Editing Everglades City, Florida (section)

==History==
[[File:EvergladesMuseum.jpg|thumb|left|The Museum of the Everglades in Everglades City]]
The area around Chokoloskee Bay, including the site of Everglades City, was occupied for thousands of years by Native Americans of the [[Glades culture]], who were absorbed by the [[Calusa]] shortly before the arrival of [[Europeans]] in the [[New World]], but by the time Florida was transferred from [[Spain]] to the United States in 1821, the area was uninhabited. A legend says that [[Seminole]]s planted potatoes along what is now the Barron River during the [[Seminole Wars]], in the vicinity of the present Everglades City.<ref>Tebeau. p. 28.</ref>

American settlement began after the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], when [[United States|Union]] sympathizers who had farmed on [[Cape Sable]] to supply [[Key West, Florida|Key West]] during the war moved up the west coast of the peninsula. The first permanent settler was William Smith Allen, who arrived on the banks of Potato Creek (later renamed the Allen River) in 1873. After Allen retired to Key West in 1889, [[George W. Storter, Jr.]] became the principal landowner in the area. Storter gained fame for his [[sugar cane]] crops. He opened a trading post in 1892, and gained a post office, called "''Everglade''", in 1895. Storter also began entertaining northern tourists who came to Everglade by yacht in the winter to hunt and fish. His house eventually grew into the Rod and Gun Club, visited by [[United States Presidents]] and other notables.<ref name=TB>Tebeau. pp. 28–33.</ref><ref name=LM>Liefermann.</ref>

The first school in Everglade was organized in 1893. The school moved into a new building in 1895, but the building was destroyed by a [[tornado]] later in the year. The next school building was washed away by the [[1910 Atlantic hurricane season#Hurricane Five|1910 hurricane]]. A [[Methodism|Methodist]] [[Circuit rider (religious)|circuit rider]] began visiting Everglade in 1888, and another Methodist minister began a four-year residency the next year. After that, Everglade was occasionally visited by itinerant preachers of various denominations.<ref>Tebeau. pp. 33–5.</ref> The [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal Church]] established a mission at [[Immokalee, Florida|Immokalee]] which eventually moved to Everglade when revitalized in the 1930s by [[Harriet Bedell]].

In 1922, [[Barron Collier]] began buying large areas of land in what was then southern [[Lee County, Florida|Lee County]]. In 1923, the [[Florida legislature]] created [[Collier County, Florida|Collier County]] from Lee County, and they chose the county seat to be in Everglade. During that same year, it only consisted of a dozen families, but some northern [[sportsmen]] had established winter homes there.<ref name=TBtoo>Tebeau. pp. 33, 35.</ref> Also in 1923, the community was officially incorporated as the "''Town of Everglades''" (adding the "s").<ref name=name>{{cite act|title=An Act relating to the City of Everglades, Collier county, name; amending chapter 29068, Laws of Florida, 1953, by adding section 1A to change the name of said municipality to Everglades City|number=1524|year=1965|url=}}</ref>

The [[Tamiami Trail]], which crossed Collier's domain, passed five miles north of Everglades City. While construction was proceeding on the Trail (it was completed in 1929), Collier pushed construction of what became [[Florida State Road 29|State Road 29]] from Everglades City to [[Immokalee, Florida|Immokalee]], providing the town with its first land connection to the rest of the state.<ref>Carter. p. 80.</ref>  In 1928, the [[Atlantic Coast Line Railroad]] began service to Everglades City, which became the southernmost point the Coast Line ever reached. Service was provided by an extension of the Coast Line's [[Haines City Branch]] from Immokalee to [[Deep Lake (Florida)|Deep Lake]], where it connected to Collier's [[Deep Lake Railroad]], an earlier railroad that transported agricultural freight.<ref name="Turner">{{cite book| last =Turner | first =Gregg M. | title =Railroads of Southwest Florida | publisher =Arcadia Publishing | series =Images of America | date =December 1, 1999}}</ref> The railroad was removed in 1957.<ref>{{cite web|title=Harrisburg to Everglades City|url=http://www.abandonedrails.com/Harrisburg_to_Everglades_City|work=Abandoned Rails|access-date=22 December 2013}}</ref>

In 1953, the "''Town of Everglades''" became the "''City of Everglades''".<ref name=name/><ref name=EGInc>{{Cite web|title=FLORIDA CITIES BY INCORPORATION YEAR WITH INCORPORATION & DISSOLUTION INFO|url=https://www.flcities.com/docs/default-source/research-institute-reports/2020citiesbyincorporationwithinfo.pdf?sfvrsn=5009d6d5_0|website=www.flcities.com}}</ref><ref name=EverGladCityInco/> In 1960, the strong winds and [[coastal flooding]] of [[Hurricane Donna]] combined to destroy 153&nbsp;homes in Collier County, as well as inflict major damage on 409 more, and damage an additional 1,049.<ref name="redcross2">{{cite report|url=http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/storm_wallets/atlantic/atl1960/donna/preloc/redcros1.gif|title=Special Storm and Flood Report by the American Red Cross for U.S. Weather Bureau|date=October 20, 1960|work=American Red Cross|publisher=United States Weather Bureau|page=1|access-date=September 19, 2013}}</ref> Everglades was hard hit, and two years later, Florida's legislature moved the county seat to [[East Naples, Florida]]. In 1965, the state legislature changed the city's name to the "'''City of Everglades City'''".<ref name=name/><ref name=EGInc/><ref name=EverGladCityInco/>