Pahokee is a city located on the shore of
Lake Okeechobee
Lake Okeechobee (), also known as Florida's Inland Sea, is the largest freshwater lake in the U.S. state of Florida. It is the tenth largest natural freshwater lake among the 50 states of the United States and the second-largest natural freshwat ...
in
Palm Beach County, Florida
Palm Beach County is a county located in the southeastern part of Florida and lies directly north of Broward County and Miami-Dade County. The county had a population of 1,492,191 as of the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous county ...
, United States. The population was 5,649 in the 2010 census.
According to the 2020 U.S. Census, 57% of the residents of Pahokee were African American and 33% were Hispanic or Latino.
[ In 2018, the Mayor, Kenneth W. Babb, as well as the four members of the City Commission were all African American.
]
History
Pahokee was incorporated in 1922. The name "Pahokee" means "grassy waters" in the Creek language
The Muscogee language (Muskogee, ''Mvskoke'' in Muscogee), also known as Creek, is a Muskogean language spoken by Muscogee (Creek) and Seminole people, primarily in the US states of Oklahoma and Florida. Along with Mikasuki, when it is spoken by ...
. Local residents refer to Pahokee as "The Muck", which signifies the mineral-rich dark soil in which sugar cane
Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalks t ...
, citrus
''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering plant, flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as Orange (fruit), oranges, Lemon, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and lim ...
fruits, and corn
Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...
are grown by agribusinesses. In the 1930s, it was known as the "Winter Vegetable Capital of the World".
The city was severely affected, as were the other communities to the south of the lake, by the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane
The Okeechobee hurricane of 1928, also known as the San Felipe Segundo hurricane, was one of the deadliest hurricanes in the recorded history of the North Atlantic basin, and the fourth deadliest hurricane in the United States, only behind the ...
. Hurricane Wilma
Hurricane Wilma was an extremely intense and destructive Atlantic hurricane which was the most intense storm of its kind and the second-most intense tropical cyclone recorded in the Western Hemisphere, after Hurricane Patricia in 2015. Part ...
, in 2005, destroyed a newly built marina.
Economy
Pahokee was founded on the produce grown in the muck, the fertile bottom of 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 ...
after part of it was drained in the early 20th century. In 1939, the Federal Writers' Project
The Federal Writers' Project (FWP) was a federal government project in the United States created to provide jobs for out-of-work writers during the Great Depression. It was part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a New Deal program. It ...
guide said of Pahokee: "From Christmas until April, Pahokee is a 24-hour town; long trains of refrigerated cars roll out for northern markets day and night." "The streets are noisy and crowded; bars, restaurants and gambling places are never closed."
In 1963, with access to Cuban sugar restricted, a sugar plant was built, and agriculture shifted to the mechanized crop of sugar cane
Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalks t ...
. The plant closed in 2009.
As a result, it is one of two Palm Beach County cities—the other is South Bay—on a list of 13 Florida municipalities in "a state of financial emergency." Records suggest it has been on the list continually since 1994. Unemployment exceeds 25%. Taxable property values dropped from about $99 million in 2007 to $66 million in 2014. A fifth of the population has migrated in the past 15 years. Dissolution of the city has been proposed.
On November 15, 1996, the old Pahokee High School building, built in 1928, was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
Everglades Regional Medical Center
Everglades Regional Medical Center, at 200 S. Barfield Highway was founded in 1936 as Everglades General Hospital; the current building opened in 1950. The 63-bed general hospital, financially nonviable, closed in 1998 after years of contention, a change from public to private ownership, and three lawsuits.
Glades Health Care Center
Adjacent to the former hospital, at 230 S. Barfield Highway, is Glades Health Care Center, a 120-bed skilled nursing facility, with about 70 full-time employees.
Schools
Public
Pahokee belongs to the School District of Palm Beach County
The School District of Palm Beach County (SDPBC) is the tenth-largest public school district in the United States, and the fifth largest school district in Florida. The district encompasses all of Palm Beach County. For the beginning of the 201 ...
.
* Pahokee Elementary School, 560 East Main Place (grades pre-K–5). Enrollment: 375 (2015). Pahokee Elementary School is an IB (International Baccalaureate
The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB Dip ...
) school. Enrollment is 63% black, 35% Hispanic, 1% white, 1% other. 96% are from low-income families.
