Collier County, Florida Collier County is situated in southwest Florida along the beautiful Gulf of Mexico and inland through the Everglades.  The county is named after Barron Collier.  Early in the 20th Century, after seeing an opportunity to leave a legacy in an area he loved, Collier offered to fund the construction of the Tamiami Trail through the swamps of the Everglades in exchange for a new county to be formed and named in his honor. On May 8th, 1923, Collier County was officially partitioned from Lee County by the Florida State Legislature. The Town of Everglades (now Everglades City) was the original county seat.  Today, Collier County encompasses 2,305 square miles of land. It is the second largest county by size in the state of Florida (behi