The Naples Historical Society is a non profit that was formed in 1962 to preserve the history of…read moreNaples for "future generations to enjoy". The Naples Historical Society is also the steward of the Naples Historical Society Foundation, Inc. which raises funds for historical preservation. The headquarters of the Naples Historical Society is the Historic Palm Cottage which is the oldest house in Naples. The 3,500 sq ft house was built in 1895 to be used as a summer cottage by Walter N. Haldeman, the owner and editor of the Louisville, Kentucky Courier Journal and Times. The house has now been turned into a museum. On May 24, 1982, Palm Cottage was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. Tours are given of the house and educational programs are staged there. The Naples Historical Society purchased the 1/2 acre lot next to the house and turned it into a cottage garden that can be rented for events. Administration and archives is held at another historic property, a house built in 1910 that is a half block from Palm Cottage. Some of the programs the Naples Historical Society implements are the Naples History Tours, Christmas at Palm Cottage, Garden Side Chickee Chats, fund raising events, and guest speakers. Palm Cottage is currently closed due to the pandemic but I still enjoyed paying it a visit. I had to make my own history tour but I look forward to coming back to take the Naples Historical Society's downtown history tour that includes the cottage. Anyone who is interested in history will want to avail themselves of the excellent programs provided by the historical society.

We loved the Palm Cottage tour. Our docent was knowledgeable and funny. We loved hearing about…read morethe history of Naples. The floors in the cottage are amazing. Very interesting tour. Naples is about more than just beaches - who knew?'

Bonita Springs has a small downtown area, charming with character. Not a lot of activities to do in…read morethe area, but they have a nice park, a great local library, some store and lots of eateries with many options. The buildings are old, well preserved, cute, giving the area some personality. Pretty laid back, a small arts center, a park where they have festivals, outdoor concerts, more work in progress for future establishments promising to expand the area and bring more activities. Don't expect a nightlife here, more like day time activities, nature oriented (Wonder Gardens are a landmark of downtown), places to enjoy a meal, some ethnic store. I'll be back to explore it some more!

Hey it's in the works and it's beautiful so far! it's small but growing. I can't wait until i…read morevisit again and see what's been done. Praying that they get the vision completed beyond their expectations!

This a nice beach area to hang out, chill, and have fun at. I went here with my family to catch the…read moresunset. We got here a few minutes after the sun started going down. There was a crowd gathered to see the sunset but it was not overly crowded or anything. We still found a good spot to stand and watch. After sundown, we walked on the beach to enjoy the moment as the weather was pleasant (in late December). The beach area was clean and it's in a nice neighborhood. There's paid parking nearby. I am not sure of any free parking area.

Beach is good. Watching the repair work on the pier. However parking requires a process of using…read moreyour phone, credit card and spot number. My wife did that and then got a message to add more time which she did. We got back to the car and had a parking ticket. If you pay right away it's $77. We gladly did everything they asked to park. Her credit card shows the payments but does not give us the time. I believe they have an equipment problem or a greed problem. Never had this problem in Destin and the sand is nicer. Might be our last trip here.

I've always remembered this little cemetery as I was born in Naples, and have been here my entire…read morelife. But, it's been decades since I have walked through here. I remember my mom explaining to me when I was a kid that this cemetery was for original settlers of Naples. It's still in great shape, and looks like it has regular visitors as there were flowers on every grave when I visited. Some of the markers have no visible lettering, so must've been worn away over time and replaced with just a new stone. Definitely an interesting piece of Naples history, and as a native of our beautiful town, I'm glad that I made the time to give my thanks and respects to those who came here long before me to establish this beautiful place I call home.