* K. E. Cunningham/Canal Point Elementary School, 37000 Main Street, Canal Point (grades K–5). Enrollment: 329. The racial makeup of the student body is 69% black, 29% Hispanic, 2% white. 99% of the students are from low-income families.
* Pahokee Middle–High School, 900 Larrimore Rd. (grades 6–12). Enrollment: 857 (2015). Enrollment is 68% black, 39% Hispanic, 2% white, 1% other. 93% are from low-income families.
:Pahokee High School is best known for its football program that consistently ranks among the state's best. Pahokee, together with nearby rival Belle Glade, with whom it competes each year in the "Muck Bowl", has "sent at least 60 players to the National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
". "In Muck City, football is salvation, an escape from the likelihood of prison or early death." "Football is the chief subject taught at Pahokee High," a town historian wrote in 1963. In 2014 five former Blue Devils were in the NFL
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
, the second most from any high school in the country.
Public charter
* Glades Academy, 7368 State Road 15 (grades K–8). Enrollment: 195 (2015). Enrollment is 72% black, 18% Hispanic, 9% white, 1% other. 97% are from low-income families.
Private
* Everglades Preparatory Academy, 380 East Main St. (grades 9–12). Enrollment: 106 (2016). (There is another, unrelated Everglades Preparatory Academy in Homestead, Florida
Homestead is a city within Miami-Dade County in the U.S. state of Florida, between Biscayne National Park to the east and Everglades National Park to the west. The population was 80,737 as of the 2020 census. Homestead is primarily a Miami sub ...
.) Enrollment is 92% black, 6% Hispanic, 2% white. 90% are from low-income families.
* The Shepherd's School, 1800 Bacom Point Road, a Christian school (grades K–12). Enrollment: 71 (2016).
* G.A.P Christian Academy, 183 S Lake Ave. (K–12 Education)
Miracle Village
Miracle Village, founded by a minister, offers a small residential community for registered sex offenders
A sex offender (sexual offender, sex abuser, or sexual abuser) is a person who has committed a sex crime. What constitutes a sex crime differs by culture and legal jurisdiction. The majority of convicted sex offenders have convictions for crime ...
, who sometimes have great difficulty in finding housing, or are homeless (see Julia Tuttle Causeway sex offender colony
The Julia Tuttle Causeway sex offender colony (also called "Bookville" by former residents) was an encampment of banished, registered sex offenders who were living beneath the Julia Tuttle Causeway—a highway connecting Miami, Florida to Miami Be ...
), because of Florida's strict regulations limiting where sex offenders can live. It is located about three miles east of Pahokee, on Muck City Road, in a former migrant worker
A migrant worker is a person who Human migration, migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have the intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work.
Migrant worker ...
facility, surrounded by sugar cane fields. This helps the offenders better integrate into society and not be a burden or commit further crimes in order to survive after serving their time mandated by the state and being released with little or no assistance from the Department of Corrections.
Pahokee in the media
On December 18, 2009, Damien Cave, Miami Bureau Chief of the New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
, wrote an article describing Pahokee's economic plight and the town's hopes that a new marina project might help rejuvenate business. There has been a significant move towards regeneration with the re-opening of the Pahokee Marina Tiki Bar and Restaurant now known as 'Pahokee Mo's' and new Dollar General
Dollar General Corporation is an American chain of variety stores headquartered in Goodlettsville, Tennessee. As of April 11, 2022, Dollar General operates 18,216 stores in the continental United States.
The company began in 1939 as a family-own ...
store. Governor Rick Scott
Richard Lynn Scott ( Myers, born December 1, 1952) is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from Florida since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was the 45th governor of Florida from 2011 to 2019.
Scott ...
also pledged $1.3 million towards the restoration of Pahokee's infrastructure in late 2014. This is in addition to $200,000 pledged by Senator Abruzzo in 2014.
Creative arts about Pahokee
Movies
''Chasing Rabbits'' (2008)
A short by Aaron Kyle. Rabbit hunting as running training for would-be football players. Famous Florida State
Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...
football coach Bobby Bowden
Robert Cleckler Bowden (; November 8, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was an American college football coach. Bowden coached the Florida State Seminoles of Florida State University (FSU) from 1976 to 2009 and is considered one of the greatest college ...
makes a cameo appearance
A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly eit ...
. Days after its release it was shown on ESPN, and an Adidas commercial was made using footage from it.
