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Our local Collier County history normally starts with: W.T. Collier and his family traveling by schooner down the coast, settling on Marco Island in 1870, finding four black squatters on the I…
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Learn about the devastating hurricanes of the 1920s from Craig Woodward in this reprint from 2010.
The Coastal Breeze News shares the story of William Riley Maynard. A former WW I Fighter Pilot, Sheriff of Collier County, and the name behind Maynard Island. Get the complete story here.
Heading north of Isles of Capri on the hiking trail that was formerly the old Marco Road, I was joined by Henry Lowe and Steve Purcell in an expedition to locate and explore Henry’s former hom…
Part 1 of a hiking expedition between friends and nature. See the full tale here, with photos!
Read the conclusion of the exciting three-part series on the Kidnapping of Barbara Mackle, written by our award-winning local historian, Craig Woodward.
Word got out that Robert Mackle’s daughter Barbara, age 20, had been kidnapped in the early morning hours of December 17, 1968. Everyone in Florida and throughout the nation who knew of the Ma…
Editor’s Note: Coastal Breeze News is celebrating its Tenth Anniversary! In honor of this special occasion, we are reprinting an exciting three-part series on the Kidnapping of Barbara Mackle …
Craig Woodward writes about the shark trade on Marco Island in his column Coastal History.
In our last issue, the history of the original vessel, the Star (of the Everglades), operated by the Lopez family from Lopez River and Chokoloskee was covered, including its use in hosting sev…
Mention the vessel Star of the Everglades to local, long-time residents, and it brings a big smile to their faces. Soon, they are flooded with memories of this fabulous boat which was aptly na…
This article originally ran in the Coastal Breeze News issue of April 20, 2012, and in 2017 Randy Wayne White used the disappearance of Deputy Sheriff Cox and his family as part of the plot li…
This is a reprint of Craig Woodward’s column, Coastal History. It first appeared in the February 24, 2012 issue of Coastal Breeze News. We know many of our readers, whether residents or season…
This is a reprint of Craig Woodward’s column, Coastal History. It first appeared in the April 3, 2014 issue of Coastal Breeze News. We know many of our readers whether residents or seasonal vi…
COASTAL HISTORY Craig Woodward CWoodward@wpl-legal.com Heading north of Isles of Capri on the hiking trail that was formerly the old Marco Road, I was joined by Henry Lowe and Steve Purcell in…
COASTAL HISTORY Craig Woodward CWoodward@wpl-legal.com A conversation led to my taking a walk in the woods with Henry Lowe accompanied by Steve Purcell. We were on an expedition to hike the 19…
COASTAL HISTORY Craig Woodward CWoodward@wpl-legal.com South of Marco Island is the well known Cape Romano with its famous, dilapidated dome house tilted on washed out pilings above the Gulf o…
COASTAL HISTORY Craig Woodward CWoodward@wpl-legal.com In our last issue, the history of the original vessel, the Star (of the Everglades), operated by the Lopez family from Lopez River and Ch…
COASTAL HISTORY Craig Woodward CWoodward@wpl-legal.com Mention the vessel Star of the Everglades to local, long-time residents, and it brings a big smile to their faces. Soon, they are flooded…
COASTAL HISTORY Craig Woodward CWoodward@wpl-legal.com In September of 2010 the Marco Island Police Department received a concerned phone call saying that someone had discovered a number of la…
By Craig Woodward So, have you been to Karina Island or Pelican Island? Even readers who are very familiar with the Marco Island area and the adjacent 10,000 Islands may ask “Where?” to that q…
By Craig Woodward The former Coconut Island was a traditional place to raft up your boat, along with your friends’ boats, on a lazy Sunday afternoon and have a cookout on the beach while every…
By Craig Woodward CWoodward@wpl-legal.com On Wednesday, November 14, at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, a church which first opened 46 years earlier in November of 1966, many old timers came to…
COASTAL HISTORY Craig Woodward CWoodward@wpl-legal.com As we reflect on a peaceful Veteran’s Day with great weather and our local beaches full, it is hard to envision a time when Florida ski…
COASTAL HISTORY Craig Woodward CWoodward@wpl-legal.com The last few issues of this newspaper have contained excellent articles about Cape Romano, regarding the history of the dome house and …
COASTAL HISTORY Craig Woodward CWoodward@wpl-legal.com For a young, lightly populated area with a long, unpatrolled coastline, also in close proximity to the major ports of the Caribbean, Pr…
