A Delightful Walk Through Everglades City

Historian Patty Huff, president of Everglades Society for Historic Preservation, led a lively walking tour of Everglades City on a chamber of commerce morning with temperatures in the mid-70s on Tuesday, January 6. Huff’s tour harkened back to the glory days of the 1920s when the fishing village was the vibrant county seat of Collier County.

Huff’s walk included tours of historic homes and an insider view of the restoration work taking place on Bank of Everglades, the first bank in Collier County.

Huff’s tour also included a delicious seafood luncheon and cocktails at the historic Rod and Gun Club on the shores of the Barron River. The famous restaurant and hotel has hosted four U.S. presidents over the past century.

The goal of the tour was to raise money for the Bank of Everglades restoration that is well underway. When restored, the former bank will serve as the permanent location for the Everglades Area Visitor Center and Trail Town Headquarters.

The Bank of Everglades building was built in 1927 for Barron Gift Collier, who envisioned an iconic landmark building as the home for the Bank of Everglades. The Bank remained in the building until 1962, when the business relocated to Immokalee. The building was then used as a rooming house.

In 1979, the building was purchased by Reba “Rusty” Rupsis, who published the Everglades Echo newspaper in the building until 1990. After that, it was a bed-and-breakfast under several succeeding owners until it closed in 2017. The building has remained vacant since that time.