Before Tin City & The Capt Elwood Starn

Naples Bay off the west Gordon River Bridge.

NO! Not More Pre High Falutin' Royal Harbor!

Note to H.Daniels you were wrong, Brookside candyasses would never go into Boat Haven's yard while police were there. We were too busy drinking the free beer we got off the boats the night before. :):):)
Photo taken January 22nd 1963

North Gulfshore Blvd @ Doctor's Pass

For the unknowing that's Harbor Drive Bridge in the photo.
Photo taken September 17th 1968
Courtesy the Les Whitaker Jr. Family

Doctor's Pass Area

Just an incredible shot of the pass taken overlooking North 41 around the Red Lobster, Harold's Place section of the Trail. Bow Line Drive is the last developed street in the photo.
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE Neapolitans!

Royal Harbor Before High Falutin' Set In

By far my favorite comment to date! BH

The Bridge On Galleon Drive & Lantern Lake

Also a good shot of Hurricane Park the large empty lot on the west side of Gordon Drive. A good place to ride dirt bikes or anything else that might come to mind.

United Telephone Company

This is the one I'm most familiar with it had a good shade break (concrete bench & table) to sit under on the way to the Beach Store. It started out with out of state phone books & a concrete table but over time they both disappeared. A good place to spend Sunday being the whole town shut down & it was on the loop Chris Gourmet Castle & a spin around the pier. It had everything a mooching teenager could ask for even a stop light so your victims couldn't escape you bumming a ride at the stop light. I think the Beach Store would open around 11 or 12 in the morning on Sundays?

Inter County Telephone & Telegraph On 5th Ave South

Let Me Up! I've Had Enough 3rd Street!

NO WAY! Not Another 3rd Street Picture!

3rd Street One More Time!

Yep, it's a different picture!

3rd Street South @ 13th Avenue South

Fun stuff going on in this photo EVEN Cook's Laundromat!

Gerry Johnson AKA Scorpio By The Pier

Gerry Johnson

Naples, FL

Gerry Johnson, 65, a long­time Naples resident and Na­ples Daily News institution, died November 29, 2009, at his home in Old Naples.

Friends and family will re­member the 27 year newspa­per librarian as a man who knew something about everything - and if he didn’t, he knew where to go to find it out.

Gerry was born November 8, 1944 in Middlesboro, KY. He grew up in New Jersey and came to Naples with his family as a teen-ager. He spent many days fish­ing at the Naples Pier. He graduated from Naples High School in 1963.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in geography from the University of Florida, spending his junior year studying at the University of Hawaii.

Gerry was drafted into the U.S. Army and served in Bamburg, Germany. To his dismay, he worked as a cook despite the Army having trained him to drive heavy equipment.

During his time on leave, Gerry traveled across Eu­rope and to South America and Mexico. After his stint in the Army, he attended Florida State University and earned Master’s degrees in urban/regional planning and in library sciences.

He worked for a time in the 1970s at the University of South Florida marine research laboratory in St. Petersburg. Upon returning to Naples, he worked briefly for the City of Naples before becoming the Naples Daily News librarian in 1980.

In that role, he catalogued thousands of newspaper clippings and historical photographs that became an invaluable resource not only for reporters and edi­tors but community history lovers and authors.

Gerry also wrote a popular Naples Daily News column about astronomy, one of his many interests, along with history, music and film noir.

He retired from the Naples Daily News in 2007, but his archival impulse did not let up. He kept two iPods and computers loaded with old country and blues music and stored personal interviews with Naples historical fig­ures on audiotape.

Gerry was preceded in death by his mother, Fran­ces Johnson; and father, Bertram Johnson.

He is survived by his brothers, Barry of Naples, and Richard of Tallahas­see.

A celebration of Gerry’s life will be held from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. Saturday, Decem­ber 5th at Naples Funeral Home, 3107 Davis Blvd., Naples.

In lieu of flowers, dona­tions in Gerry’s memory may be made to the charity of the donor’s choice.

