Collier County, Florida

Collier County is a county in the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2010 census, the population was 321,520.[2] Its county seat is East Naples,[3] where the county offices were moved from Everglades City in 1962.

Collier County
U.S. county
The Collier County courthouse in April 2010
Flag
Seal
Location within the U.S. state of Florida
Florida's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 26°05′N 81°24′W
Country United States
State Florida
FoundedMay 8, 1923
Named forBarron Collier
SeatEast Naples
Largest cityNaples
Area
 • Total2,305 sq mi (5,970 km2)
 • Land1,998 sq mi (5,170 km2)
 • Water307 sq mi (800 km2)  13.3%%
Population
 • Estimate 
(2019)
384,902[1]
 • Density187/sq mi (72/km2)
Time zoneUTC−5 (Eastern)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional districts19th, 25th
Websitewww.colliergov.net
Collier County's main administration building, left, and the back end of the county courthouse, right.

Collier County comprises the Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Cape Coral-Fort Myers-Naples Combined Statistical Area.

History

Archaeology at Platt Island in the Big Cypress National Preserve shows humans settled in what is now Collier County more than two thousand years ago.[4] The Calusa people had an extensive presence in the area when Europeans arrived.

The county was created in 1923 from Lee County. It was named for Barron Collier, a New York City advertising mogul and real estate developer who had moved to Southwest Florida and established himself as a prominent landowner. He agreed to build the Tamiami Trail for what was then Lee County (comprising today's Collier, Hendry, and Lee Counties) in exchange for favorable consideration with the state legislature to have a county named for him. After Collier County was named, Collier was quoted as saying: "When I first came here on holiday with Juliet, I never expected that I would buy a whole region of it, nor did I expect to pay for the new Tamiami Trail, or half the things I've done. But I really didn't expect to have a whole county named after me."[5]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2,305 square miles (5,970 km2), of which 1,998 square miles (5,170 km2) is land and 307 square miles (800 km2) (13.3%) is water.[6] It is the largest county in Florida by land area and fourth-largest by total area. Virtually the entire southeastern portion of the county lies within the Big Cypress National Preserve. The northernmost portion of Everglades National Park extends into the southern coastal part of the county. The total area of this county is nearly 1.5 times the size of Rhode Island, which is the smallest state, and is bigger than Rhode Island and Luxembourg combined.

Adjacent counties

Collier County is located at the southern end of Florida's Gulf Coast, and bounded by:

National protected areas

Transportation

Major highways

Demographics
Historical population
CensusPop.%±
19302,883—
19405,10277.0%
19506,48827.2%
196015,753142.8%
197038,040141.5%
198085,971126.0%
1990152,09976.9%
2000251,37765.3%
2010321,52027.9%
2019 (est.)384,902[7]19.7%
U.S. Decennial Census[8]
1790-1960[9] 1900-1990[10]
1990-2000[11] 2010-2015[2]

As of the census[12] of 2000, there were 251,377 people, 102,973 households, and 71,257 families residing in the county. The population density was 124 people per square mile (48/km2). There were 144,536 housing units at an average density of 71 per square mile (28/km2).

As of 2000, 86.06% of the population was White, 4.54% was Black or African American, 0.29% Native American, 0.62% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 6.19% from other races, and 2.23% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino individuals (of any race) accounted for 19.61%. Languages spoken: 75.3% spoke English, 17.8% Spanish, 2.3% French Creole and 1.2% German as their first language.

In 2000 there were 102,973 households, out of which 22.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.10% were married couples living together, 7.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.80% were non-families. 24.50% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.79.

The county's population distribution by age was spread out but older than the U.S. as a whole, with 19.90% under the age of 18, 6.60% from 18 to 24, 24.60% from 25 to 44, 24.50% from 45 to 64, and 24.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44.1 years. For every 100 females there were 100.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $48,289, and the median income for a family was $54,816. Males had a median income of $32,639 versus $26,371 for females. The per capita income for the county was $31,195. About 6.60% of families and 10.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.20% of those under age 18 and 4.30% of those age 65 or over.

The county continues to experience significant growth and is becoming increasingly diverse. As of the 2010 census, the county's population had increased to 321,520, an increase of 27.9% over the 2000 census. As of 2012, the United States Census estimates the county's population at 332,427, an increase of 3.4% since the 2010 census. As of the 2010 census, 83.85% of the population was non-Hispanic whites, 25.9% was Latino or Hispanic, 6.6% was African-American and 1.1% was Asian.[13] As of the 2010 census, the greatest source of population growth in the county since the 2000 census came from the Latino or Hispanic population which grew from 49,296 (19.6% of the total population) to 83,177 (25.9% of the total population). In terms of ancestry, 37.9% were English, 9.9% were Irish, 9.1% were "American", 3.2% were Italian and 3.1% were German.[14]

Education

The county's public schools are operated by the District School Board of Collier County.

