The Collier County Sheriff’s Office was created on July 7, 1923, and William Riley “W.R.” Maynard was named the first Sheriff of Collier County.

In 1922 Barron Gift Collier, a wealthy streetcar advertising entrepreneur, bought the town of Everglade from the Storter family.

When Collier County was established in 1923 with the town of Everglades as its county seat, the county officials met in various buildings until this Collier County Courthouse was completed in 1928.

This Spanish-style stucco building was built in 1928 and typical of the 1920s Florida railroad architecture.

With their oversized tires they are able to navigate through the marshes of the Everglades to gain access to hunting sites.

Airboats have a long history of touring the Everglades, beginning in the 1930s as a means to negotiate around the shallow waters and sawgrass.

Pauline Reeves, one of the formidable women of Everglades City, was determined to have a Catholic Church built in town.

The Calusa Tribe, then the Seminoles, were the first people of this area, trading with the early pioneers.

The original building was used as a recreational center for the workers who built the Tamiami Trail.

The First Baptist Church was built in the 1940s in Jerome and eventually brought to Everglades City in 1956.