Please sign guestbook naplesnews.com/obits

The Pier Area

Its almost hard to remember this area with vacant land especially the lot to the right of the pier with the Australian pines.

Photo taken August 16th 1968
Courtesy of the Les Whitaker Jr. family.

PS: Happy Thanksgiving!

Margaret "Peggy" Wall

July 6th 1929 - November 21st 2009

Naples Shopping Plaza

Who didn't know about this place? I remember Liggetts getting robbed in the middle of the night probably in the late 60's. They tried to get the safe open & couldn't & drug it almost all the way out to the highway. It left ruts carved in the pavement almost all the way out by the sidewalk & then loaded it up & took it with them, I don't believe they were ever caught. At one time there was a game machine in front of the drugstore & Publix bag boys would always be playing it without spending any money. You could put a pop bottle under one side & play for free all night. I always thought those bag boys were geniuses for figuring out how to stick it to the man.....

PS: Looks like the picture must have been taken around Christmas time judging by the decorations.

Open Hearth and Friends . . .

Before the north wall was removed and the lighted "disco" dance floor was installed, it was "Nick's Domino Club", before that it was "The Port Hole" with an 8 foot round window facing the Tamiami Trail, but around 1970 it became the:

These are T-shirt captures

Cameron played so many gigs there in the early 70's they almost became family. Lane Cameron now has a recording studio in Reno.

(Big Daddy's reference has been removed)

Save the turtles

Not too long ago someone said it would be cool if there was a posting about the "turtle tanks" at Boat Haven.

Well, here ya go . . . complete with a little "lift" from "DuBroy Setptic Tank company" and Captain Cecil Lamb passing by in the background aboard his tarpon-fishing boat "Silver King".

This is in the early 60's, before roofs were added over the tanks. The gas docks are located behind the crane, and the Boat Haven building is in the left background.

City Dock (part deux)

This was taken in the late 60’s from a Cove Inn balcony. Two small structures are the Dock Master’s “office” on the right and bathrooms on the left. The flat-roof houseboat is tied up at the site of the future gas dock. The long low white roof covering the boat slips was removed a few years later to accommodate taller boats and as a maintenance issue; the roof over the slips on the right war later removed as well. Royal Harbor is visible on the far side of Naples Bay.

Seagate 1968

When my dad got the keys to his new house in February of 1960, we were the 10th family to live out here. It's about six miles from Four-Corners and before I had a drivers license, a trip to town other than church or school was a big deal.

2009

It's changed a little since then and it's still six miles to Four-Corners, but I guess a trip into town is no longer a big deal.

A Landmark Gone

People of the planet Earth . . .


Man, I thought it would be there forever, now there are those who never even knew it existed.

Demolition underway . . .

Demo Photo courtesy of Erica Schneider

The Water Tower

Sorry I don't have time to do a story (mom's in hospice) but looking at the spray paint on the tower it will probably light up the comments.

Seagate Homeboy Sez:

Please say hello to your mom for all of us . . . . Over the years she has been the “Most Favoritest Publix Cashier Ever”. (Yeah, I know about the spelling)

Now about that water tower . . . . Take note of the ladder on the left side below the catwalk. Now look at the support leg angled inward to the tank. The last 40 feet or so, where it separates from the leg, the ladder appears to lean back away from vertical. It didn’t matter if it was initiated by impetuous youth, fueled by alcohol, and aided by adrenalin, upon reaching that point, second thoughts rushed in about proceeding further, but there was no turning back (didn't want to be called "chicken").

Back in the day, the tradition was to climb late on graduation night. Yeah, the cops knew, and guys from previous classes ended up on probation. There’s even a story about someone climbing to the top of the tank and "liberating" the red warning lens . . . . Not my crew.

The way to not get arrested was to climb the night before graduation, or dumb o’clock in the morning, then try to keep your mouth shut on graduation day. No arrests are pending . . . .

p.s. It was scarier going down !!!