COASTAL HISTORY Craig Woodward CWoodward@wpl-legal.com An article titled “The Headstone Project” was published in this column on October 7, 2011. Donations were requested for the purchase of…
Craig Woodward CWoodward@wpl-legal.com The one single document with the greatest impact on the growth and density of Marco Island would be, without a doubt, the “Deltona Settlement Agreement.…
COASTAL HISTORY Craig Woodward CWoodward@wpl-legal.com The first full time minister in Southwest Florida was George W. Gatewood. Before Reverend Gatewood, at age 24, came to scout out the ar…
Craig Woodward CWoodward@wpl-legal.com While most know that the Spanish discovered Florida and that the U.S. later purchased it from Spain, few know that for 20 years England owned and control…
Craig Woodward During World War II, the U.S. Army Air Corps constructed training bases in Florida to try to fill the tremendous need for pilots and gunnery crews to fight in Europe. By the end…
Craig Woodward It was like an episode from PBS’s popular TV show – History Detectives, a local historical item with a large mystery behind it. The item: a very rare envelope with a most uniqu…
Craig Woodward I appreciate the many people who commented or called about the last article written about John Weeks and his family. One point that concerned readers was the comment that his w…
By Craig Woodward Collier County’s First Permanent Settler – John J. Weeks Obviously, there were numerous Calusa, Seminole and other Indians who have lived here for centuries, so we need to na…
By Craig Woodward If you are a frequent reader of this column you know that the last issue mentioned how Lostman’s Key and River were named. That information piqued my interest into researchin…
By Craig Woodward A few issues back I wrote an article about a former settlement known as “Grocery Place,” now located in Collier Seminole State Park, and pondered about how this name came to …
COLLIER COUNTY’S FIRST SHERIFF By Craig Woodward It was a case of history repeating itself and, frankly, sort of surreal:flying 2,000 feet over Marco Island with Wayne Riley Maynard taking aer…
By Craig Woodward Time to announce the BIG WINNERS…. Drum roll…… and they are…… (in no particular order): Roy Bartlett, Lou Woessner, Tara O’Neill, Diane Chestnut and Roy Radlovacki!! We gave …
By Craig Woodward We want to thank everyone who has submitted their answers to the “Are you a Marco old-timer quiz” by the March 25th deadline. The Coastal Breeze staff is currently reviewing …
By Craig Woodward This is your last chance to take this professionally and scientifically developed test to see if you are an “Authentic Marco Old Timer” or a simple “Wannabe.” You need to com…
By Craig Woodward Hope you did well on Part One! Now take Part Two to pick up points to find out if you are really an “Authentic Old Timer” or just a “Wannabe.” Remember you take the test at y…
By Craig Woodward How many times have you been at a party to hear someone telling everyone they moved to Marco in 2003 (or so) and are a “know it all.” This test has been both professionally a…
by Craig Woodward Last Saturday morning, Matt Walthour, from Island Bike Shop joined me and we biked along with 21 members of the Naples Mid-Day Optimist Club from Naples to Everglades City. T…
by Craig Woodward In July of 1923 the Florida Legislature carved Collier County out of Lee County as its own County. Appointed by the Legislature were the five officers required by the Florida…
See Coastalbreezenews.com under Coastal History if you missed Part 1 of this story on the installation of the submerged cable to Key West. The successful installation of the Trans-Atlantic cab…
This is a continuation of a series on the history of hurricanes in our area.If you missed part you can find it online at coastalbreezenews.com under Tales told Twice archives. The “Greatest St…
The “Greatest Storms on Earth” – Part VII This is a continuation of a series on the history of hurricanes in our area. If you missed a part, you can find it online at www.coastalbreezenews.com…
The “Greatest Storms on Earth” – Part VI In the afternoon of August 23, 1992, highways were jammed as over 700,000 people in South Florida were evacuating due to Hurricane Andrew that was stil…
The “Greatest Storms on Earth” – Part V This is a continuation of a series on the history of hurricanes in our area. If you missed a part, you can find it online at coastalbreezenews.com under…
The “Greatest Storms on Earth” Part IV This is a continuation of a series on the history of hurricanes in our area. If you missed part, you can find it online at coastalbreezenews.com under Ta…
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