Old Collier County Courthouse (1928-1962) or Everglades City Hall (1962-Present)

In the 1870s, the village of Everglades was settled by William Smith Allen, a Connecticut man living in Key West during the Civil War. In 1889, he sold his house and farmlands to George W. Storter, Jr., who migrated to Florida from Georgia with his father and brother in search of a frost-free climate. In 1921, Barron Gift Collier, advertising tycoon, purchased Storter’s property to use as headquarters for his agricultural interests in the area. The state legislature used the acres he owned to create Collier County, which eventually connected Naples to the Dade County line via Tamiami Trail. Stemming from the combined names of Tampa and Miami, the locations the highway would stretch across, a group of businessmen first met to discuss the possibility of placing a hard-surface road through the state in 1915. That year, the Florida State Road Department was created, and in 1916, Congress passed the Bankhead Act, providing the first federal aid for improving highways. Everglades City raised $125,000 to close the gap from Marco to Dade County, but war and hurricanes stunted its completion until later on.

When Collier County was established in 1923, the town of Everglades became the county seat. Collier filled in the land east of the Barron River and then proceeded to lay streets and avenues. He also built houses for his staff along with infrastructure for the engineering center and county seat. While doing so, he also distributed a newspaper, created a telephone service, and created a small hospital to provide the county with medical assistance. In addition, he built a grocery store, laundry mat, post office, bank, inn, community center, jail, and courthouse. From 1923 to 1928, 76 miles of road were created through what was once swampland, and the Atlantic Coast Line soon connected the location by train.

The Courthouse, located at 102 Copeland Avenue North, was completed in 1928 for $24,563. The same year, a commemorative monument was placed in the southeast corner of the courthouse for the opening of the Tamiami Trail. It is a two-story Neoclassical Revival style building. In 1948, a new addition was added to the rear of the courthouse as well as improvements made to the balcony at the front of the building. Later, there was a 1956 addition made to the west of the building. The county seat eventually moved to Naples in 1962, which caused the courthouse to become the Everglades City Hall, which still has its original vault.

The Everglades City Hall was affected by multiple hurricanes over the years, including Hurricane Donna of 1960. It caused water to rise waist-deep on the first floor of the courthouse and destroy many of the county’s records. It also caused 200 residents of the city to seek shelter on the second floor due to water being 7-8 feet deep in the streets. In October of 2005, the city hall was deemed unusable due to damages caused by Hurricane Wilma. The mayor, Sammy Hamilton, used funding from FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to complete renovations in October of 2006. On January 27, 2007, the grand “Restoration Celebration” had over 400 people witness the reopening of Everglades City Hall. That day, a monument was erected on the southwest corner of the building to commemorate the restoration. In addition to the city hall, many original buildings still remain, such as the bank, laundry, Railroad Depot, Rod & Gun Lodge, and Ivey House.

1. Davis, Doris. The Tamiami Trail - Muck Mosquitoes, and Motorists, National Park Service. Accessed September 6th 2020. https://www.nps.gov/bicy/learn/historyculture/upload/History-of-Tamiami-Trail.pdf.
2. ESHP Home. Accessed August 2, 2020. https://www.evergladeshistorical.org/pdfs/ESHP-CityHall-brochure.pdf.
3. Guide to Historic Sites in Collier County, Collier County Florida Government. Accessed September 6th 2020. http://www.colliercountyfl.gov/Home/ShowDocument?id=34870.
4. Historic and Archaeological Preservation Board. "Guide to Historic Sites in Collier County." Collier County, FL. Last modified April 8, 2014. https://www.colliercountyfl.gov/Home/ShowDocument?id=34870.
5. National Park Service. "Old Collier County Courthouse- National Register of Historic Places Registration Form." Last modified 2013. https://file:///Users/ferrell183/Downloads/Old%20Collier%20Courthouse.pdf.
6. "Old Collier County Courthouse." Roadtrippers. Accessed August 2, 2020. https://maps.roadtrippers.com/us/plantation-island-fl/points-of-interest/old-collier-county-courthouse.
7. Old Collier County Courthouse, National Park Service. Accessed September 6th 2020. https://www.nps.gov/nr/feature/places/13000875.htm.