Seagate Homeboy

NHS Class of '67

"Four Corners" looking East - 1963 or so . . . .

It wasn’t ‘zactly a challenge, but Brookside Homeboy said “Here’s the picture, knock yourself out”.

I’m gonna give it a try:

NE: Graber’s Gulf station, The Lamplighter Cafeteria, Lily Pulitzer (Shift-Shack), Corbin-Lindabury Garden Supply, Atlantic Coast Line RR Depot, Tamiami Tire Supply, Prather’s Dry Cleaners, Naples Generator & Electric Motor Repair, Naples Redi-Mix, Direct Gas Station, Benson Insurance Agency, Pancake House, Brookside, Davis Boulevard, Naples Municipal Airport.

SE: Naples Federal Savings and Loan, Baroni's Restaurant, Hertz Rent-A-Car, Cris-Tal Market, Brehm’s Atlantic, Naples Flowers/Gene’s 5th Avenue Florist, Hansen Chris-Craft, Naples Marine Center, The Gordon River Corp., The Fish House, M & M Marina, Boat Haven Naples.

NW: Reid’s Sinclair station, Park Law Offices (formerly B & W Hardware); Alexander’s Dept. Store (formerly Arnold's 5 & 10, Vic’s Shoe Repair, Western-Union, Fone Foyer, Inter-County Telephone (and Telegraph) Company.

SW: Naples Liquors, Naples Travel Agency, Lords ‘N’ Lollipops, The Miami Herald Circulation Office, Naples Real Estate Exchange, Holland Salley Interiors (the original), The Book Nook and Arcade w/Rice’s barber shop, Rexall, Tamiami Trailways and the Bus Station Restaurant, Naples/Beach Cab.

Seagate Homeboy
NHS Class of ‘67

The Yankees Win . . . !

The 1959 Kiwanis Yankees that is . . .

Bottom Row, left to right: Benny Roome, Nicky Pedro, Juno Stalnacher, Wayne Jenkins, Bill Donovan, Don Kenton & Dudley Goodlette.

Second Row, left to right: Mark Hannah, Jack Redenbaugh, John Abbott & Mike Sharpe.

Top Row, left to right: Doug McNaughton & Gary Sharpe.

Coaches: Mr. Hannah on the left, and George Allen on the right.

Photo Credit: Bill Donovan

If You Don't Remember This Car...

You didn't live here in the 60's! I finally tracked down John Gray the owner of the Golden Orchid/Hawaiian Pearl thanks many times over to Kim Kelsey & Larry Biela. This is one photo I been dying to get for a couple years! The car was a 1957 Mercury Monterrey ( I always thought it was an Edsel). John bought it in 1960 & Mr. B did the custom paint & body work. He sold the car to someone in Ft Myers in 1996 & the guy was going to convert it back into a 2 door Mercury, go figure that? John was a Mercury Outboard mechanic at Boat Haven for 28 years Chrisse (Boat Haven's owners daughter) said he was the BEST Mercury mechanic they ever had. The 2nd photo is his custom bicycle, he told me he started pedaling during the gas shortage in the 70's. He did a cross country trek on the BIKE Centennial in 1976 from Illinois to Kentucky. This car truly was a Naples legend in my eyes it was the Batmobile of Naples hats off & hi 5 to Mr. John Gray!

The City Dock

No story here, but it's a cool picture. The city dock was off the beaten path. If you walked anywhere off 5th Avenue or 41 as I did, that's all you would do is WALK! You had to stay on the main drag to catch a ride.

How about "Add Your 2 Cents" if you can can do better than this lets post it?

" . . . every picture tells a story don't it . . ."

Might be slow here for a little while I had to run my beer can mom to the hospital last night so hang in there folks!

Seagate Homeboy to the rescue ! I've got a story . . . er. at least a long caption.

"Crayton Cove", looks like the mid-50s.

Imagine that the "Cove Inn" complex was a sand lot with no seawalls, just the bay water lapping on the mud shore.