''Murder of a Small Town'' (2015)
* "James Patterson headed west to ask 'What the hell happened here?' in the PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
documentary that examines unemployment, crime, drugs and high school football in “Murder of a Small Town." The documentary deals with Belle Glade as well as Pahokee.
''The Send-Off'' (2016)
* ''The Send-Off'', a 12-minute short
Short may refer to:
Places
* Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon
* Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community
* Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place
People
* Short (surname)
* List of people known as ...
by Patrick Bresnan Patrick may refer to:
*Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name
*Patrick (surname), list of people with this name
People
*Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint
*Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick or ...
and Yvette Lucas, called an "intimate portrait" of Pahokee, was shown at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...
. "Emboldened by a giant block party on the evening of their high school prom, a group of students enter the night with the hope of transcending their rural town and the industrial landscape that surrounds them." Along with others it was nominated for, it won three awards in 2016: the Golden Gate Award for Best Documentary Short at the San Francisco International Film Festival
The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by the San Francisco Film Society, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in in ...
, the Grand Jury Prize – Special Mention, Live Action Short at the American Film Institute
The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees.
Leade ...
's AFI Fest
The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fun ...
, and the Grand Jury Award at the South by Southwest Film Festival
South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, T ...
.[
]
''The Rabbit Hunt'' (2017)
* ''The Rabbit Hunt'', another short by Patrick Bresnan and Yvette Lucas. It differs from ''Chasing Rabbits'' in its approach to the topic, although the action scenes are similar. The rabbits are driven out of the sugar cane fields by the harvesting machinery, or by smoky, slow-moving fires (humidity is high) deliberately set after harvest to clean up leaves and other waste. The emerging rabbits are killed with clubs, gutted, skinned, cooked, and eaten, or sold to others as meat. Rabbits are a food source for a very poor community; the atmosphere has been called "primitive". "In the Florida Everglades rabbit hunting is a rite of passage for young men, practiced since the early 1900s. The Rabbit Hunt follows a family as they hunt in the fields of an industrial sugar farm." Everyone who appears in the film is African-American. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2017, and won the award of Outstanding Non-fiction Short in the Cinema Eye awards of the Museum of the Moving Image
The Museum of the Moving Image is a media museum located in a former building of the historic Astoria Studios (now Kaufman Astoria Studios), in the Astoria neighborhood in Queens, New York City. The museum originally opened in 1988 as the Amer ...
.
''Pahokee'' (2019)
* ''Pahokee'' is a full-length (110 min.) feature from Bresnan and Lucas. It was shown at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...
. The description of its content is: "In the rural town of Pahokee, four teenagers experience the joys and heartbreaks of their last year in high school. This tightly knit community in the Florida everglades struggles with financial insecurity and pin their hopes for the future on their graduating seniors."
** The film was shown on PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
on February 16, 2021, in the series ''America ReFramed''.
Local media
Pahokee's most recent local newspaper was ''A Better Pahokee'', a free digital e-newspaper, founded in 2013 by Jessie Tsang and Minister Freddie Lee Peterkin. It ceased issuing new material in 2016.
Geography
Pahokee is located at (26.824717, –80.659660).
According to the United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the city has a total area of , all land.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 United States census
The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...
, there were 5,524 people, 1,860 households, and 1,291 families residing in the city.
2000 census
As of the census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
of 2000, there were 5,985 people, 1,710 households, and 1,328 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 1,936 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 25.21% White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
56.06% African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.10% Native American, 0.50% Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 15.20% from other races
Other often refers to:
* Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy
Other or The Other may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack
* ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 2.92% from two or more races. Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
of any race were 29.46% of the population. Whites not of Hispanic origin made up 13.6% of the populace.
There were 1,710 households, out of which 44.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.3% were married couples living together, 22.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.3% were non-families. 18.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.35 and the average family size was 3.79.
In the city, 38.4% of the population were under the age of 18, 10.3% were aged 18 to 24, 25.0% from 25 to 44, 18.1% from 45 to 64, and 8.2% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 26 years. For every 100 females, there were 104.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $26,731, and the median income for a family was $26,265. Males had a median income of $28,859 versus $20,066 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
for the city was $10,346. About 29.4% of families and 32.0% of the population were below the poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
, including 39.9% of those under age 18 and 32.0% of those age 65 or over.
In 2000, 72.78% of the population spoke only English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
at home, while those who spoke Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
made up 26.65%, and those who spoke French Creole made up 0.56%.