Public library

The Collier County Public Library system consists of ten locations servicing the entire county. All locations offer public internet stations, printing, photocopying, free Wi-Fi, and 24/7 dropboxes for book and video returns.[15]

Politics

Voter registration

According to the Secretary of State's office, Republicans compose a majority of registered voters in Collier County. It is also one of the handful of counties where independents outnumber Democrats among registrants. The county is part of a long-established Republican stronghold in southwestern coastal Florida: the last Democrat to win the county being Adlai Stevenson II in 1952.[16] The last Democratic Governor to carry the county was Reubin Askew in 1974 and the last Democratic Senator to do so was Bob Graham in 1992, six years later the county was one of four to back the Republican candidate, Charlie Crist.

All voter information is as of June 22, 2018 and provided by Collier County Supervisor of Elections Office:[17]

  Republican (50.93%)
  Democratic (23.46%)
  Other parties (25.61%)

Statewide elections
Presidential election results
Previous presidential election results[18]
Year Republican Democratic Third parties
2020 61.9% 128,950 37.3% 77,621 0.8% 1,714
2016 61.1% 105,423 35.4% 61,085 3.5% 6,002
2012 64.6% 96,520 34.6% 51,698 0.7% 1,106
2008 60.8% 86,379 38.4% 54,450 0.8% 1,159
2004 65.0% 83,631 34.1% 43,892 0.9% 1,160
2000 65.6% 60,467 32.5% 29,939 1.9% 1,796
1996 58.7% 42,593 32.0% 23,185 9.3% 6,739
1992 53.4% 38,448 26.1% 18,796 20.4% 14,700
1988 74.9% 38,920 24.6% 12,769 0.6% 291
1984 78.8% 33,619 21.2% 9,067 0.0% 5
1980 71.1% 23,900 23.0% 7,739 5.9% 1,974
1976 61.8% 14,643 37.0% 8,764 1.3% 303
1972 80.6% 13,501 19.1% 3,201 0.3% 42
1968 50.9% 5,362 21.2% 2,230 28.0% 2,952
1964 55.5% 3,581 44.6% 2,877
1960 60.7% 2,708 39.3% 1,750
1956 59.7% 1,934 40.3% 1,304
1952 49.6% 1,086 50.4% 1,104
1948 28.1% 247 41.1% 362 30.8% 271
1944 22.0% 180 78.1% 640
1940 16.2% 156 83.8% 809
1936 8.9% 88 91.1% 902
1932 8.0% 37 92.0% 424
1928 37.0% 151 62.8% 256 0.3% 1
1924 8.3% 15 82.2% 148 9.5% 17
Previous gubernatorial elections results
Year Republican Democratic Third parties
2018 64.52% 100,303 34.48% 53,594 1.00% 1,556
2014 66.31% 75,337 31.05% 35,281 2.64% 3,002
2010 65.12% 66,960 32.49% 33,408 2.39% 2,465
2006 68.80% 59,821 29.10% 25,303 2.10% 1,822
2002 73.74% 61,555 25.44% 21,237 0.82% 687
1998 71.06% 41,688 28.94% 16,981 0.00% 1
1994 61.40% 36,370 38.60% 22,860

Communities

Cities

Census-designated places

Other unincorporated communities

Invasive snake issues
Barefoot Beach Preserve, a Collier County park

Collier is located in the center of Florida's invasive snake epidemic. A three-month effort at the beginning of 2016 netted over one ton of captured snakes, including a Florida record for largest male Burmese python, measuring 16 feet and weighing 140 pounds.[19][20][21]

Collier County was featured in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective as the home of fictional athlete Ray Finkle, described in the film as "the first and only professional athlete to come out of Collier County." Ace visits Collier to find Ray's family.

It was also shown in the Showtime series Dexter at the rest stop meeting between Dexter and the Trinity Killer.

See also

References
  1. "U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Collier County, Florida". www.census.gov.
  2. "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved February 12, 2014.
  3. "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on May 31, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  4. Widmer, Randolph J. (1988). "The Prehistory of Southwest Florida". Evolution of the Calusa: a Stratified Non-Agricultural Chiefdom on the Southwest Florida Coast. University of Alabama Press. p. 72.
  5. Clark, James C. (2014). A Concise History of Florida. Arcadia. p. 150.
  6. "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
  7. "American FactFinder". Retrieved June 28, 2019.
  8. "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
  9. "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
  10. "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
  11. "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
  12. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved May 14, 2011.
  13. "Collier County Census Overview". colliercountyfl.gov.
  14. "POPULATION & DEMOGRAPHICS | Collier County, FL". www.colliercountyfl.gov.
  15. "Locations, hours, maps". Collier County Public Library. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
  16. Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016
  17. "Collier County Supervisor of Elections". Retrieved June 22, 2018.
  18. Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org.
  19. "A ton of Burmese pythons removed in 90 days". March 17, 2016.
  20. "South Florida has pythons by the ton, literally".
  21. "South Florida has pythons by the ton, literally".

Government links/Constitutional offices

Special districts

Judicial branch

Recycling Center

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