The Orange Blossom Special was a traveler's treat

The Naples Depot today Southwest Florida was one of the last areas of the South to benefit from railroad service. Although the Iron Horse began its gallop in the late 1880s, it was nearly 40 years before the tracks finally reached Naples. Until then, most visitors to the Sunshine State were bound for Palm Beach, Winter Haven or Sarasota.

In 1916, the directors of the Atlantic Coast Line extended their main route to Immokalee because of the valuable timber there. In 1921, they continued the line through Immokalee to Deep Lake, home of vast grapefruit groves owned by Barron Collier.

Next, ACL purchased Mr. Collier's rail line between Deep Lake and Everglades City, which became the southernmost point of the ACL railroad system.

By 1926, ACL and the Seaboard Air Line railway were competing to build a hub in Naples. S. Davies Warfield, president of SAL (and uncle of Wallis Simpson Warfield, who became the Duchess of Windsor), ultimately subsidized the building of the depot in Naples.

SAL opened its station at the end of Fifth Avenue South and 10th Street South, where it still sits today. On Jan. 7, 1927, the SAL dispatched one of its Orange Blossom Special trains to the town of Naples, finally affording local folks a chance to see trains at the depot. The Orange Blossom Special

Five trains comprised the SAL's Orange Blossom Specials, and Mr. Warfield had spared no expense in making them the creme de la créme of trains. They were plush Pullman trains, each with an observation library car, valet and maid services, barber and manicurist and even personal writing desks complete with orange-blossom scented stationery.

On the OBS's inaugural journey, hundreds welcomed the train from Arcadia to Fort Myers to Estero to Bonita Springs to Naples. Each community went all out for the historic occasion by offering the visiting VIPs local produce, flowers and fish. It's rumored that starlet Gloria Swanson, who was aboard that first trip to Naples, thought the fanfare was all for her. No one had the heart to tell her differently.

After the ceremonial bagpipes and speeches, Mayor E.G. Wilkerson escorted the guests to the Naples Hotel for a grand lunch and lemonade (due to Prohibition).

After lunch the entourage made its way back to the Naples Depot to return to Fort Myers, but as the "Y" turnaround for the train was not yet completed, the train had to back up all the way to Fort Myers.

Fortunately for us, Mr. Warfield's real vision to make Naples the Miami of the west coast never materialized. The Depression pushed SAL into receivership in the 1930s, and by the 1940s, SAL was happy to sell its lines to its former competitor. The end of the line

As competition from cars and trucks took its toll on the railroads in our country, Naples was no exception.

Merle Harris, founder of the Old-timer Group, and Mary Prince Lipstate, whose family opened our first liquor store, were two of the 46 passengers aboard the last train out of the Naples Depot. Bound for Lakeland, the train pulled out of the station at 7:45 a.m. Wednesday, April 21, 1971. The ride was organized by David Pfaff, then-president of the Collier County Historical Society.

Merle Harris recounted in a recent interview that a hush fell over the passengers on the return trip (from Lakeland by bus). "We had the feeling that another familiar phase of life was drawing to a close," she said.

The depot had been declared one of the finest examples of architecture in Naples when it was built. On Sept. 10, 1974, the Naples City Council supported the Naples Jaycees in their bid to place the depot on the Register of Historic Places.

The next year, a group of locals formed Southwest Heritage, Inc., and took over management responsibilities. On April 1, 2005, the county signed a 90-year lease with the intent of making the Naples Depot a central point in the Fifth Avenue South redevelopment and another county museum site. Visitors can tour this piece of local architecture and history Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Lois Bolin is the co-founder of Naples

Cultural Landscape, a fund at the Community

Foundation of Collier County.

Naples Backyard History is the fund's

educational initiative. For more information,

visit the NBYH Mini-Museum

at 1300 Third St. S., call 594-2978 or visit

www.naplesbackyardhistory.org.