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Hendry County,through time.

6 eras · 1870–2026 · every fact sourced · compiled from the sources shown, not yet reviewed by a historian

Start in 1870
Populationfrom 1930

—

River Forts and Cattle Range

1870–1910: River Forts and Cattle Range

Era 1 · 1870–1910

River Forts and Cattle Range

Small numbers of farm laborers and herdsmen lived along the Caloosahatchee River by 1870, and a post office opened at Fort Thompson in 1884. LaBelle was established by about 1889 or 1890 and later platted by Captain Francis A. Hendry, the area's largest landowner and a major cattle rancher. The town was reachable only on horseback over Indian trails or by boat on the river.

Image shown for this era: The frame home of Captain Francis A. Hendry in La Belle, photographed around 1890. 1890 · State Library and Archives of Florida, Florida Memory (call number RC02901), via Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · Source

Key moments

  1. Post office opens at Fort Thompson

    A U.S. post office was established at Fort Thompson, near the future LaBelle, where about 50 people lived at the old Fort Denaud and Fort Thompson sites by about 1886.

    Source

    1. Historic and Architectural Resources of LaBelle (National Register Multiple Property Documentation Form), National Park Service / Florida Bureau of Historic Preservation (accessed 2026-11-09)

  2. Francis A. Hendry plats LaBelle

    Captain Francis A. Hendry, the area's largest landowner and a major cattle rancher, platted LaBelle along the Caloosahatchee River.

    Source

    1. Historic and Architectural Resources of LaBelle (National Register Multiple Property Documentation Form), National Park Service / Florida Bureau of Historic Preservation (accessed 2026-11-09)

Sources

  1. Historic and Architectural Resources of LaBelle (National Register Multiple Property Documentation Form), National Park Service / Florida Bureau of Historic Preservation (accessed 2026-11-09)
  2. Historic and Architectural Resources of LaBelle (National Register Multiple Property Documentation Form), National Park Service / Florida Bureau of Historic Preservation (accessed 2026-11-09)
Correct this era: River Forts and Cattle Range

Era 2 · 1911–1922

Towns and a Reservation Take Shape

LaBelle was incorporated in 1911, and the same year President Taft created the present-day Big Cypress Reservation on land where some had been set aside for Seminoles in the 1800s. Residents took up farming, cattle ranching and citrus growing. Clewiston's first permanent development began in 1920.

Key moments

  1. Town of LaBelle incorporated

    LaBelle was incorporated on a 700-acre tract by Edgar E. Goodno, who had succeeded to Hendry's Fort Thompson property.

    Source

    1. Historic and Architectural Resources of LaBelle (National Register Multiple Property Documentation Form), National Park Service / Florida Bureau of Historic Preservation (accessed 2026-11-09)

  2. Big Cypress Reservation created

    President Taft created the present-day Big Cypress Reservation, the largest of the Seminole Tribe of Florida's six reservations, south of Lake Okeechobee.

    Source

    1. Ingraham Expedition: Big Cypress Reservation, University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries (accessed 2026-11-09)

  3. Clewiston's first permanent development

    John and Marion O'Brien and Alonzo Clewis began Clewiston's first permanent development and built a rail line linking it to Moore Haven.

    Source

    1. Clewiston, swflorida.travel (accessed 2026-11-09)

Sources

  1. Historic and Architectural Resources of LaBelle (National Register Multiple Property Documentation Form), National Park Service / Florida Bureau of Historic Preservation (accessed 2026-11-09)
  2. Ingraham Expedition: Big Cypress Reservation, University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries (accessed 2026-11-09)
Correct this era: Towns and a Reservation Take Shape

Era 3 · 1923–1928

A New County in the Land Boom

Hendry County was formed in 1923 and LaBelle became its county seat. The boom brought a cross-state highway in 1926 and Seaboard rail service in 1927, while a September 1926 hurricane wrecked the lumber town of Sears. The 1926 and 1928 hurricanes breached the small levee on Lake Okeechobee's southern shore.

