Everglades City Hall- Hurricane To The Rescue?

Although a fact of life in Southwest Florida, hurricanes are seldom welcome guests. The small town of Everglades City knows that well.

An unnamed hurricane in 1910 sent the town's school floating down the river. Another in 1929 similarly washed away many businesses. In 1960, Hurricane Donna flooded city streets to a depth of more than eight feet. More than 100 people rode out the storm on the second floor of the Collier County Courthouse (now Everglades City Hall), and the nearby bank had money drying on its steps after the storm passed. Although the decision had been made before Donna's arrival, the mess the storm left behind only made things tougher when the county seat moved from Everglades City to Naples shortly afterward.

But the most recent big storm—Hurricane Wilma, which made landfall at Cape Romano on October 24, 2005—brought something of a silver lining in its wake, at least for the old courthouse. Thanks to the determination of Mayor Sammy Hamilton and the members of the Everglades Society for Historical Preservation and support from county, state and federal funds, the venerable building has been lovingly restored and is enjoying a new life. As the first courthouse in Collier County, the building was constructed in 1928, back when Everglades City was the company town Barron Gift Collier Sr. created to support completion of the Tamiami Trail.

Born in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1873, Collier had made millions through his Consolidated Street Railway Advertising Company by the age of 26. John Roach, a streetcar owner in Chicago, invited the young entrepreneur to vacation on Useppa Island, and Collier fell in love with the area. In 1911, he bought Useppa for a reported $100,000), made improvements and promoted the island as a resort for tarpon fishing. Collier continued to buy land in the area, soon acquiring more than a million acres (making him the largest private land owner in the state). Among those purchases in 1922, was most of the little town known then as Everglade. Collier added an 's' to the name, rechristened the river the Barron River and set about recreating the town in his own vision.

To bring his vision to reality, Collier hired David Graham Copeland, an engineer and architect who had graduated from South Carolina Military Academy and Rensselaer Polytech. Copeland was charged not only with overseeing the completion of the Trail, but also with managing the planning and construction of Everglades.

According to Marya Repko's A Brief History of the Everglades City Area, "Copeland was instructed to lay out a town for a projected population of 5,000. The aim was to create an environment that would have a high enough standard of living to keep staff. Collier provided a home for everyone who worked for him. Houses were built in a variety of styles to avoid the appearance of barracks. Every detail was thought of, including the color of the paint and roof tiles." Because Collier wanted to have all of the residents' needs met, several buildings were constructed in and around the town's center: a community center, a bank, a laundry (now the Museum of the Everglades), a grocery store, a hospital, a school, a church, a hotel with restaurant and even a parking garage for private cars. In 1928—the same year that the Tamiami Trail was completed—the County Courthouse was built, standing like a sentinel on the circle that led to the heart of the town.

Apparently, the courthouse served as a town gathering spot right from the start. Repko reports that snake fights were held in front of the building on Sundays and that spectators would sit on the broad front steps and make bets. Over the years, the building transitioned from its simple rectangular shape. In 1948, an addition to house offices was built onto the back and a pediment was fashioned above the front porch. Another wing was added to the west in 1957.

The town council met regularly in the Courthouse, but, after Everglades became a city in 1953, the new City Council looked for quarters elsewhere. The first "City Hall" consisted of rooms rented in the old library building. Later it moved to the community center. When the county seat moved in 1962, the City Council at first proposed the idea that the courthouse be turned into a museum. The following year, the council decided to make the courthouse the new City Hall—but still proposed that a portion of the space be set aside as a museum.

Although it's not clear if a museum was ever housed there, several other ventures were, including a branch of the Collier County Public Library. Rooms were leased to various businesses: a travel agent, a dress shop, a dentist, a realtor and even a piano teacher. And the second floor was given to the community center for meetings and dances for teens. Over the years, the building began to deteriorate.

But Wilma provided a crushing blow. The structural, water and electrical damage prompted inspectors from the Ochopee Fire Control and Rescue District to condemn the building. Fortunately, Hamilton and the members of the historical society refused to give up.

Lobbying for funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the county and the state and turning to individuals for donations, they managed to secure a new future for the old City Hall.

The building now has a new roof, new interior wiring, replacement floors of period wood, replica historic windows and a reinforced foundation. And the move toward preservation is going strong. Patty Huff, president of the historical society, reports her group (which now has an office in the renewed City Hall) is actively pursuing placement of the building on the National Register of Historic Buildings. She and Mayor Hamilton are also investigating applying for a Florida Main Street grant. "After all, we're one of the few remaining Collier County historic towns that are left," she explains.

More hurricanes will, undoubtedly, pass through Everglades City. But the renewed City Hall can now withstand them. Even better, thanks to Hurricane Wilma, the residents of Everglades City have a clearer understanding of all they have to preserve. The Everglades Society for Historical Preservation is open to anyone with an interest in preserving the history of the area. For more information, contact Patty Huff at (239) 695-2397 or Marya Repko at (239) 695-2905.

For more on historical buildings in Lee County, tune into Untold Stories: The History of Building Preservation in Lee County. The program is scheduled to air on WGCU Public Media at 8:30 p.m. on June 22, at 6:30 p.m. on June 23 and at 11 p.m. on June 24. Please check your local listings to verify subject, dates and times, or visit www.wgcu.org.

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