The Naples Seaboard Air Line Railway Station (also known as the Naples Railroad Depot or Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Depot) is a historic

Seaboard Air Line Railway The Seaboard Air Line Railroad , known colloquially as the Seaboard Railroad during its time, was an American railroad that existed from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime ri ...

depot Depot may refer to: Places * Depot, Poland, a village * Depot Glacier (disambiguation) * Depot Island (disambiguation) * Depot Nunatak * Depot Peak Brands and enterprises * Maxwell Street Depot, a restaurant in Chicago, United States * Of ...

Naples, Florida Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 19,115, down from 19,539 at the 2010 census. Naples is a principal city of the Collier County, Florida, Naples–Marc ...

. It is located at 1051 5th Avenue, South.

History

The depot was constructed in 1927, when the

Seaboard Air Line Railroad The Seaboard Air Line Railroad , known colloquially as the Seaboard Railroad during its time, was an American railroad that existed from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime ri ...

constructed its line to Naples. It was designed in the same Mediterranean Revival style the Seaboard Air Line used with its stations in

Delray Beach Delray Beach is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population of Delray Beach as of April 1, 2020, was 66,846 according to the 2020 United States Census. Located in the Miami metropolitan area, Delray Beach is 52 miles (83 ...

Deerfield Beach Deerfield Beach is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States, just south of the Palm Beach County line. As of the 2020 census, the population was 86,859, making it the tenth-largest city in Broward County. Located 41 miles north of Miam ...

Hialeah Hialeah ( ; ) is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. With a population of 223,109 as of the 2020 census, it is the sixth-largest city in Florida. It is the second largest city by population in Miami-Dade County in the Miami met ...

, and

Homestead Homestead may refer to: *Homestead (building), a farmhouse and its adjacent outbuildings; by extension, it can mean any small cluster of houses * Nguni homestead, a cluster of houses inhabited by a single extended family, typically with a kraal ...

on the southeast coast of Florida (which were built around the same time), and is virtually identical to the Hialeah depot. The station only briefly saw Seaboard Air Line passenger service in the late 1920s before the railroad reduced its line to Naples to freight service only in 1933. Seaboard ended freight service in the 1940s. During World War II, the depot was also home to

USO The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

shows for troops stationed at the nearby Naples airfield. By 1944, the

Atlantic Coast Line Railroad The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad was a United States Class I railroad formed in 1900, though predecessor railroads had used the ACL brand since 1871. In 1967, it merged with long-time rival Seaboard Air Line Railroad to form the Seaboard Coast ...

bought both the depot and the Seaboard tracks to Naples after Seaboard discontinued service. The Atlantic Coast Line connected the former Seaboard track to their Fort Myers Southern Branch near Vanderbilt Beach, and resumed passenger service to the depot after an eleven-year absence. This makes it only one of the few railroad depots to have been operated by both the Atlantic Coast Line and the Seaboard Air Line independently prior to their merger. The Atlantic Coast Line's previous depot in Naples was located at the northeast corner of Radio Road and Airport-Pulling Road near

Naples Airport Naples-Capodichino International Airport () is the international airport serving Naples and the Southern Italian region of Campania. According to 2023 data, the airport is the fourth-busiest airport in Italy and the busiest in Southern Italy. ...

, which was then closed and eventually demolished in the 1970s. Ironically, the Seaboard brand returned to the depot in 1967 when the Atlantic Coast Line merged with the Seaboard Air Line which became the

Seaboard Coast Line Railroad The Seaboard Coast Line Railroad was a Class I railroad company operating in the Southeastern United States beginning in 1967. Its passenger operations were taken over by Amtrak in 1971. Eventually, the railroad was merged with its affiliate lin ...

. Passenger service ended in 1971 when national passenger rail was taken over by

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

. On September 10, 1974, the depot was added to the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. Freight service was halted for good in the late 1970s, and the adjacent tracks were removed in 1980 (the remaining line from this point north is still in place and is now owned by

Seminole Gulf Railway The Seminole Gulf Railway is a short line railroad, short line freight and passenger excursion railroad headquartered in Fort Myers, Florida, that operates two former CSX Transportation railroad lines in Southwest Florida. The company's Fort M ...

Naples Depot Museum

The station has since been fully restored by the Collier County Museums, and is now operated as the Naples Depot Museum. Exhibits focus on the history of transportation and trade in Southwest Florida. Displays include railroads, Seminole dugout canoes, a mule wagon and an antique swamp buggy. Vintage railcars are also on display outside of the building. In another part of the building is a Lionel Train Museum which is dedicated to model trains. A

miniature railway A ridable miniature railway (US: riding railroad or grand scale railroad) is a large scale, usually ground-level railway that hauls passengers using locomotives that are often models of full-sized railway locomotives (powered by Diesel engine, ...

also runs around the perimeter of the property.

References

Collier County listings
a
National Register of Historic Places

Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs
*
Collier County listings
*
Collier County markers
*
Naples Depot Civic and Cultural Center

External links

Collier County Museums

History in Motion: Depot Museum charts Naples history
{{authority control Former Atlantic Coast Line Railroad stations Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Florida Former railway stations in Florida Buildings and structures in Naples, Florida National Register of Historic Places in Collier County, Florida

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

Museums in Collier County, Florida Railroad museums in Florida Transportation buildings and structures in Collier County, Florida 1920s establishments in Florida