Image shown for this era: Black-and-white 1925 street scene in LaBelle, the new county seat of Hendry County. 1925 · Burgert Brothers. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory (floridamemory.com/items/show/30167), via Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · Source

Key moments

  1. Hendry County formed from Lee County

    Hendry County was formed in 1923 from part of the much larger Lee County. LaBelle, the only other incorporated town besides newly developing Clewiston, was chosen as the county seat.

    Source

    1. Historic and Architectural Resources of LaBelle (National Register Multiple Property Documentation Form), National Park Service / Florida Bureau of Historic Preservation (accessed 2026-11-09)

  2. First Hendry County Commission meeting

    The new county commission met for the first time, with M.E. Forrey of LaBelle elected its first chairman.

    Source

    1. Historic and Architectural Resources of LaBelle (National Register Multiple Property Documentation Form), National Park Service / Florida Bureau of Historic Preservation (accessed 2026-11-09)

  3. Henry Ford buys land near LaBelle

    Henry Ford acquired E.E. Goodno's 8,500 acres and used the Fort Thompson property as an experimental rubber plantation.

    Source

    1. Historic and Architectural Resources of LaBelle (National Register Multiple Property Documentation Form), National Park Service / Florida Bureau of Historic Preservation (accessed 2026-11-09)
5 more from this era

  1. Clewiston incorporated

    Clewiston, developed during the 1920s on Lake Okeechobee's southwest shore, was incorporated.

    Source

    1. Clewiston, swflorida.travel (accessed 2026-11-09)

  2. Fort Myers–Palm Beach highway reaches LaBelle

    The cross-state highway from Fort Myers to Palm Beach was completed through LaBelle in mid-1926.

    Source

    1. Historic and Architectural Resources of LaBelle (National Register Multiple Property Documentation Form), National Park Service / Florida Bureau of Historic Preservation (accessed 2026-11-09)

  3. Hurricane wrecks the lumber town of Sears

    A September 1926 hurricane destroyed the sawmill and much of the housing at Sears, a Standard Lumber Company town a few miles south of LaBelle.

    Source

    1. Historic and Architectural Resources of LaBelle (National Register Multiple Property Documentation Form), National Park Service / Florida Bureau of Historic Preservation (accessed 2026-11-09)

  4. Seaboard rail service reaches LaBelle

    LaBelle got direct rail service for the first time when the Seaboard Railroad began running to and from the town.

    Source

    1. Historic and Architectural Resources of LaBelle (National Register Multiple Property Documentation Form), National Park Service / Florida Bureau of Historic Preservation (accessed 2026-11-09)

  5. Okeechobee hurricane breaches the lake levee

    The 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane's storm surge breached the small muck levee on the lake's southern shore, flooding the area to the south and killing more than 2,500 people around the lake.

    Source

    1. House Bill 489 (2007) Enrolled Bill Analysis, Florida Legislature (accessed 2026-11-09)

Sources

  1. Historic and Architectural Resources of LaBelle (National Register Multiple Property Documentation Form), National Park Service / Florida Bureau of Historic Preservation (accessed 2026-11-09)
  2. House Bill 489 (2007) Enrolled Bill Analysis, Florida Legislature (accessed 2026-11-09)
Correct this era: A New County in the Land Boom

Era 4 · 1929–1945

Depression, Sugar and the River

After the land boom collapsed and a major flood hit LaBelle in 1930, cattle and ranching stayed the county's economic base. U.S. Sugar was founded in Clewiston in 1931, and the Army Corps of Engineers dredged the Caloosahatchee through 1936. During World War II, Riddle Field near Clewiston hosted British Flying Training School Number Five.

Image shown for this era: Color photo from summer 1941 of four British air cadets leaping over a tennis net during a break from flight training at Clewiston.. 1941 · Official photographer, Ministry of Information Second World War Colour Transparency Collection (Imperial War Museum TR 90), via Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · Source

Key moments

  1. Major flood in LaBelle

    As the Depression set in, LaBelle was hit by a major flood.

