Naples Seaboard Air Line Railway Station
History
The depot was constructed in 1927, when the Seaboard Air Line Railroad (via its Seaboard-All Florida Railway subsidiary) constructed its line to Naples. It was designed in the same Mediterranean Revival style the Seaboard Air Line used with its stations in Delray Beach, Deerfield Beach, Hialeah, and Homestead on the southeast coast of Florida (which were built around the same time), and is virtually identical to the Hialeah depot. The station only briefly saw Seaboard Air Line passenger service in the late 1920s before the railroad reduced its line to Naples to freight service only in 1933. Seaboard ended freight service in the 1940s. During World War II, the depot was also home to USO shows for troops stationed at the nearby Naples airfield.
By 1944, the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad bought both the depot and the Seaboard tracks to Naples after Seaboard discontinued service. The Atlantic Coast Line connected the former Seaboard track to their Fort Myers Southern Branch near Vanderbilt Beach, and resumed passenger service to the depot after an eleven-year absence. This makes it only one of the few railroad depots to have been operated by both the Atlantic Coast Line and the Seaboard Air Line independently prior to their merger. The Atlantic Coast Line's previous depot in Naples was located at the northeast corner of Radio Road and Airport-Pulling Road near Naples Airport, which was then closed and eventually demolished in the 1970s.
Ironically, the Seaboard brand returned to the depot in 1967 when the Atlantic Coast Line merged with the Seaboard Air Line which became the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad. Passenger service ended in 1971 when national passenger rail was taken over by Amtrak. On September 10, 1974, the depot was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. Freight service was halted for good in the late 1970s, and the adjacent tracks were removed in 1980 (the remaining line from this point north is still in place and is now owned by Seminole Gulf Railway).
Naples Depot Museum
The station has since been fully restored by the Collier County Museums, and is now operated as the Naples Depot Museum. Exhibits focus on the history of transportation and trade in Southwest Florida. Displays include railroads, Seminole dugout canoes, a mule wagon and an antique swamp buggy. Vintage railcars are also on display outside of the building. In another part of the building is a Lionel Train Museum which is dedicated to model trains. A miniature railway also runs around the perimeter of the property.
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ Turner, Gregg (January 4, 2000). Railroad History of Southwest Florida. Images of America. Arcadia Publishing.
- ^ "Naples Stations Depots". Bone Valley Modeler. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
- ^ Pitt, Dave (16 March 1980). "Railroad Gets OK To Abandoned Most Most Tracks In County". Naples Daily News. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
- ^ Bendfeldt-Diaz, Paula. "Naples Depot Museum: Fun for Train Lovers Young and Old". 365 Things to do in Southwest Florida. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
- Collier County listings at National Register of Historic Places
- Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs
| Preceding station | Seaboard Air Line Railroad | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vanderbilt toward Hull
|
Hull – Naples | Terminus | ||
| Preceding station | Atlantic Coast Line Railroad | Following station | ||
| Bonita Springs toward Lakeland
|
Lakeland – Marco Island after 1944
|
Belle Meade toward Marco Island
| ||
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