical Society
  • The year is 1912. The place is Naples’ first post office, which was located at the entrance of the Naples Pier.

These classic photos were published in 2010 in the Sunday Perspective section of the Naples Daily News.

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