Collier was born in
Memphis, Tennessee. He quit school at 16 to work for the
Illinois Central Railroad. He founded the Consolidated Street Railway Advertising Company of
New York City within four years. In 1907, Barron Collier married Juliet Gordon Carnes, also a native of Memphis. In 1911, they visited
Fort Myers, Florida on vacation and became interested in the area. They bought
Useppa Island in
Lee County for $100,000. Over the next decade, the Colliers went on to acquire more than of land in
Southwest Florida. His holdings were from
Ten Thousand Islands to Useppa Island and from present-day
Naples into the
Everglades City and
Big Cypress areas. He also owned 90% of
Marco Island. They were the largest private landowners in the state. He also had extensive property in
Pocantico Hills, New York, which bounded the
Rockefeller family estate. The estate was named Overlook and had its own private theater and a private racing club (precursor of the current
Sports Car Club of America). The Rockefellers acquired Overlook after his death; it is now part of the
Rockefeller State Park Preserve. Collier contributed significantly to the building of the famous
Union Church of Pocantico Hills, alongside the Rockefellers. Collier died March 13, 1939, in
Manhattan, survived by his wife and three sons, Barron Jr., Miles, and
Samuel (Sam), and was interred at
Woodlawn Cemetery in
the Bronx, New York. His family members participated in many sports, including motorsports, and especially
road racing. His sons Sam, Miles, and Barron Jr. began hosting informal races in
Westchester County, New York, near the Collier estate in Pocantico Hills, in the early 1930s, and founded the Automobile Racing Club of America in 1933. It would be renamed in 1944 as the
Sports Car Club of America. Miles,
Cameron Argetsinger, and
Briggs Cunningham were instrumental in founding the
Watkins Glen racing facility near one of their summer retreats. Juliet worried about the risks of racing and tried to influence her sons against it; Sam would indeed die in a racing accident at Watkins Glen in 1950. Briggs's renowned automobile collection was purchased by a member of the Collier family, and is now part of the
Revs Institute for Automotive Research in Naples, Florida, which is open to the public. The Collier County Public School System named
Barron G. Collier High School in honor of Barron Gift Collier, Sr. ==Personal relationships==