There was the "Sportspot Marina" on the left as you walk off the dock. On the right was a mud bar, and a little cinder-block building to the right that would become Schryver and Associates in the mid-60s, only to yield to "The Dock Restaurant" in the mid-70s. The long, low building seen beyond the end of the dock is the "Old Cove" restaurant which was a local gathering spot/watering hole for decades.

There was a "day cruise" aboard an old 40 foot wooden powerboat named "Helvetia II". She was operated from the dock by "Skipper and Missy Pond". Here's a picture from my personal stash dated 1958.

The day cruise went into "The 10,000 Islands" and did a stop at the island home of Roy Ozmer, "Hermit of The Everglades".

It was very cool for a 9 year old.

p.s. You don't have to have an account of any kind to "Add your 2 cents".

You can post as "Anonymous". If you get an error message when you click "preview" or "publish, it's not you, it's the software. Don't freak out!!! Click on it again.

If you like, you can compose and edit in your computer's word processor or even in your e-mail's compose screen, then copy/paste it into the box (in the event the comment box unceremoniously flushes your carefully worded composition, you will still have your original). SH

Disorderly Juvenile's Headquarters

Just a lovely place to hangout when you're 16 by far much better than sleeping in the swamp with the Junior Deputy's.....
Gee Mr. Rogers you swear Okeechobee Boy's School is really better than these weekly visits?

PS: For the unknowing the photo is the former Collier County Sheriffs office & jail under construction.

Breakin' Rocks In The Hot Sun...

I guess this is kinda like having a ticket stub to Woodstock. If you lived here back then you remember how much fun Halloween could be (well maybe for people that ran faster)? All in all a very good night especially when my friends Kenny & Glen got to meet my dad at the police station (I would mention their last names but have caught way too much grief for naming names). If you were there & have ever felt guilty about anything don't, to quote something somewhere I paid for you sins. :):):)

Naples Oldest Tradition Swamp Buggy Days

I'm not affiliated with Lila Zuck or any historical organization. This book is worth your time to look into Lila has definitely put a ton of time into it & done her homework. Two people on my reference bored recommended it to me & neither have misguided me on anything Naples yet. If you're into old Naples this book is pretty darn good I don't think its in any bookstores yet but you can order one here.

http://www.ecity-publishing.com/CollierHistorical.htm

The Dome

This place was a local landmark and hangout in Bonita Springs for over 50 years.

If you ever drove from Naples to Fort Myers on Highway 41 (like to McDonalds for French Fries, or the Edison commute, or maybe even the "Bee Hive" on Friday night) this is one sight that you couldn’t miss right on the Tamiami Trail.

The shake roof was orange and the stem & leaves on the top were green to resemble an . . . .

Judging by the cars in the photo it looks like this was taken in the late 50’s.

In later years it had become a tavern and game room. Sadly it was torn down in 1992.

photo credit: Jenny McLenon-Lindsey and USF Libraries Digitization Center

Not that ol’ Seagate Homeboy had any personal history there, but there was just this one time in 1970 . . .

Evolution Of The Swamp Buggy Buck

I'm really kinda lame in my explanation of the Swamp Buggy Buck if you can do better please have at it in the comments section below. As far as I know merchants printed & sold them to raise money for what I don't know. I'm at a loss other than knowing they existed I was too young to grow a beard & wouldn't have parted with my allowance for one. No way anyone would get my dollar for mowing our yard & trimming that damn Brazilian pepper hedge. Besides that sap from that hedge usually stuck to my money & anything else I owned. People would ask whats that stuff on your hands & I would tell them I got a little happy with that Testor's Model Glue putting together a Mustang model. Then came the reply that I was probably sniffing more than I was gluing...

Bucks courtesy Gerry Johnson aka Scorpio By The Pier
See Gerry's comments for the history of the Swamp Buggy Buck!

Seagate near the beach, then and now . . .

