Ochopee is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

Collier County Collier County is a county in the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 375,752; an increase of 16.9% since the 2010 United States Census. Its county seat is East Naples, where the county offices were moved from E ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, United States. It is located to the east of the intersection of

US 41 U.S. Route 41, also U.S. Highway 41 (US 41), is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs from Miami, Florida, to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Until 1949, the part in southern Florida, from Naples to Miami, ...

and State Road 29, near Carnestown. The community is part of the

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

–

Marco Island Marco may refer to: People * Marco (given name), people with the given name Marco * Marco (actor) (born 1977), South Korean model and actor * Georg Marco (1863–1923), Romanian chess player of German origin * Tomás Marco (born 1942), Spanish co ...

Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally Incorporated town, incorporate ...

. The community got its name when a visitor to the general store asked the owner what the place was called. A native man was trading in the store that day so the owner asked him the Seminole word for farm. The farmer replied, "O-Chopp-ee". Ochopee began as a one-family tomato-farming community in the early 1920s. James Gaunt bought of land along U.S. Highway 41 for $100 per acre, and started with only army tents. A community called Ochopee grew up around Gaunt's tomato farm. After the original post office burned down, residents used an old storage shed to house mail. Now the Ochopee Post Office, it is the smallest in the nation.Stone 1989, p. 51. It continues as an active post office and sometime tourist attraction. The original farm and settlement were gradually absorbed by the federal government as part of a movement to conserve the

Everglades The Everglades is a natural region of tropical climate, tropical wetlands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the Neotropical realm. The system begins near Orland ...

. A few small businesses remain, along with the headquarters of the

Big Cypress National Preserve Big Cypress National Preserve is a United States National Preserve located in South Florida, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) west of Miami on the Atlantic coastal plain. The Big Cypress, along with Big Thicket National Preserve in Texas, becam ...

. Jeff Whichello, a native of the area, has written a book about his childhood called ''What Happened to Ochopee?''

Points of interest

* Ochopee post office * Skunk Ape Research Center * Joannie's Crab Shack * National Park Service Big Cypress Headquarters, formerly The Golden Lion Motor Inn owned by Whichello's family * Wootens World Famous Airboats

References

*Stone, Maria (1989). ''Ochopee: The Story of the Smallest Post Office.'' *Pettengill, Frank (1975). ''Naples Daily News,'' "Ochopee Acquisition Appeal Made." * Whichello, Jeff (2014). ''What Happened to Ochopee?'' A first-hand account of the land grab by the federal government that took place in the 1970s to create the Big Cypress Preserve. '' Just Cause'' is a 1995 film directed by Arne Glimcher and starring Sean Connery and Laurence Fishburne. It is based on John Katzenbach's novel of the same name.

External links

RoadsideAmerica.com: Smallest Post Office in the United States: Ochopee, Florida.
* {{authority control Unincorporated communities in Collier County, Florida Unincorporated communities in Florida