Barron Collier turns 150: Here's 3 things to know about the county's namesake

His name is just about everywhere in Naples and surrounding communities, on license plates, signs and even a high school.

Barron Gift Collier provides the moniker for the county but few may know that much about the man.

Collier, who was born March 23, 1873, isn't from Florida and isn't even buried in the Sunshine State. But he was important enough to the region for the county to take his name when it began 100 years ago this year.

This month marks Collier's 150th birthday, and a celebration is planned for March 10 in Everglades City, the first seat of Collier County.

Here's three interesting facts about Barron Collier:

How did Barron Collier become so wealthy

Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Collier quit school at age 16 to start his first business. Collier eventually acquired the patent for using gas that gave street lights a brighter glow.

He sold Memphis officials on the idea to try the lights, and it became so successful that other cities sought the technology, including Hot Springs, Arkansas, Raleigh, North Carolina, and other Southern cities, according to the website historic-memphis.com.

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About the same time, Collier worked full-time for the Illinois Central Railroad and started his own business four years later. Trains were becoming popular in the United States, and Collier capitalized on it to eventually start his own railway advertising company.

He eventually moved the company to New York City, where his streetcar advertising business became the largest advertising organization in the world. By age 26, he had amassed $1 million, the Historic Memphis website said.

Wild about Florida when it was truly wild

Collier married his Juliet Gordon Carnes, his Memphis childhood sweetheart, in 1907. The couple in 1911 visited Florida and fell in love with the state and Collier purchased Useppa Island for $100,000.

He began buying up Florida property, eventually acquiring more than a million acres. This predated the Florida land boom of the 1920s, when speculators from across the U.S. descended on the state to buy property.

The savvy businessman founded Barron Collier Cos., which began as a landholding company to eventually branch out to agricultural operations, commercial and residential real estate development and oil exploration and mineral management.

The Collier family's net worth is $2.3 billion, the nation's 119th largest family fortune, Forbes magazine reported in 2015.

"He brought the first telephone service, first railroad, first newspapers, and first bus company to this area," the Barron Collier Cos. website reads. "And, he constructed the Tamiami Trail through the Everglades from the Lee County to the Dade County line. For this last feat, connecting the two coasts of Florida, the County was named in his honor.

Barron Collier is buried where?

If you want to visit Mr. Collier's grave to pay your respects, you'll have to travel about 1,300 miles to do it.

Collier died March 13, 1939, in Manhattan at age 65, survived by his wife and three sons. He was interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York. The simple gray, rectangular grave marker includes his name along with 1873 and 1939, years of his birth and death.

Woodlawn is the final resting place for hundreds of other famous people, including jazz legend Miles Davis, author Herman Melville, songwriter Irving Berlin and former New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia.

The New York Times on March 14, 1939, announced Collier's death, with the headline: "BARRON COLLIER DIES SUDDENLY, 65; Leader in Advertising on Street Cars and in Subways Began Career at 17 HEADED MANY COMPANIES Once Special Deputy Police Commissioner--Owned Vast Tracts of Land in Florida."

More on Barron birthday bash

Anyone interested in attending the free event March 10 should RSVP by email to ESHP@hotmail.com or phone Marya at (239) 451-0265.

The event begins at 2:30 p.m. in the Lighthouse Club at Everglades Isle Resort and is hosted by the Everglades Society for Historic Preservation.

Dave Osborn is the regional features editor of the Naples Daily News and News-Press. Follow him on Instagram @lacrossewriter and on Twitter @NDN_dosborn.

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Collier County namesake turns 150: What to know about Barron Collier