Not much goin' on in 1959. The canal had been "draglined" a little but there were no seawalls. The little beach house was pretty cool; not much more than a roof, frame walls and jalousie windows (it was essentially blown away in "Donna"). The road was private, there was even a gate and a sign that said "members only". The beach was free though, and a few people would park at the gate and walk. When I say a few, I mean a few a week!!! The gate was visible from my mom's kitchen window and she kinda kept tabs on the comings and goings.

I can still remember the sound of the breeze through those Australian Pines . . . .


Flash forward 50 years . . .


(Tip o' the hat to Brookside Homeboy for helping me with the math, I thought it was only 40 years! Sigh . . . it seems like yesterday).

Yeah, It was pretty neat 50 years ago . . . .

Seagate Homeboy
NHS Class of '67

Sorrento Gardens & Pine Ridge

Running left to right across the center of this photo is Pine Ridge Road. On the right side is Goodlette Road that dead ends @ Pine Ridge Road. At that intersection is Sterritt Egg Ranch (the group of buildings that look like silver train box cars). If you were here in the 60's or 70's you would usually run into your friends at Sterritt around Halloween. If you worked there you would probably think teenager's liked to make omelets or egg salad this time of year. Late October Sterritt did a brisk business, on November 1st egg shells decorated most of Naples especially around the pier area.

Map link to photo.
http://tinyurl.com/ylyqsg7

Photo courtesy of the Les Whitaker family.
Photo taken September 17th 1968

Seagate 1957

Back in the day you had better pack a lunch. Although it was only 6 miles from "4 corners", Seagate was thought to be quite a ways out of town.

Surrounded by palmetto, pine, and mangrove, it was home to raccoons, opossum, rattlesnakes, and even a few armadillo. In addition, there was a pair of American Eagles with a nest atop a towering pine right where the word residential appears in this picture.

Halloween's Almost Here!

It's Homeboy's mom decked out as a beer can with a pop top hat! She was my favorite Publix cashier, I knew half the town because in the 60's Publix was one of the only places to work part time after school. I hated high school & would always check out early but you had to have your parents permission to do so. The principal's office would call your parents to OK letting you leave school. My mom would get called off her cash register to take the call & it happened so often she told anyone who answered to just tell them its OK. So I'd usually get the OK from an unknown bag boy or whoever was close to the phone. You could always find her anywhere in the store by the sound of her laugh & twisted sense of humor. Having a beer can mom had its rewards, here's to you mom!
Part 1 of my Halloween in Naples 70's style.

Vanderbilt Beach Road @ Vanderbilt Drive & Naples Park

Photo taken from where the Ritz Carlton sits today looking northeast. Of interest in this photo is Trader Zeke's Marina (ran by Captain Jim Houser) on Center Street, long gone now. Interesting side note the little duplex motel rooms from there were moved to the lake between 107th Ave North & 108th. Probably more useless trivia but it's my job to be as useless as I possibly can. A person can never have enough useless information & if you visit here often your sure to get your fill!

PS: If you click the photo & blow it up you can also see the Trail Drive-In Theatre on 41 & 111th these color photos are stunning if you study them. Pay close attention there will be a test at the end of class.

Photo courtesy of the the Les Whitaker Jr. family.
Photo taken September 17th 1968

Before Mapquest, Bing Maps, Google Maps and....

These aerials are the easiest to post this one especially this one no property search, no Tiny URL and most of all no story. Just white line arrows pointing to your destination you're just lucky you didn't need the name of that golf course. I wish they could have at least named 35 of the 10,000 islands...
In the aerial photos there is usually dark patches that I thought were clouds above but it could be all these white arrows & names overhead with all that writing in the sky. Might be a case for Homeland Security...
To quote Elwood Blues, Whatta ya want for nothing a rubber bisquit?

