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Southwest Florida remained virtually uninhabited until after the Civil War when handfuls
of farmers and squatters began making their way south in mule wagons, ox carts, or
sailboats. Early pioneers fished and hunted for a living; raised crops of cabbage, sugar
cane, tomatoes and pineapples; dug clams, made charcoal, sold bird plumes, and trapped
otters and alligators for their pelts and hides.
Trading posts started by Ted Smallwood on Chokoloskee Island and George Storter at
Everglade became important gathering places for the few isolated settlers and Indians.
By the late 1880s, Naples and Marco Island were already gaining popularity as winter
resorts for wealthy Northerners and sportsmen.
Cattle ranching is one of Collier County's oldest industries. By the early 1900s, ranchers
were grazing herds of scrub cattle on the open rangeland around Immokalee and Corkscrew
Settlement. Railroads gradually improved the ranchers access to market in the 1920s and
helped raise the County's beef cattle industry to national importance by the end of World War II.
Unlike cowboys on the western frontier, South Florida "cowmen" used braided leather whips
and small catch-dogs to herd and handle their fast-running cows. Today, cattle ranching is
still a vital part of the County's economy with over 10,000 head of beef cattle and 44 working
ranches in operation.
Collier County's creation in 1923 and its early economic growth were closely tied to
Memphis-born millionaire, Barron Gift Collier. With his fortune from streetcar advertising,
Collier introduced paved roads, electric power, telegraphs, and countless new modern
services and improvements to Florida's last frontier.
Barron Collier's completion of the Tamiami Trail in 1928 also unlocked the region's enormous
agricultural and resort potential. Florida's first commercial oil well was brought in at Sunniland
in 1943, and Collier County's cypress logging industry flourished at Copeland well into the 1950s.
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