Glades County History

Glades County has a rich history and heritage that residents are proud to be a part of. The colorful past of gloriously natural Glades County unfolds in buildings, museums and historic sites throughout the county.

Moore Haven
Glades County’s seat, the city of Moore Haven, was founded on the banks of the Caloosahatchee River, by James A. Moore in 1915. A tremendous volume of construction and subsequent population boom led to Moore Haven becoming the first major commercial center of the entire Lake Okeechobee region.

Downtown survived a devastating fire in 1921, which seriously damaged many of the buildings in the commercial core. Led by pioneering landowner and the city's first Mayor, Marian Horwitz O'Brien - notably the first female mayor south of the Mason-Dixon line and one of the first female mayors in the United States - the city rebuilt, only to be struck, in the midst of recovery, by a devastating hurricane in 1926 which killed nearly 200 residents and destroyed more than half the city's buildings.

Native American History & Heritage
As the Seminole Indians were pushed deeper into the Florida peninsula by white settlers, tensions mounted and clashes were inevitable. Evidence of earlier peoples have been found at the Ortona Mounds and Fort Center archaeological sites, where hundreds of artifacts, some dating back nearly 2,000 years,  have been excavated.

The Brighton Seminole Reservation near the shores of Lake Okeechobee in Glades County features authentic Seminole arts and crafts, a recreational campground and RV park, and the Seminole Casino at Brighton.

Florida “Cracker” History & Heritage
Starting in the early 1800s, Glades County “cowhunters” rounded up their cattle which ranged free around the county annually and drove them to shipping ports at Punta Rassa near Fort Myers. The herders used whips that exerted a loud cracking sound when wielded to move the cows and thus became known as “Crackers,” Florida’s unique brand of cowmen.

The legacy of the Cracker cowmen lives on today in many aspects of life, including modern-day cattle ranching, one of the region’s most important industries, and annual events like the Chalo Nitka Festival and Ranch Rodeo, held the first weekend in March each year in Moore Haven.

Historical Downtowns, Museums and Buildings
The town of Moore Haven, located on the scenic Caloosahatchee River, features a downtown and residential historic district, both of which are listed on the National Register.