FISHING
Everglades City first became famous as a fishing mecca with numerous notable guests checking into the Rod & Gun Club in its heyday beginning the 1920’s. Today, backcountry fishing reels in plenty of snook, tarpon, redfish, trout, pompano and many more species. Experienced guides are readily available for Everglades fishing excursions departing from Chokoloskee, Everglades City, Goodland, Marco Island and Naples. These include backcountry flats fishing and deep-sea charters into the Gulf of Mexico. The waters of the Ten Thousand Islands are renowned by fishing enthusiasts around the world, yet the shallow waters and meandering trails through miles of mangrove islands requires local knowledge to navigate. Local guides are recommended. Kayak fishing is the fastest growing segment of saltwater fishing – and a local guide service, www.evergladeskayakfishing.com, provides popular motorboat-assisted trips, speeding kayaks and fishermen deep into the Wilderness Waterway for access to the best shallow water fishing in the ‘Glades.

ACCOMMODATIONS
Everglades City provides accommodations for those who enjoy the quiet small town atmosphere as well as the close proximity to nature-based tourism, adventure and fishing activities. The Ivey House B&B provides a pleasant atmosphere, daily breakfast and a swimming pool with tropical garden, as well as guided canoe and kayak trips into the surrounding wilderness between November and April. The Ivey House is a certified Florida Green Lodging. The historic Rod & Gun Club Lodge provides a lodge atmosphere and restaurant on the banks of the Barron River. Also available are the Captain’s Table Lodge & Villas, River Wilderness Waterfront Villas, Everglades City Motel, Glades Haven Cozy Cabins at Glades Haven Marina, Parkway Motel & Marina in Chokoloskee, and Outdoor Resorts, that has some motel units along with RV spots, and several campgrounds in Chokoloskee, Everglades City, Ochopee, Collier-Seminole State Park and the Big Cypress National Preserve. Many visitors to nearby Marco Island and Naples enjoy day trips to the Everglades City area.

HISTORY
The earliest settlers known to inhabit the area around Everglades City and neighboring Chokoloskee were Native Americans, many of them members of the Calusa tribe, whose civilization flourished in the Southwest Florida area 2,000 years ago. The first modern day settler to Everglades City came in 1868. In 1889, George Storter, Jr. of Alabama bought the area for $800. By 1920, the town was still a small fishing village. Then, in 1923, Baron G. Collier, a New York advertising industry millionaire, began buying land in what would later become Collier County. It became apparent that a road was needed for travel between Tampa and Miami, and Everglades City, due to its location, became the center of the Tamiami Trail road building project – turning the sleepy fishing village into a boomtown. When the federal government ran into delays, Barron Collier offered to finish the road through the Everglades cypress swamps in return for the new County being named after him. The Tamiami Trail was opened to great fanfare in 1928. Everglades City, known in those days as Everglade, served as the County seat of Collier County. County offices were moved to Naples in 1961 after the devastating effects of Hurricane Donna, which struck in 1960, took their toll on Everglades City. The Storter family home became the Rod & Gun Club in 1925, a gathering place for hunting and fishing enthusiasts – many of them famous, including Ernest Hemingway and Dwight D. Eisenhower. The Rod & Gun Club is still run as a lodge and restaurant today.

Several of the buildings from this historic era are in use today. The town’s old laundry building now houses The Museum of the Everglades, a showcase for the history of the Everglades region – open Tuesday through Saturday from 11:00 am. To 4:00 p.m. The old recreation center is now part of the Ivey House B & B. On Chokoloskee Island, the Historic Smallwood Store museum recreates the actual trading post, store and post office that opened there in 1906, serving the Native Americans and pioneers who made their living from hunting, fishing and faming in the wild areas of the Everglades and Ten Thousand Islands. This museum features an extensive collection of books, including the well-known trilogy by author Peter Mathiessen, including Killing Mr. Watson, about the story of Ed Watson, an infamous Ten Thousand Islands resident who was gunned down at the store by townspeople after rumors of murders and other ill deeds at the Watson farm located in the islands at Chatham Bend.

GETTING THERE
Southwest Florida International Airport is located about one and a half hours north in Fort Myers. The Marco Island Executive Airport offers private jet service and charter flights to and from nearby international airports. Everglades Airpark is Everglades City’s general aviation airport. Access from Orlando, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and Palm Beach is available via the Alligator Alley portion of I-75 to State Road 29. Everglades City can also be reached from Miami via U.S. 41, the Tamiami Trail, designated as a U.S. Scenic Byway and Florida Scenic Highway. This is a two-lane road through the heart of The Everglades, with numerous picturesque places to stop during the drive.

For a free visitors guide, brochure or other information on places to stay and things to do along the Paradise Coast of Naples, Marco Island and the Everglades, visit www.ParadiseCoast.com or call 1-800-688-3600. International visitors may call (239) 225-1013.

The Naples, Marco Island, Everglades Convention and Visitors Bureau is the official tourism marketing agency for Collier County, Florida, funded entirely by the Collier County tourist development tax.