The Naples Depot Museum at 1051 Fifth Ave. S., Naples, US, is offering old world charm for motor lovers with its focus on automobiles that have evolved over the years.
Open from 9AM to 5PM local time, Monday to Friday, and 9AM to 4PM on Saturdays, the museum is offering free services to visitors. It opened in January 2011 in a building that evokes Spanish old-world style, having once served as the Seaboard Air Line Railway station.
Inside the museum, visitors come face-to-face with the history of the city’s transportation developments over the years. For example, the development of rail travel in the city as described by the museum is interesting, since according to available records, railway services were launched in the city in 1926, when the Seaboard and Atlantic Coast Line Railroad arrived in Naples within 10 days of each other. The city, that was then home to 300 residents, was considered to have potential to become a transportation hub. The museum now provides light and sound shows to showcase how old-world rail travel would have looked and felt to passengers.
The museum has been well received by locals, and records show that nearly 30,000 guests have toured the free museum in its first nine months.
The exhibition room has diverse exhibits. There is information about the Naples Air Service, the Bon Temps boat, and Frank’s Garage that was built in 1922 as the first commercial building on Fifth Avenue. There are also shiny vintage cars on display, while an art gallery was recently equipped to display nature photography.
The museum holds annual antique car shows in March, and is now preparing for a show on Veterans Day.
