Florida - Southwest around Fort Meyers & Naples

While this region contains long stretches of beach, fertile land, and the same tropical climate, due to its inaccessibility in the early days, it is still a less developed version of the Atlantic Gold Coast.

Calusa Indians harvested the waters here before Spaniards like Hernando de Soto and Ponce de Leon arrived in the early 1500's. The Indian's resistance and the difficult terrain prevented the explorers from creating a base and they moved on.

Except for the pioneering families and farmers who lived here and the Seminole Wars in the 1800's, things were quiet until industrialist Henry Plant brought the Seaboard Air Line Railway to Naples in the mid 1920's.

The area also owes a debt to circus master John Ringling who helped to establish Sarasota as an important cultural center.

Today, much of the wild space in Southwestern Florida is protected by the state or by the country. One of these, the Everglades National Park, comprises what many refer to as Florida's last frontier.