We’re taking flight for this week’s From The Archives. Hope aboard our history-in-the-making imaginary plane and let’s have an adventure.
Our first pass over historic skies is downtown Naples, circa 1928. The photo depicts Captain Stewart’s Post Office in the center. Naples’ first post office was established on April 8, 1888, with Alexander Robinson as postmaster. Captain Charles W. Stewart first moved the post office onto the pier, circa 1908, when he became postmaster. That office was destroyed by fire in 1922 and re-located to Naples Mercantile Company on 3rd Street South (later the Seminole market).
Our next stop is an aerial view of Naples, near the coast, in 1948. You can see the pier at the upper right corner.
Heading north, and 11 years into the future, you see an aerial view of the Vanderbilt Beach Motel in Naples, circa 1959. The image pre-dates Robert Moore’s purchase of the hotel in 1968, and what is now known as the family-run Vanderbilt Beach Resort.
From the resort’s website: “Since when it was the only motel on Vanderbilt Beach, the Moore family has been extending its legendary gracious hospitality to thousands of guests, many of whom have become lifelong friends. Robert’s son, Mike Moore, has operated the resort since 1976, and Mike’s son, Mick Moore, now is the third generation of the Moore family to take the reins and continue a long tradition of laid-back hospitality.”