Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, USA. As of 1 July 2006, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated the city 's population at 21,804. Naples is a Principal City of the Naples-Marco Island, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had an estimated total population of 314,649 on 1 July 2006. Despite being the largest city in Collier County, the city of Naples is not its county seat; rather the county seat is located east of the city in unincorporated East Naples. Naples was founded during the late 1880s by former Confederate general and Kentucky U.S. Senator John Stuart Williams and his partner, Louisville businessman Walter N. Haldeman, the publisher of the Louisville Courier-Journal. Throughout the 1870s and '80 's, magazine and newspaper stories telling of the area 's mild climate and abundant fish and game likened it to the sunny Italian peninsula. The name Naples caught on when promoters described the bay as "surpassing the bay in Naples, Italy".The beach on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico is more than 10 miles long, and is noted for its cleanliness and pristine white sand. In 2005, Naples was voted the best beach in America by the Travel Channel. http://wikitravel.org/en/Naples,_FL