LaBelle, Florida
Encyclopedia
LaBelle is a city in and the county seat of Hendry County, Florida
, United States. The population was 4,210 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 4,480 http://www.census.gov/popest/cities/tables/SUB-EST2004-04-12.xls. 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.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the city has a total area of 3.5 square miles (9.2 km²), of which, 3.5 square miles (9.0 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.2 km²) of it (2.54%) is water.
of 2000, there were 4,210 people, 1,440 households, and 995 families residing in the city. The population density
was 1,214.0 people per square mile (468.4/km²). There were 1,739 housing units at an average density of 501.4 per square mile (193.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 73.28% White, 11.26% African American, 0.62% Native American, 0.33% Asian, 12.47% from other races
, and 2.04% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 31.35% of the population.
There were 1,440 households out of which 32.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.2% were married couples living together, 10.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.9% were non-families. 25.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.26.
In the city the population was spread out with 26.8% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 25.5% from 25 to 44, 18.3% from 45 to 64, and 20.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 102.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $31,642, and the median income for a family was $39,550. Males had a median income of $26,327 versus $21,979 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $15,652. About 12.9% of families and 18.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.1% of those under age 18 and 15.4% of those age 65 or over.
In 2010 LaBelle had a population of 4,640. The racial and ethnic makeup of the population was 43.8% non-Hispanic white, 8.1% African American, 0.6% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.2% non-Hispanic from some other race, 1.6% from two or more races, and 47.0% Hispanic or Latino.
around the time of Hamilton Disston
's efforts to drain the Everglades
with the hope of promoting growth. The settlement, which laid on the western edge of Captain Francis A. Hendry
's large Monroe County
's land, was initially populated with cattle drovers and trappers. By 1891, LaBelle had constructed its first school. In 1909, Captain Hendry subdivided his land to be sold. The majority land holding stake was bought by E. E. Goodno, which increased the size of LaBelle almost twenty times its original size.
In 1925, the Florida Legislature chartered the City of LaBelle, which replaced the Town of LaBelle. D. A. Mitchell was named the first mayor.
.
. The festival includes activities throughout the town including a 5K walk/run, beauty pageant and rodeo among others with the peak of celebration existing at LaBelle's Barron Park.
Hendry County, Florida
Hendry County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2000, the population was 36,210. The U.S. Census Bureau 2007 estimate for the county is 39,611 . Its county seat is La Belle. The county comprises the Clewiston, Florida, Micropolitan Statistical Area.-History:Hendry County...
, United States. The population was 4,210 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 4,480 http://www.census.gov/popest/cities/tables/SUB-EST2004-04-12.xls. It was named for Laura and Belle Hendry, daughters of pioneer cattleman Francis A. Hendry
Francis A. Hendry
Francis Asbury Hendry was a Florida cattle rancher, politician, and officer in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.-Early life:...
.
LaBelle hosts the annual Swamp Cabbage Festival, which is held in honor of the Florida state tree
Sabal palmetto
Sabal palmetto, also known as cabbage palm, palmetto, cabbage palmetto, palmetto palm, blue palmetto, Carolina palmetto, common palmetto, swamp cabbage and sabal palm, is one of 15 species of palmetto palm . It is native to the southeastern United States, Cuba, and the Bahamas...
during the last full weekend of February.
Geography
LaBelle is located at 26°45′38"N 81°26′21"W (26.760591, -81.439104).According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the city has a total area of 3.5 square miles (9.2 km²), of which, 3.5 square miles (9.0 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.2 km²) of it (2.54%) is water.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 4,210 people, 1,440 households, and 995 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 1,214.0 people per square mile (468.4/km²). There were 1,739 housing units at an average density of 501.4 per square mile (193.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 73.28% White, 11.26% African American, 0.62% Native American, 0.33% Asian, 12.47% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 2.04% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 31.35% of the population.
There were 1,440 households out of which 32.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.2% were married couples living together, 10.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.9% were non-families. 25.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.26.
In the city the population was spread out with 26.8% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 25.5% from 25 to 44, 18.3% from 45 to 64, and 20.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 102.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $31,642, and the median income for a family was $39,550. Males had a median income of $26,327 versus $21,979 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $15,652. About 12.9% of families and 18.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.1% of those under age 18 and 15.4% of those age 65 or over.
In 2010 LaBelle had a population of 4,640. The racial and ethnic makeup of the population was 43.8% non-Hispanic white, 8.1% African American, 0.6% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.2% non-Hispanic from some other race, 1.6% from two or more races, and 47.0% Hispanic or Latino.
History
LaBelle began as a settlement on the Caloosahatchee RiverCaloosahatchee River
The Caloosahatchee River is a river on the southwest Gulf Coast of Florida in the United States, approximately long. It drains rural areas on the northern edge of the Everglades northwest of Miami...
around the time of Hamilton Disston
Hamilton Disston
Hamilton Disston , was an industrialist and real-estate developer who purchased four million acres of Florida land in 1881, an area larger than the state of Connecticut, and reportedly the most land ever purchased by a single person in world history...
's efforts to drain the Everglades
Everglades
The Everglades are subtropical wetlands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large watershed. The system begins near Orlando with the Kissimmee River, which discharges into the vast but shallow Lake Okeechobee...
with the hope of promoting growth. The settlement, which laid on the western edge of Captain Francis A. Hendry
Francis A. Hendry
Francis Asbury Hendry was a Florida cattle rancher, politician, and officer in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.-Early life:...
's large Monroe County
Monroe County, Florida
Monroe County is a county located in the state of Florida. As of 2000, the population was 79,589. The U.S. Census Bureau 2006 estimate for the county was 74,737....
