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Around Town · Naples

Pioneer Landmarks & Historic Places

Pioneer settlements, historic homes and museums.

Places to visit

Collier Museum at Government Center

Collier County's main museum, interpreting Southwest Florida's prehistory, Indigenous peoples, settlement and development.

3331 Tamiami Trail East, Naples, FL 34112

Hours: Tuesday–Saturday, 9 a.m.–4 p.m.; closed national holidays.

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Indoor galleries plus five acres of grounds with restored Naples cottages, the Kokomis boat, a steam engine, a swamp buggy and a World War II Sherman tank. The Seminole War fort on the grounds is a reconstruction. Admission is free.

239-252-8476Visit website

Historic Palm Cottage

Naples' oldest house, built in 1895 and listed in the National Register of Historic Places, operated as a house museum by Naples Historical Society.

137 12th Avenue South, Naples, FL 34102

Hours: Tours Tuesday–Saturday, noon–4 p.m.; seasonal summer closure July 14–November 14.

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House tours include The Norris Gardens. Book through the Historical Society and confirm current prices and the seasonal schedule before visiting. Photography is not permitted inside the cottage.

239-261-8164Visit website

Naples Depot Museum

Collier County museum in Naples' restored Seaboard Air Line Railway passenger station, listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

1051 Fifth Avenue South, Naples, FL 34102

Hours: Tuesday–Saturday, 9 a.m.–4 p.m.; closed national holidays.

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Exhibits trace how transportation shaped Southwest Florida, with Seminole dugout canoes, a mule wagon, an antique swamp buggy and restored rail cars. County museum admission is free; the separate Naples Train Museum on the same site has its own arrangements.

239-252-8419Visit website

Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens — Historic Gardens

A century-old tropical garden: botanist Henry Nehrling planted the site from 1919, and Caribbean Gardens opened to the public in 1954.

1590 Goodlette-Frank Road, Naples, FL 34102

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Some of Nehrling's historic plantings survive within today's Naples Zoo, with plant-identification signs noting each tree's planting era. Access is through regular zoo admission — see the zoo's listing for current hours and tickets.

239-262-5409Visit website

Saint Ann Catholic Church and Rooney Hall

Naples' historic Catholic parish, established in 1954, with Rooney Hall — the restored early-1950s former church, Collier County's first Catholic church.

985 3rd St. S., Naples, FL 34102

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Visitors are welcome at published Masses. Rooney Hall serves parish and community activities; ask the parish office about viewing the historic hall.

239-262-4256Visit website