Discover something new
with every visit to the museum.
At the Collier County Museums' main facility in Naples, you'll discover mastodons, saber cats and other prehistoric animals, learn about Calusa and Seminole Indians, and meet the frontier families and trailblazers whose lives and dreams shaped the early history of Collier County. Located just minutes from downtown Naples, the museum features permanent and changing exhibit galleries, two historical homes, Seminole chickees, a recreated log fort, steam logging locomotive, swamp buggies, archaeology lab and much more, all nestled among five acres of shaded walkways and native Florida gardens.Here's a quick look at what's waiting.
Current Exhibits
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Marco Island Historical Museum
December-February Against All Odds: The Florida Highwaymen
Now nationally known, the Highwaymen began as a group of African American artists who, against all odds, managed to prosper selling their paintings in the segregated South of the 1950s and 1960s. One charismatic man dreamed big and developed a fast method of painting that he generously shared with 25 others, and they collectively produced over 200,000 paintings over a 30 year period. Learn about their fascinating story in The Highwaymen exhibit and see 26 of their breathtaking paintings. Exhibition on loan from the Orange County Regional History Center. Free Admission. Call (239)642-1440 for more information.
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| Courtesy of the Florida State Archives |
Naples Depot Museum
February 6 - February 29African Americans and the Railroad
In honor of Black History Month, the Naples Depot will highlight the contributions of African Americans to the railroad industry. African Americans played important roles in constructing our nation’s railways, promoting equal rights for men and women, ending segregation on passenger trains, and many important inventions. Without the efforts of these many thousands of African Americans, the railroads would never have become the great American institution we know today. For more information, please call (239) 262-6525.
Museum of the Everglades
January 3 - January 30The Photography of Brian Trainor
Brian, an ex-Naval photographer, developed his interest in photography during his seven years of service. Brian searches for alternative ways to present everyday objects, landscapes, and nature. He employs his imagination, creativity, and sense of curiosity in developing an interpretation of his subjects that result in unique images. There will be an artist reception, sponsored by the Friends of the Museum of the Everglades, on January 14, from 1 p.m. - 3 p.m. For more information, please call (239) 695-0008.
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Collier County Museum
January 9- April 6Pirates: The Last Scourge on the Gulf
Two hundred years ago, the Gulf of Mexico was a dangerous and foreboding body of water. No vessel was safe from the constant threat of attack from pirate ships who scourged across its high seas. Pirates: The Last Scourge of the Gulf recounts the forgotten story of these last pirates of the Gulf of Mexico. The exhibit unravels this worst outbreak of piracy in the Gulf and Caribbean Basin since the age of the most notorious pirates such as Blackbeard and Black Bart. Exhibition on loan from the City of Fort Walton Beach HeritagePark and Cultural Center. Free Admission. Visit if ye dare! Call (239)252-8476 for more information.
Other Collier County Museum Exhibits.
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NAPLES COTTAGE
Visit a hands-on home from the Roaring Twenties, when the year-round population of Naples totaled less than 300 people. Rescued from demolition and faithfully restored, this 1926 Naples home gives younger visitors a look at family life in early Collier County. |
LOGGING LOCOMOTIVE
Built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works around 1910, this weather-worn steam locomotive "Old Number 2" once carried lumberjacks deep into the County's ancient cypress forests. |
GEORGE G. HUNTOON GALLERY
This restored 1940s-era Naples home was moved to the museum in 1993 and now displays the extensive South Florida marine and wildlife collection of Dr. Earl L. Baum, an Illinois physician who was lured to Naples in 1922 by an article in Field and Stream magazine. The gallery also serves as home to the museum's fishing and hunting display. |
CRAIGHEAD LABORATORY
Dig up more facts on Florida's first people at one of the Craighead Lab's weekly archaeology sessions, hosted by the Southwest Florida Archaeological Society every Tuesday and Thursday from 9:00 a.m. until noon. Call the Lab at (239) 252-8517 for more information. To find more information about the Southwest Florida Archaeological Society, please visit www.fasweb.org/chapters/southwest.htm or:Southwest Florida Archaeological Society
PO Box 9965
Naples, FL 34101
239-597-2269
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NATIVE FLORIDA GARDEN
Get back to Florida's roots in the Craighead Garden with over 150 varieties of native Florida trees, plants and flowers. This restful, living memorial is a tribute to plant scientist Dr. Frank Cooper Craighead, Sr., who was named "Scholar of the Everglades" by Florida Governor Reubin Askew in 1976. |
SWAMP BUGGY
Unique to Southwest Florida, this early example of a swamp buggy was built from spare parts during the 1920s to haul cypress fence posts out of Collier County's low-lying swamps and grasslands. |
THE KOKOMIS
Inspired by the shallow draft design of the famous glass bottom sightseeing boats used at Silver Springs, the KOKOMIS was launched in 1934 to ferry passengers and supplies across Gordon Pass to the Keewaydin Club on nearby Key Island. This sturdy old boat made the five-minute crossing until 1999. |
ORCHID HOUSE
Brush up on your bromeliads. The Carolyn J. Craighead Orchid House features a constantly changing collection of orchids and botanical specimens common to Southwest Florida's cypress hammocks and the Everglades. |
SHERMAN TANK
A 33-ton tribute to the honor, sacrifice and ingenuity of America's "greatest generation," Sherman tanks formed the armored backbone of U.S. and Allied armies during World War II. This M4A3E8 "Easy Eight" Sherman probably saw action in Europe in the late summer of 1944. And yes, it still runs just fine. |
SEMINOLE VILLAGE
As Seminole Indians moved deeper into South Florida during the early 1800s, they adopted these open-sided, cypress pole huts or chickees to cope with the heat and humidity. Different styles were built for living, cooking and storage. These authentic palm-thatched chickees were a gift from the Seminole Tribe of Florida. |
SEMINOLE WAR FORT
Although military action here during the Seminole Wars was relatively minor, at least five forts were built by the army in present-day Collier County. This log stockade would have served as a staging and supply area for patrols searching the Big Cypress Swamp for Seminole strongholds. |
CALUSA CAMP
Once numbering as many as 10,000 people, the powerful Calusa Indians ruled the southern tip of Florida from coast to coast for centuries. Resourceful and practical, they built their villages on high ground, heaping up sand and shell to form enormous man-made mounds and ridges.Visit Our Garden
Meet the natives at the Museum's Craighead Florida Garden.
Established in 1990, the garden serves as a living memorial and tribute to pioneer environmentalist Dr. Frank Cooper Craighead, Sr., a leading authority on Florida's native plants and the state's official "Scholar of the Everglades." |
Today this unique teaching garden contains a collection of more than 150 species of tree and plant communities native to Southwest Florida and attracts an ever-increasing number of birds and other wildlife, including the occasional fox, otter and even an alligator or two. Educational and school programs focus on the importance of protecting native plants in Florida's horticulture and explain how the indigenous peoples of Southwest Florida - and later explorers and settlers - made effective use of native plants in their daily lives.
Whatever the season, the Craighead Garden is a restful getaway where Florida's wealth of history and natural beauty greet you at every step.
