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We appreciate
all help we can get to make this a better site.
Anything sent to us that we use will have full credit given
Please
contact
Fawn if you have any questions or comments on the Florida
site.
Our
goal at Genealogy Trails is to transcribe and post genealogical
source data so that family researchers can track their ancestors through
time, throughout the country.
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If you think that you may be interested in volunteering to host a
county or state please view our Volunteer
Information page here and email
Kim.
(A
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Adjacent counties
Glades County, Florida - north
Martin County, Florida - northeast
Okeechobee County, Florida - northeast
Palm Beach County, Florida - east
Broward County, Florida - southeast
Collier County, Florida - south
Lee County, Florida - west
Charlotte County, Florida - west
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Hendry
County was created in 1923. It was named for Major Francis A. Hendry,
one of the first settlers.
The Florida Heartland is a region of Florida located to the north and
west of Lake Okeechobee. Unlike the coastal areas to the east and west,
the rural nature of the Florida Heartland is culturally closer to the
Deep South than the rest of peninsular Florida
The
Hendry County Courthouse, starting point for the annual Swamp Cabbage
Festival parade, was designed in the Italian Renaissance Revival style
by E. C. Hosford and built in 1926. Local legend states that the clock
in the tower does not tell time, having been struck by lightning shortly
after the building was completed. Other versions hold that the clock
was removed lest it become a lightning hazard, still others that its
mechanism was improperly wound and burned itself out. In any event,
for decades the clock tower stood without hands, leading to inevitable
comments that "time stands still " in drowsy LaBelle. We have
been assured, however, that the clock has been fixed so that the Swamp
Cabbage Parade can start on time.
Cities in Hendry County
Clewiston The area is beside Lake Okeechobee was once used as
a fishing camp by the Seminole Indians. The first permanent settlement
began in 1920, when John O'Brien of Philadelphia and Alonzo Clewis of
Tampa purchased a large tract of land to establish a town. They commissioned
a town plan and built the Moore Haven & Clewiston Railroad to connect
the community to the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad at Moore Haven. Incorporated
as a city in 1925, Clewiston would become noted for its sport fishing,
particularly of largemouth bass.Large sugar plantations were established
around Lake Okeechobee. By the 1950s and 1960s, the cultivation of citrus,
vegetables and cattle were also important to the economy. United States
Sugar, however, remained the dominant manufacturer in Clewiston, which
became known as "America's Sweetest Town."
On June 24, 2008, however, Governor Charlie Crist announced that the
state of Florida has arranged to buy for $1.75 billion the company's
187,000 acres (75,680 hectares), including the refinery in Clewiston.
The farmland will be converted into reservoirs and water-filtering areas
as part of the ongoing restoration of the Everglades ecosystem. United
States Sugar will lease its former facilities from the state for about
five years to help defray the cost, and then cease to exist.
LaBelle is a city in and the county seat of Hendry County,
Florida, It was named for Laura and Belle Hendry, daughters of pioneer
cattleman Francis A. Hendry.LaBelle hosts the annual Swamp Cabbage Festival,
which is held in honor of the Florida state tree during the last full
weekend of February.
The city is somewhat unique in that the low population of the county
makes Clewiston the center of economic activity for the county, but
LaBelle is the county seat. For example the only hospital in the county
is in Clewiston and all the larger retailers and motels are there too.
Unincorporated
1. Big Cypress
2. Felda
3. Harlem
4. Port La Belle
Cemeteries in Hendry County
1. Ortona Cemetery
2. Ridgelawn Cemetery
3. Fort Denaud Cemetery
4. Washington Memorial Cemetery
5. Felda Cemetery
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