Located in literally the parking lot of a CVS is the historic Rosemary Cemetery. Some of the people…read moreburied here were originally buried at a cemetery at the corner of 3rd Street South and 10th Avenue South St. near St. Ann's Catholic Church in old Naples. As Naples became developed in the 1930's it was decided that the bodies should be moved to the outskirts of town. The Rosemary Cemetery Corp. was formed to find a suitable location for the new cemetery and a 20 acre plot was donated by Edward W. Crayton, president of the Naples Improvement Company. The name of the cemetery was taken from the highly scented rosemary bushes that once grew here. It is believed that Naples earliest settlers are buried here including John and Madison Weeks, Naples first permanent settlers. The cemetery opened in 1931 and the last known interment was in 1947. It had to be closed because the high water table caused some of the caskets to pop up back out of the ground during rainy season. It is believed that approximately 20 people remain here but who they are is a mystery because some of the headstones are no longer legible. The cemetery is listed as Unit B on a 1944 map that lists the graves in the area. In 1943 when the city registered the cemetery it listed over a hundred graves. What happened to those graves is unknown. Hurricane Donna destroyed the cemetery records in 1960. This was the only cemetery in Naples until Naples memorial Gardens opened in 1955. What was once the outskirts of town is now a major road and an empty lot is now a CVS parking lot. A historical marker was added to the cemetery in 1993. The next year the Collier County Museums restored the cemetery and added marble headstones. The city held a formal re-dedication ceremony of the cemetery on November 27, 1994. If you didn't now this cemetery was here it would be easy to drive past it. Once you pull in to the CVS parking however you can't miss it. The gate is left open so you can come by to visit the Naples pioneers.

Had a nice gig playing drums at Cambier Park on a Monday evening. Great music and a great audience!read more

Cambier Park in Naples is a wonderful park and playground area for the kids. It is close to all…read morethe downtown shopping and restaurants. There outdoor venues with concerts, plays, show and other community events.

A state park that has hiking and bike trails. There is a lot of history within the park. There are…read moredifferent areas of the park that highlight the history, like memorials and such. This is a place where a lot of people do camp. It was nice to explore. You definitely need bug spray.

This State Park does a good job of dotting the " i's " and crossing the " t's ". There's hiking…read moretrails, camping, fishing, kayaking / canoeing, a pavilion, picnic tables, kiddies playground, and some interesting historical items. Admission is $5.00 per vehicle (maximum of 8 people), or $2.00 per person (pedestrians or bicyclists). I was on my motorcycle so I fell in the top category. I rode to the boat launch area first. This was a nice place to launch a boat or kayak. It was a protected bay like area. There was a floating boat dock nearby where one could fish from. In the same area as the boat launch was the hiking trail. It was closed (the park employee at the entrance had already told me) probably because of Hurricane Ian damages? Also the picnic and playground area was in this area. here. Restrooms are on site too. The next stop I visited while in the park was the historic Bay City Walking Dredge No. 489. This feat of engineering was used in the 1920's to help build the Tamiami Trail through the Florida Everglades. From the information provided, "Built in Bay City Michigan, this walking dredge followed the drilling and blasting rigs, averaging 80 feet per 10 hour shift. Dynamite was used to blast the limestone into small enough chunks for the dredge to lift." The road was completed, finally linking Tampa to Miami in 1928, with the help of this machine. For the mechanical and engineering nerds (like me), you'll want to see and read about this. Ha! I had a good time here and recommend you check this place out. I am going with 4 stars because the hiking trail was closed and the canoe rental cabin where one could also buy drinks was closed. Hopefully these will open in the near future.

Nice, big, modern clean library with great amenities. My in-laws come here for some of their…read moreprograms they organize for general public, which is wonderful. We stopped by with them, huge parking lot, big building, clean restrooms, very quiet, relaxing, laid back, cool design. My husband purchased some books and movies at their nice store and the lady working there couldn't be nicer. Bonita Springs scored high for me with this nice institution. If you live in the area or visit, this could be a nice resource for books, movies, nice activities. Check their site for hours! Closed on Sundays!

Rainy day so we introduced our son & DiLaw to the magic of public library story time. Our antsy,…read morehouse-bound 18mos granddaughter lit up with the story hour. Very engaging storyteller was able to entrance the wide range of ages in attendance. Then there was the bubble machine. And a bucket of toys to free-play with. Get there early as space is limited. I noticed they had to turn away a few people. The children's area has lots of fun spaces too. If that had happened to us, we still would have found plenty to do there.

Staff, book selection and Adult Events.! Events haven't come…read moreback to pre-Covid numbers. I miss them

It's a gem of a library hidden in our corner of Naples. Great talks are held, the library staff are…read morevery helpful and there is plenty of parking.