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“In the beginning

was the land.”

by Jeff Lytle

o says a display in a new museum
dedicated to the genesis and progress of
SSouthwest Florida through the lens of
Left to right:
real estate.
- Vintage Jeep helped clients see frontier properties and “Walk On It Before You Buy.”
The addition to the vibrant local museum - Sign on U.S. 41 at Fleischmann Boulevard directed traffic to today’s Naples Zoo.
- Realty sales outpost at Coquina Sands, circa 1959.
landscape is natural and logical for an area which
was launched as and continues to be one very big land transaction. to Donna Shelley, who compiled the attraction’s storyboards’ content

The prominent John R. Wood Properties realty company has – which was fact-checked by Townsend’s staff, which also trained
dedicated a storefront in an apt location -- on Naples’ Fifth Avenue Wood realty associates who serve as docents; a video was made
South, where John R. Wood opened his first office in 1958, when for docents-to-come.
air conditioning was new and two years before the transformational “Collier County Museums is very excited to support a local
Hurricane Donna. business who wants to further our mission and appreciative of the
Attracting curious shoppers – some of them licking cones from opportunity for recognition at this high-profile location,” Townsend
the ice cream parlor next door -- and history buffs alike, the says. “We hope and truly expect that the Real Estate Museum will
museum tells of Naples starting as a hard-to-reach hunting and be a catalyst for visitors and potential new residents to take a deeper
fishing destination with mosquitoes nicknamed “swamp angels’’ – dive into local history.’’
then kept at bay with smoke and by smearing bodies with oil and herbs. Elaine Reed, leader of the Naples Historical Society, whose
The project is spearheaded by Jack Joyce, who worked with the headquarters at Palm Cottage is a museum, is equally enthused.
Mackle Brothers “Preservationists work better when there are
development team on the more people in the community aware and
design and marketing of actively engaged in that work,” she says.
Marco Island. “The Naples Historical Society, as the
John R. Wood’s son, CEO central voice of Naples history, is proud to
Phil Wood, hired Joyce, now partner with John R. Wood on the
88, a few years ago to make Real Estate History Museum.
historic presentations. “We’ve already had other real estate
Joyce coincidentally firms and other industry leaders ask about
Ad displayed at museum is
harbored a dream – ringed by properties a la partnering on such a mission. The Society is
Museum leader Jack Joyce with diagram of original layout for opening a museum to “Monopoly.” delighted to be a part of this.”
Marco Island, where he worked with the Mackle Brothers.
local development. On a more fundamental level, Phil Wood adds: “Almost everyone
“There are a zillion real estate offices on Fifth Avenue,’ likes to learn about how different subdivisions occurred, and what
Phil Wood explains. “In fact, we have two. So we just decided we prices used to be 25, or 50, or 100 years ago.’’
would do something unique and different. Those prices are showcased throughout the museum on enlarged
“It also ties in well for us, since we are the oldest major placards of vintage Wood real estate ads. One features a Monopoly
brokerage in Collier and Lee counties. We have always been spinoff labeled WOODopoly. Several displays tout the firm’s old
interested in preserving local history, and this gives us a good slogan “Walk On It Before You Buy’’ – a nod to swampland sales scams.
opportunity to further that goal.’’ County namesake Barron Gift Collier earns a special tribute for
The museum, occupying about 800 square feet of valuable real his vast property holdings and completion of the Tamiami Trail -
estate on a street whose history could fill a museum of its own, pivotal to Southwest Florida public access and growth. The streetcar
includes a separate room full of Marco Island maps and memorabilia advertising magnate’s crews worked through “miserable,
and highlights niche locales including Bonita Springs and major life-threatening conditions” on the road, which a storyboard says
subdivisions such as Bonita Bay, Pelican Bay, Grey Oaks, Collier called “as sturdy as the Appian Way.” The display says
The Moorings and Park Shore. Collier called the project “fun,’’ though it nearly bankrupted him.
Look closely and you learn the museum raises the bar on historic There is much more to see at the museum, open at no charge
and civic collaboration. Not only did the project solicit input from Monday-Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at 824 Fifth Avenue S.
those areas and The Collier County Museums network, but the Updates and additions via signage, documents, photos and videos
formally named John R. Wood Southwest Florida Real Estate Museum are promised by Joyce, whose mission is “to preserve the past for
also refers visitors to myriad other museums and historical societies. generations to come.’’
Amanda Townsend, director of the county museums, calls the
project “fabulous.’’ She introduced Wood and Joyce Lytle is the retired editorial page editor and TV host at the Naples Daily News.
Jeff can be reached by email at Jlytle@comcast.net
28 Life in Naples | January 2020