Notable people
* Reidel Anthony
Reidel Clarence Anthony (born October 20, 1976) is a former American football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) from 1997 to 2001. Anthony played college football for the University of Florida, and received consensus ...
, NFL wide receiver, 1996 Florida Gators football team
The 1996 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida in the sport of American football during the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season. The 1996 season was the team's seventh under head coach Steve Spurrier. The Gators co ...
, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...
* Bill Bentley, NFL cornerback
A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...
, Louisiana-Lafayette
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette, University of Louisiana, ULL, or UL) is a public research university in Lafayette, Louisiana. It has the largest enrollment within the nine-campus University of Louisiana System and the s ...
, Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...
* Anquan Boldin
Anquan Kenmile Boldin Sr. (; born October 3, 1980) is a former American football wide receiver who played 14 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Florida State University and was drafted by the Arizona Ca ...
, NFL wide receiver, Florida State University
Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...
, Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...
* Kevin Bouie
Kevin Lamont Bouie (born August 18, 1971) is a former American football running back who played four seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the San Diego Chargers and Arizona Cardinals. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the ...
, NFL running back
A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...
, Mississippi State University
Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Unive ...
* Zabian Dowdell
Zabian Dowdell (born September 10, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for Rasta Vechta of the German Basketball Bundesliga.
Born in Pahokee, Florida, he played basketball for his hometown's high school. He played college basket ...
, basketball player for Phoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...
* Rickey Jackson
Rickey Anderson Jackson (born March 20, 1958) is a former American football linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the New Orleans Saints (1981–1993) and the San Francisco 49ers (1994–1995). He led the team's Dome Pa ...
, NFL linebacker
Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...
, New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...
and San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...
, NFL Hall Of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...
* Janoris Jenkins
Janoris Jermain Jenkins (born October 29, 1988), nicknamed "Jackrabbit", is an American football cornerback for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at North Alabama and Florida and was draft ...
, NFL cornerback, St. Louis Rams
The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994.
The arri ...
, New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
, New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...
* Pernell McPhee
Pernell McPhee (born December 17, 1988) is an American football outside linebacker who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the Ravens in the fifth round of the 2011 NFL Draft out of Mississippi State. He has also played for the Chicago ...
, linebacker, Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...
* Eric Moore, NFL Defensive End
Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football.
This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...
, New England Patriots
The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...
* Jorge Labarga
Jorge Labarga (born 1952) is a justice of the Florida Supreme Court, taking office on January 6, 2009. On June 30, 2014, he was sworn in as Florida's 56th Chief Justice and the first Cuban-American to hold the post. He was succeeded on July 1, 2 ...
, Florida Supreme Court Justice
* Freddie Lee Peterkin, minister, soul and gospel singer and actor He now resides in London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. He noted in a recent BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
interview that despite living in Europe for many years, he considers his hometown to be Pahokee
* Alphonso Smith
Alphonso Smith, Jr. (born October 20, 1985) is an American former professional and college football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) for four seasons. Smith played college football for Wake Forest University, ...
, NFL cornerback, Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...
* Antone Smith
Antone Smith (born September 17, 1985) is a former American football running back. He played high school football for Pahokee. Smith was considered an All American 5 star running back and was named Mr.Florida. He went on to play college footbal ...
, NFL running back, Florida State
Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...
and Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...
* Vincent Smith, running back, University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
* Fred Taylor, NFL
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
running back, Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...
* Mel Tillis
Lonnie Melvin Tillis (August 8, 1932 – November 19, 2017) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Although he recorded songs since the late 1950s, his biggest success occurred in the 1970s as part of the outlaw country movement, ...
, country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
ian, born in Tampa
Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...
, raised in Pahokee
* Andre Waters
Andre Maurice Waters (March 10, 1962 – November 20, 2006) was an American professional football player who was a safety for the Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL) from 1984 to 1995. Waters was ...
, defensive back
In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...
, Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...
* Riquna Williams
Riquna "Bay Bay" Williams (born May 28, 1990) is an American basketball player for the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played collegiately for the Miami Hurricanes of the University of Miami, where she ma ...
, basketball player, University of Miami
The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...
and WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks
The Los Angeles Sparks (LA Sparks) are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was foun ...
References
External links
City of Pahokee
"Pahokee" 2019 documentary
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Cities in Palm Beach County, Florida
Cities in Florida
Populated places on Lake Okeechobee
1922 establishments in Florida
Populated places established in 1922