Pioneer Landmarks & History
Historic homes, pioneer landmarks, museums and heritage destinations across Southwest Florida, with official visitor information and clearly labeled destinations worth the trip.
- Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall at FSWFort Myers, FLA major Fort Myers performing-arts venue for touring productions and ticketed stage entertainment.
- Barbara L. Sumwalt Museum, Useppa IslandCaptiva, FLAn island-history museum on private Useppa Island in Pine Island Sound.
- Cape Coral Museum of HistoryCape Coral, FLMuseum tracing Cape Coral from Indigenous settlement through the Gulf American Land Corporation boom and incorporation in 1970.
- Circus Ring of FameSarasota, FLBronze wagon-wheel plaques around St. Armands Circle Park honoring the great figures of circus arts and Sarasota's circus heritage.
- Collier Museum at Government CenterNaples, FLCollier County's main museum, interpreting Southwest Florida's prehistory, Indigenous peoples, settlement and development.
- Fort Denaud Historical MarkerLaBelle, FLState historical marker for Fort Denaud, a Second Seminole War military post and supply depot established in 1838.
- Heritage ParkVenice, FLLandscaped median park on West Venice Avenue with veterans memorials and a one-third-scale replica of the Venice Army Airfield entrance.
- Historic Heard Opera HouseArcadia, FLArcadia's 1906 former opera house, now hosting community activity, live music and performing arts.
- Historic Smallwood StoreChokoloskee, FLStilted 1917 trading post on Chokoloskee Island, listed in the National Register of Historic Places and preserved as a museum.
- Indian Spring CemeteryPunta Gorda, FLCharlotte County's historic cemetery, established in 1886 and still active, preserving generations of local memorials.
- Liles Hotel History CenterBonita Springs, FLThe historic 1920s Liles Hotel in Riverside Park, now housing exhibits on Bonita Springs history.
- Our Lady of Mercy Catholic ChurchBoca Grande, FLBoca Grande's 1950 island church, designed by architect F. Burrell Hoffman through a gift from Gertrude Hill Gavin.
- Punta Gorda History ParkPunta Gorda, FLA park of rescued historic buildings — including the Cigar Worker's Cottage, Trabue Land Sales Office, Price House and a historic jail — preserving Punta Gorda's architectural past.
- Riddle Field Historic SiteClewiston, FLWorld War II airfield that operated as No. 5 British Flying Training School, where more than 1,300 RAF cadets earned their wings.
- Saint Ann Catholic Church and Rooney HallNaples, FLNaples' historic Catholic parish, established in 1954, with Rooney Hall — the restored early-1950s former church, Collier County's first Catholic church.
- Sanibel Historical Museum and VillageSanibel, FLNine relocated historic buildings telling Sanibel's story from the Calusa and Spanish eras through pioneer island life.
- St. Francis Xavier Catholic ChurchFort Myers, FLFort Myers' Catholic community since the nineteenth-century Jesuit missions; a parish since 1910.
- St. Martha Catholic ChurchSarasota, FLSarasota's mother parish, rooted in an 1889 Jesuit mission, with a present church dedicated in 1942 and ties to the city's circus heritage.
- The British Plot at Oak Ridge CemeteryArcadia, FLGraves of 23 Royal Air Force cadets who died during World War II flight training at the Riddle schools in Arcadia and Clewiston.
- The Olde Marco InnMarco Island, FLMarco Island's historic inn, tracing its origins to Captain Bill Collier's 1880s Marco Hotel.
Worth the Trip
Outside Southwest Florida, but worth the drive.