's land, was initially populated with cattle drovers and trappers. By 1891, LaBelle had constructed its first school. In 1909, Captain Hendry subdivided his land to be sold. The majority land holding stake was bought by E. E. Goodno, which increased the size of LaBelle almost twenty times its original size.
In 1925, the Florida Legislature chartered the City of LaBelle, which replaced the Town of LaBelle. D. A. Mitchell was named the first mayor.
Education
LaBelle's education system is made up of three elementary schools (LaBelle Elementary, Country Oaks Elementary, Edward A. Upthegrove Elementary), one middle school (LaBelle Middle) and one high school, LaBelle HighLabelle High School
LaBelle High School is a high school located in LaBelle, Florida. It is operated by the Hendry County Schools District. The school was founded in 1915 and has been accredited since 1921. A new, larger school was finished in 1979 in its current place. Edward A. Upthegrove Elementary is in the place...
.
Swamp Cabbage Festival
The city of LaBelle holds an annual Festival celebrating the state tree, the cabbage palmSabal palmetto
Sabal palmetto, also known as cabbage palm, palmetto, cabbage palmetto, palmetto palm, blue palmetto, Carolina palmetto, common palmetto, swamp cabbage and sabal palm, is one of 15 species of palmetto palm . It is native to the southeastern United States, Cuba, and the Bahamas...
. The festival includes activities throughout the town including a 5K walk/run, beauty pageant and rodeo among others with the peak of celebration existing at LaBelle's Barron Park.
| List of Past Grand Marshals and Festival Queens | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Grand Marshal | Festival Queen |
| 2010 | Paul Puletti | Callie Burley |
| 2009 | David Childs | Daphne Glisson |
| 2008 | Phil Pelletier | Ashley Pittman |
| 2007 | William Maddox | Esophia Higgins |
| 2006 | Pat Langford | Maria Pidgen |
| 2005 | Martha Raye Humphries | Amanda Pittman |
| 2004 | Lucretia Strickland | Ashley Rose |
| 2003 | Rep. Joseph Spratt | Miss Ashley Murray |
| 2002 | Jack Paul | Miss Catherine Miller |
| 2001 | Jack Leicht | Miss Brittany Langford |
| 2000 | Tully Dunlap | Miss Amy Burchard |
| 1999 | Larry Woosley | Mrs. Melissa Oswald Howell |
| 1998 | Henry R. Kirby | Miss Amanda Miller |
| 1997 | Joe Risley, Jr. | Miss Inez DeDeugd |
| 1996 | Mize Johnson | Miss Jennifer Danforth |
| 1995 | Clara Hull | Miss Inez DeDeugd |
| 1994 | Dallas Townsend | Miss Sally Chipman |
| 1993 | Cecil Akin | Miss Jennifer Danforth |
| 1992 | William E. Perry | Miss Lynnette White |
| 1991 | Robert L. Yeomans | Miss Kathleen Lillian Whitford |
| 1990 | Doris Mattice | Miss Stacee Stinnett Seligman |
| 1989 | June Smith | Mrs. Susan Rebecca Brant Hill |
| 1988 | Lois Barron | Miss Jennifer Dunaway |
| 1987 | L. J. Noble, Jr. | Ms. Mara Woosley |
| 1986 | Darryl Harris | Miss Heather Ann Delance Spano |
| 1985 | Sherri Creachy | Mrs. Lori Jones Standish |
| 1984 | Thomas A. Smith | Mrs. Jerri Lynn Carver Merritt |
| 1983 | Ida Lofton Kirkby | Mrs. Leah Ann Langley Williams |
| 1982 | Stan Wegscheid | Mrs. Kim Dunaway Kemp |
| 1981 | Gary Lucia | Miss Yvonne McGee |
| 1980 | Broward Parsons | Mrs. Rena Ireland Dipofi |
| 1979 | Bette Foote | Mrs. Cynthia Mott Croley |
| 1978 | Blitz Wegman | Mrs. Chris Lehman Robbins |
| 1977 | Dr. Elizabeth Brungard | Mrs. Sonia Burchard Curtis |
| 1976 | Onley R. Hull | Mrs. Cheryl Wooten Hill |
| 1975 | R. E. Burchard | Mrs. Dana Thompson Crawley |
| 1974 | Frankye Cobb Thomas | Mrs. Terri Prescott Rhoden |
| 1973 | John W. Ash, Sr. | Mrs. Gaye Nobles Murrah |
| 1972 | Jack Patton | Mrs. Cindi Bass Sanders |
| 1971 | Judge R. M. Harris | Mrs. Sherri Woosley Carpenter |
| 1970 | J. R. (Jack) Spratt | Mrs. Laura Miller Nolte |
| 1969 | W. R. (Bill) Maddox | Mrs. Judy Burgess Puletti |
| 1968 | W. B. Barron | Linda Stilwell Liddiard |
| 1967 | Robert E. Byrd |
Notable people
- Martín GramáticaMartin GramaticaMartín Gramática is an Argentine-American former football placekicker.Gramática was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the third round of the 1999 NFL Draft after playing college football at Kansas State, and has also been a member of the Indianapolis Colts, New England Patriots, Dallas...
- NFL place kicker - Bill GramáticaBill GramaticaGuillermo C. "Bill" Gramática is a former American football placekicker of the National Football League. He was originally drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the fourth round of the 2001 NFL Draft and last played for the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League in 2006. He played college...
- NFL place kicker
External links
- City of LaBelle Web site
- Swamp Cabbage Festival Web site
- Caloosa Belle newspaper that serves LaBelle, Florida is available archived in full-text with images in Florida Digital Newspaper Library