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Hendry, Glades, Lee County, Florida

Communities In Lee, Hendry, and Glades County, Florida


LaBelle, FloridaPort LaBelle Marina
photo by Rue

LaBelle, the county seat of Hendry county, sits on the quiet shores of the Caloosahatchee River approximately in the middle of several surrounding communities including Alva 15 miles west, Lehigh Acres 20 miles southwest, Felda 20 miles south, Clewiston 20 miles east, and Moore Haven 30 miles northeast. Port LaBelle is three miles east of the city. More LaBelle Info / Port LaBelle Info / Map of LaBelle and Hendry County, Fl. Statistics
Lehigh Acres in eastern Lee county is a rapidly growing planned community of more than 100 square miles and is home to about 30,000 residents offering lakes, ponds, and 175 miles of canals. Originally the Lucky Lee Ranch it was developed in the 1950's and has grown much since the opening of interstate 75 which made Lehigh easily accessible. Map of Lehigh Acres / Lee County, Fl. Statistics

Alva LibraryAlva Library and Museum
photo by Brown

Alva, in eastern Lee county was founded in 1887 along the Caloosahatchee River and has a population of 2,100. Captain Peter Nelson named the town after seeing white flowers in the area that were similar to those in his native land of Denmark. Alb means white in Latin. Alva's Methodist Church is the oldest church in the county, founded in 1886, and Alva has the oldest library in southwest Florida which now also serves as the Alva Historical Museum and is open on Saturdays from 2 to 4 PM. West of Alva is the southernmost grape vineyard in the U.S., where wine is made and is open for visitors 3 miles west on SR 80. View a map of Alva.
parade Moore Haven, the county seat of Glades County, was started in 1915 by James Moore, a Seattle hotel owner, who bought 98,000 acres at the southwestern corner of Lake Okeechobee. The city was known for its produce, catfish, and sugar cane. In the 1920's the town was struck by fire, floods and the devasting hurricane on 1929. Today the thriving town is supported by tourism, cattle, fishing, sugar cane, produce, and citrus industries.

Moore Haven also hosts the Chalo Nitka Festival and Frontier Days the 1st weekend each March with a parade, entertainment, and a rodeo. Map of Moore Haven / Town Street Map / Glades County, Fl. Statistics

Lakeport, in northern Glades county along with northwestern shore of Lake Okeechobee was started in 1913 by Gene Sebring, originally as the Lakeport Colony. A dock was constructed on Lake Okeechobee and freight and mail was received while produce, fish, fur, and skins were shipped out. Several Belgian families settled in Lakeport along a road called Belguim Avenue, but now more often referred to as Snake Pens Road.

Until the 1960s, hogs were a major source of income until they were declared a game animal by the state. Lakeport became the "fish capital" of Florida when the railroad reached the city of Okeechobee, allowing shipping to northern states. The fish in the lake in the early days consisted of catfish, gar, shad, blue gills and crappie, and bass. Due to large-scale seine netting in the early years, bass are the predominent species left, making Lake Okeechobee the "Bass Capitol" of the world.

Nearby Buckhead Ridge has developed into a retirement community, one of the largest in Glades County. More Buckhead Ridge Info

Clewiston, in eastern Hendry county on the southern edge of Lake Okeechobee, is "America's Sweetest City" and developed during the 1920's. It is Hendry counties largest town. Sugar is the prime agricultural crop and the the city is the home of the U. S. Sugar Corp. Citrus is also an important crop in this rural lifestyle community. The Sugar Festival is held each April. Map of Clewiston / City Street Map / More Clewiston Info / Sugar Festival
Felda in southern Hendry county is a small rural community 20 miles south of LaBelle on SR29. It is the "third" community of Hendry County along with LaBelle, the county seat, and Clewiston, the largest city in the county. Visitors are encouraged to stop in the local BBQ and restaurant for the special home-cooking. A yearly BBQ celebration is held on January 1st each year featuring...alligator and hog BBQ. Also in the area is an RV Park owned by a local celebrity country singer.
Palmdale in Glades county is a very small town on U.S. 27 with a post office and a general store that is a popular stop with travelers. Originally settled in 1901 by the Florida Fruit Farm. The railroad was extended to the area in 1917 from Sebring along with a bridge over Fisheating Creek. Cattle were once shipped by rail from the railroad station.

Located nearby are the Fisheating Creek Campgrounds, the Cypress Knee Museum and Gatorama. The Cypress Knee Museum, is located where the original railroad camp was established along the creek. See Local Attractions for descriptions of these points of interest. Also see Map of Palmdale

Muse, in southwestern Glades county was largely homesteaded in the early days of the century. Heirs of many of the original settlers still own land on U.S. Government patents. The beauty of the natural woodland has attracted many newcomers, building homes in this rural section of the county. The community has its own volunteer fire department and has an active community association, meeting monthly.
Ortona, in southern Glades county along the northern shore of the Caloosahatchee River, was named by Jerome Attanasio, a businessman from LaBelle naming his 360 acre subdivision after his birthplace in Italy. He planted grapes in 1924, and hoped to attract grape growers to his development.

Ortona was the location of an early railroad bridge, now replaced by the 1936 Corps of Engineers Ortona Locks, and a handsome park and small RV campground on the south side of the river. Ortona is the location of the county's 32-acre cemetery where casulties of early century hurricanes and influenza epidemics were buried. Near the cemetery are the Ortona Indian mounds and a small county park. The mounds have been excavated, but no artifacts have been found. A Cane Grinding Festival is held each February in Ortona,a fund raiser for the volunteer fire department, celebrating the traditional way sugar cane was ground to produce syrup and molasses.

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