Naples

Sister cities

• Naples

History

Before the period of European colonization, the indigenous Calusa lived in Florida (including the region of present-day Naples) for thousands of years, from Charlotte Harbor to Cape Sable. In 1513, Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León explored the region and encountered the Calusa, who resisted the first Spanish attempts to establish a colony in Florida. However, decades later, Florida was finally incorporated into the Spanish Empire. In the early 18th century, following slave raids from Muscogee and Yamasee raiders allied with European settlers in Carolina, the majority of the remaining Calusa moved south and east to escape the raids. The city of Naples was founded in 1886 by former Confederate general and Kentucky U.S. Senator John Stuart Williams and his partner, Louisville businessman Walter N. Haldeman, the publisher of the Louisville Courier-Journal. Throughout the 1870s and 1880s, magazines and newspapers ran stories about the area's mild climate and abundant fish and likened it to the sunny Italian Peninsula. The name Naples caught on when promoters described the bay as "surpassing the bay in Naples, Italy". With a population of approximately 80 in 1888, Naples saw the opening of its pier that year and welcomed its first hotel the following year. Major development was anticipated after Collier County was established in 1923, the completion of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad extension in 1927, and the completion of the Tamiami Trail linking Naples to Miami in 1928, but did not begin until after the 1929 Stock market crash, the Great Depression, and World War II. During the war the U.S. Army Air Forces built a small airfield and used it for training purposes; it is now the Naples Municipal Airport. In 1938, John Glenn Sample, a pioneer in radio advertising…

Geography

Naples is located in southwest Florida on U.S. Highway 41 between Miami to the east and Fort Myers to the north. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and , or 25.09%, is water. National Weather Service records that date back to 1851, indicate 74 tropical storms have passed within of Naples, or once every 2.2 years (as of a 2014 data). 2005 Hurricane Wilma (Category 5) – Wilma reached maximum wind strength of , but its winds were when it made landfall near Cape Romano (below Naples, just beyond the southwestern tip of Marco Island and northwest of the Ten Thousand Islands in Collier County). Wilma caused 87 deaths and $22.4 billion in damage. 2017 Hurricane Irma (Category 5) – Irma had maximum wind strength of , but when it made landfall near Marco Island, its winds were . As Irma hit Florida, tropical-storm-force winds extended out to from the center and hurricane-force winds extended up to . This storm left over 7.5 million homes (70% of the state) without electricity for days. Irma caused 134 deaths and $50 billion in damage. 2022 Hurricane Ian (Category 5) – Ian had a maximum wind strength of while approaching Florida, and it made landfall at Cayo Costa slightly below peak strength as a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of . Power was lost to much of the Naples area including Pelican Bay and Bay Colony for several days, but repairs allowed power to be turned back on, beginning on October 1, 2022. Ian caused 149 deaths in the state of Florida and an estimated $989 million in damages to the city of Naples and approximately $2.2 billion in damages to buildings in Collier County. 2024 Hurricane Milton (Category 5) – Milton had a maximum wind strength of 180 miles per hour (285 km/h) just…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  18,154
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  15,974
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  15,598
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  15,409
• White Ibis

  Eudocimus albus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  13,809
• Common Grackle

  Quiscalus quiscula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  13,034
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  12,430
• Osprey

  Pandion haliaetus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  12,054

Largest nearby schools

• GULF COAST HIGH SCHOOL
  High · NAPLES · 2,447 students · 24.7:1 ratio
• GOLDEN GATE HIGH SCHOOL
  High · NAPLES · 1,764 students · 23.8:1 ratio
• NAPLES HIGH SCHOOL
  High · NAPLES · 1,719 students · 21.8:1 ratio
• BARRON COLLIER HIGH SCHOOL
  High · NAPLES · 1,650 students · 24.6:1 ratio
• LELY HIGH SCHOOL
  High · NAPLES · 1,504 students · 23.5:1 ratio
• MASON CLASSICAL ACADEMY
  Other · NAPLES · 1,429 students · 15:1 ratio
• LAUREL OAK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
  Elementary · NAPLES · 1,203 students · 16:1 ratio
• GOLDEN GATE MIDDLE SCHOOL
  Middle · NAPLES · 1,054 students · 19.9:1 ratio