Gulfshore Blvd North @ Hurricane Harbor

Map link:
http://tinyurl.com/ykqywgo
(It's not my fault Bing calls Hurricane Harbor the Gulf Of Mexico)
Photo courtesy of the Les Whitaker Jr. family.
Photo taken August 16th 1968

Port Royal & Gordon Pass

Port Royal truly was a cool drive in the 60's & 70's. You could catch a water view from any street, now all you get is lot line to lot line stucco mausoleums. You could ride a motorcycle in those empty lots for blocks these days backhoes & dump trucks seem magnetically attracted to this area....

Photo taken February 28th 1974

The Blue Barracuda...

This is my “first time” at the top of the page and I am flattered that Brookside Homeboy has allowed me to join him in this little reverie.

I will still post comments in the “Add your 2 cents” area (‘cause it’s easier), and you will likely see me up here from time to time, but that ol’ Brookside Homeboy is most definitely the “Perry White” of this rag...**

**Perry White was the Editor-in-Chief of the “Daily Planet”,

you know, from “Superman”.

-------------------------------------------------------

There were only two Barracudas in the whole town (I think). Mine was this dark blue 273 cu. in. 1967 "Formula S" shown parked in front of the Cove Inn circa 1969 (40 years ago? Are you kiddin' me?). Ron Hatcher/Stanley had a gold '65 (old body).

Then there was the night that the dark green ’69 Barracuda fastback from Rhode Island showed up. We looked like twins in the dark; except he was sporting a “383” and a license plate that read “GONE”.

There I was with my little “273” with the “‘solid lifters” stopped side by side with him, pointed north, at the Central Avenue red-light. We were both rapping our pipes, trying to be macho, and preparing for the inevitable....

Green Light!!!!! First gear... burning rubber, tires screaming. Power-shift into second gear... I’m starting to pull him just a little (my car was lighter than his 383)... 6700 RPM speed-shift into third gear (I was good, just ask anyone...) we’re neck and neck just approaching Dog ’n’ Suds, EVERYBODY heard us coming... And then... and then...

Officer Byron Tomlinson...

Siren, lights, spotlight, the whole 9 yards...

Yeah, right in front of Dog ’n” Suds.

Mr. "GONE" was told to leave town immediately and never come back.

Me, I got a stern warning from Byron who did the whole cop routine (really, he was good). Byron was a few years ahead of me at NHS making him about 24, and he had been NPD for a couple of years.

The entertainment value for the crowd watching from Dog ‘n’ Suds was, how you say... “priceless”.

"Thank you Byron for pulling me over ‘cause I was about to get beat, and thank you for not writing me a ticket, I’m sure you will have ample opportunity in the future".

I gave him that opportunity, about half an hour later ‘cept I was racing someone else coming from Publix headed south.

Man, you talk about busted...

This time, no warning, I got the ticket, a big one.... Dang, Byron, I was winning.

Thanks for not tossing me in jail....

Seagate Homeboy

11:24 p.m. PDT

Inter-County Telephone System

I always knew it as United Telephone Company I'm going by the name on a 1963 phone book that Dot Mclenon (the previous owner of Christmas Cottage @ 245 Broad Ave South) gave me. I spent HOURS sitting at their concrete benches at the corner of 5th & 8th. At 1st they had a table & out of town telephone books, they probably knew you might enjoy these too much & both disappeared over time. The out of town phone books disappearing really caught my eye & I figured it must be like a Stepford Wives (kids) thing. And it was like a plot so you'd never know about the world outside of 4 Corners.

Note to regular followers I've added Seagate Homeboy as an author to Real Naples. He's 5 years older than I & owned a dark blue Plymouth Barracuda. Growing up here I'd either be hitchhiking or walking & it never failed he'd always be driving the other way 24/7. We weren't close friends (back then I was a punk & he was a geezer, 5 years when your a teenager is similar to dog years) but he was easily out as much as me & he had wheels. I can't keep up with his attention to detail & am floored by his memory of 60's Naples. So here we sit 50 years on telling these twisted little tails of this twisted little town, there truly couldn't have been a better place on the planet to be a teenager!