Naples Depot Museum

The Naples Depot Museum occupies the historic Seaboard Air Line Railway station at 1051 5th Avenue South, built in 1927 in Mediterranean Revival style as the Seaboard pushed its line into Naples — a design virtually identical to the railroad's Hialeah depot. Seaboard passenger trains called only briefly before the line was reduced to freight in 1933; the Atlantic Coast Line bought the depot and tracks by 1944 and brought passenger trains back after an eleven-year absence, making this one of the few depots operated independently by both railroads before their 1967 merger created the Seaboard Coast Line. During World War II the building also hosted USO shows for troops stationed at the nearby Naples airfield. Passenger service ended when Amtrak took over national trains in 1971, the depot joined the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, and Collier County Museums later fully restored it. Exhibits now trace Southwest Florida transportation and trade — from Seminole dugout canoes to a swamp buggy — with vintage railcars displayed outside, a Lionel model train museum inside, and a miniature railway running around the property.