Deep Lake, Florida

Unincorporated community in Florida, United States

CountryUnited States

34141

Deep Lake, Florida
Unincorporated community
Looking north toward the Deep Lake Fire Station
Deep Lake Show map of Florida Deep Lake Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 26°02′33″N 81°20′38″W / 26.04250°N 81.34389°W / 26.04250; -81.34389^[1]
Country	United States
State	Florida
County	Collier
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP codes	34141
GNIS feature ID	294743^[1]

Deep Lake is an uninhabited unincorporated area in Collier County, Florida, United States.^[1] It is located between Immokalee and Everglades City along State Route 29. The area is named after Deep Lake, a 90 ft (27 m) deep naturally occurring sinkhole, which is the deepest lake south of Lake Okeechobee.^[2]

Deep Lake Railroad

Around 1901,^[3] Walter Langford and John Roach acquired a 300-acre (1.2 km²) tract of land in the Deep Lake area,^[2] known as "Deep Lake Hammock," with plans to develop the land into a grapefruit growing and packing enterprise.^[4] After years of laborious work, 200 acres of the hammock had been cleared and seeds were planted.^[2]^[5]

To facilitate the process of transporting the grapefruit to market, the partners needed to build their own rail system.^[5] The Deep Lake Railroad was built in 1913 and spanned 14 miles (23 kilometres) from Everglades City to Deep Lake.^[6]

Barron Collier, friend of Roach and namesake of Collier County, purchased the grapefruit grove and railroad in the early years of the 1920s. He would go on to buy more land in the surrounding area to grow the business, which would later be called "Deep Lake Grove & Cannery."^[2]

In 1928, the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad acquired the Deep Lake Railroad.^[7] After rebuilding the track to meet Coast Line specifications, the line was incorporated into the Haines City Branch, which would extend up through Immokalee and into Central Florida.^[8]

The railroad was removed in 1957.^[9]

Geography

Deep Lake is located within the Big Cypress National Preserve. This particular section is higher in elevation and therefore drier than other areas of the preserve.^[10]

References

1 2 3 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Deep Lake, Florida
1 2 3 4 "Deep Lake". National Park Service. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
↑ Sullivan-Hartung, Maureen (2020). Images of America: Everglades City. Arcadia Publishing. p. 111, 112. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
↑ Chestnut, Cathy (February 9, 2014). "Big Cypressmakes bighistory". News-Press. Gannett. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
1 2 McIver, Stuart (August 8, 1985). "TAKING A RIDE ON THE DEEP LAKE RAILROAD". South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Tribune Publishing. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
↑ United States Interstate Commerce Commission (1929). Interstate Commerce Commission Reports: Volume 150. L.K. Strouse. p. 20. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
↑ Turner, Gregg (1999). Images of America: Railroads of Southwest Florida. Arcadia Publishing. p. 56. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
↑ Turner, Gregg (2006). Images of America: Florida Railroads in the 1920s. Arcadia Publishing. p. 34. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
↑ "A Brief History..." City of Everglades. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
↑ "Deep Lake Interpretive Trail" (PDF). National Park Service. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 29, 2016. Retrieved February 28, 2023.

v t e Municipalities and communities of Collier County, Florida, United States
County seat: East Naples
Cities	Everglades City Marco Island Naples
CDPs	Ave Maria Berkshire Lakes Chokoloskee Golden Gate Goodland Heritage Bay Immokalee Island Walk Lely Lely Resort Marco Shores-Hammock Bay Naples Manor Naples Park Orangetree Pelican Bay Pelican Marsh Pine Ridge Plantation Island Verona Walk Vineyards Winding Cypress
Unincorporated communities	Carnestown Copeland Deep Lake East Naples Isles of Capri Jerome Miles City North Naples Ochopee Vanderbilt Beach
Proposed communities	Big Cypress
Ghost towns	Birdon Harker
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