Black History Museum Naples

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Black History Museum Naples

The Black History exhibit at the Naples Depot Museum will offer rotating and permanent displays, storytelling, and artifacts. Coming soon! ✨

09/29/2025

: Help us fill the Baggage Car with real stories from the African Americans who have shaped the Naples community! Whether it's your personal history or that of your family and friends, we invite you to contribute to our mission. Contact the Naples Depot Museum Manager Lisa Marciano at 239-252-8421 to share your story.

Black History, Naples FL, History, Baggage Car

09/27/2025

Then & Now: Once a bustling train station, the Naples Depot Museum now serves as a place where history is preserved and shared. 🚂✨

From its early days as a hub of travel to today’s role as a keeper of Collier County’s stories, the Depot continues to honor the legacies that shaped our community—including the history of Black Americans in rail travel and beyond. 🖤

Naples Depot Museum, Black History, Railroad History

09/25/2025

🔁 : Since Naples’s founding, the Black community has faced multiple relocations due to development. In the early 20th century, families lived in both the Saw Mill Quarters around Central Avenue and Ditch Bank, by Crayton Cove. By 1948, Blacks were moved from Ditch Bank to McDonald’s Quarters, north along the railroad tracks. Pictured are the Green Top Social Club and Mr. Benning’s house in the McDonald’s Quarters during the 1950s.

📸 Collier County Museums 87.9.6

Black History, Naples FL, Museum, History, Donations

09/23/2025

🚂✨ The Black History Baggage Car project is preserving and celebrating Collier County’s Black history through powerful stories, artifacts, and exhibits.

Your support helps bring more of these stories to life. Contributions fund permanent exhibits and programs, while community stories, photos, and artifacts add richness to the collection.

Want to get involved? Contact Lisa Marciano at 239-252-8421 or explore volunteer opportunities on our website.

Donations can be made online or by mailing a check to:
Friends of the Collier County Museums, Inc.
PO Box 2181
Naples, FL 34102

Pictured: A color photo from the Southwest Heritage, Inc. scrapbook showing two African wooden carvings from the Hirshhorn collection. 🖤

Artifacts, Donations, Black History, SWFL, Collier County History

09/22/2025

: September 22, 1862 — President Abraham Lincoln issued the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that enslaved people in Confederate states would be free as of January 1, 1863. 📜✨

A turning point in the Civil War, this landmark decree redefined the fight as one for freedom and justice, paving the way toward the abolition of slavery in the United States. 🖤

09/17/2025

✨ Bethel AME Church began in River Park in 1959 as an African Methodist Episcopal church for residents in Naples. It operated out of the River Park recreation center for many years. In 1978, Bethel incorporated and in 1985 eventually built a church building off Golden Gate Parkway where it still stands and welcomes people today.

Black History, Naples FL, Opening Soon, History

09/15/2025

Not only is the Black History Baggage Car honoring Collier County’s Black history through meaningful stories, artifacts, and oral histories—it’s also located in a place that has carried that legacy for decades. ✨

Situated at the Naples Depot Museum in the historically significant Tenth Street/US 41 area, this future exhibit stands on ground deeply connected to the Black community. The railroad industry here once offered critical employment opportunities and helped foster social mobility for African Americans in Collier County and beyond. 🚂🖤

Black History, Naples FL, Opening Soon, History

09/13/2025

🚂✨ The unseen effort shaping the Black History Baggage Car is already underway?

Over the past year, Collier County Museums has collected powerful oral histories, meaningful artifacts, and treasured objects to help bring this new exhibit at the Naples Depot Museum to life. 🖤

Here’s a glimpse of what’s been gathered as of May 2025:
• 15 oral history interviews
• 23+ hours of audio recordings
• Stories from 17 community members
• Shortest interview: 39 minutes
• Longest interview: 3 hours & 16 minutes

Do you have a story to share? We’d love to hear from you!
Contact Naples Depot Museum Manager Lisa Marciano at 239-252-8421 or [email protected] to schedule an interview.

09/11/2025

Today, we pause to remember September 11, 2001.
We honor the lives lost, the families forever changed, and the countless heroes who showed extraordinary courage that day. 🕊️✨

As we reflect, we are reminded of the importance of unity, strength, and preserving our shared history for generations to come.

September 11th, Never Forget, Honoring History, SWFL

09/07/2025

Become a Friend of Collier County Museums!
Looking to help preserve and share Collier County’s unique history? Join the Friends of Collier County Museums, a volunteer-run nonprofit that directly supports projects like the Black History Baggage Car, community programs, family events, and local preservation efforts. 🏛️✨

As a member, you’ll:
✔️ Help fund museum exhibits, events, and education
✔️ Support restoration and cultural preservation
✔️ Stay connected through updates and opportunities to get involved
✔️ Receive a membership extended through September 2026 if you join or renew now!

Memberships start at just $20. 📲 Sign up through the link in bio or visit www.foccm.org/memberships to learn more.

Let’s keep our stories alive—together!

Friends of Collier County Museums

Address

1051 Tamiami Trail N
Naples, FL
34102

Website

https://linktr.ee/blackhistorymuseumnaples

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