    Source

    1. Historic and Architectural Resources of LaBelle (National Register Multiple Property Documentation Form), National Park Service / Florida Bureau of Historic Preservation (accessed 2026-11-09)

  2. United States Sugar Corporation founded in Clewiston

    Charles Stewart Mott bought the assets of the failed Southern Sugar Corporation in Clewiston and renamed it United States Sugar Corporation.

    Source

    1. Our History and Legacy, U.S. Sugar (accessed 2026-11-09)

  3. Caloosahatchee dredging completed

    The Army Corps of Engineers finished deepening, straightening and adding locks to the Caloosahatchee River to prevent recurring floods; the work brought jobs and new residents to LaBelle.

    Source

    1. Historic and Architectural Resources of LaBelle (National Register Multiple Property Documentation Form), National Park Service / Florida Bureau of Historic Preservation (accessed 2026-11-09)

Sources

  1. Historic and Architectural Resources of LaBelle (National Register Multiple Property Documentation Form), National Park Service / Florida Bureau of Historic Preservation (accessed 2026-11-09)
  2. Our History and Legacy, U.S. Sugar (accessed 2026-11-09)
  3. Clewiston, swflorida.travel (accessed 2026-11-09)
Correct this era: Depression, Sugar and the River

Era 5 · 1946–1999

The Dike, Cane and Citrus

After a near catastrophe in the 1947 hurricane, the Lake Okeechobee levee was expanded in the 1960s, and Congress named it the Herbert Hoover Dike in 1960. Citrus, cattle and winter vegetables grew in importance in the 1950s and 1960s, while sugar remained Clewiston's largest industry. The county's population more than tripled between 1950 and 1990.

Image shown for this era: Herbert Hoover speaking at a microphone at the 1961 Herbert Hoover Dike dedication in Clewiston. 1961 · State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory (floridamemory.com/items/show/40594), via Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · Source

Key moments

  1. Congress names the Herbert Hoover Dike

    Congress named the Lake Okeechobee levee system the Herbert Hoover Dike.

    Source

    1. House Bill 489 (2007) Enrolled Bill Analysis, Florida Legislature (accessed 2026-11-09)

  2. Herbert Hoover dedicates the dike in Clewiston

    A dedication ceremony for the Herbert Hoover Dike was held in Clewiston, with a speech by former president Herbert Hoover.

    Source

    1. Hendry County, Florida, Wikipedia (accessed 2026-11-09)

Sources

  1. House Bill 489 (2007) Enrolled Bill Analysis, Florida Legislature (accessed 2026-11-09)
  2. Clewiston, swflorida.travel (accessed 2026-11-09)
Correct this era: The Dike, Cane and Citrus

Era 6 · 2000–2026

Hendry County Today

Hendry County counted 36,210 residents in 2000, 39,140 in 2010 and 39,619 in 2020, and the state estimated 47,085 in 2025. Sugar remains Clewiston's largest industry because of United States Sugar Corporation.

Image shown for this era: Sign at the headquarters of the United States Sugar Corporation in Clewiston, 2018. 2018 · Yanjipy, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA · Source

Sources

  1. Hendry County Profile, Florida Legislature, Office of Economic and Demographic Research (accessed 2026-11-09)
  2. Clewiston, swflorida.travel (accessed 2026-11-09)
Correct this era: Hendry County Today

Then & Now

Hendry County, 1923 to 2026

Hendry County formed from Lee County · drag to compare

Black-and-white 1925 street scene in LaBelle, the new county seat of Hendry County
U.S. 27 through Clewiston at W. C. Owen Avenue in September 2024: royal palms along the roadside, traffic lights, a pickup towing a boat and a hotel at right under a bright blue sky with white clouds.
19232026

Then image1925 · Burgert Brothers. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory (floridamemory.com/items/show/30167), via Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · Source

Now image2024 · cubanoboi @ Mapillary, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA · Source

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This timeline is compiled from the public records cited on each era and event. Every quote is checked against its source automatically, and items marked Reviewed have also been checked by a person. Images are public domain or openly licensed, each with its credit. If you know something we’ve missed or got wrong, or you hold records of your own, we’d like to hear from you.

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