Upthegrove Beach 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 ...

Okeechobee County Okeechobee County () is a county located in the Florida Heartland region of the state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 39,644. The county seat is Okeechobee. Okeechobee County comprises the Okeechobee, FL Micropolitan St ...

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 on

US 441 U.S. Route 441 (US 441) is a auxiliary route of U.S. Route 41. It extends from US 41 in Miami, Florida to US 25W in Rocky Top, Tennessee. Between its termini, US 441 travels through the states of Florida, Georgia, North ...

US 98 U.S. Route 98 (US 98) is an east–west United States Highway in the Southeastern United States that runs from western Mississippi to southern Florida. It was established in 1933 as a route between Pensacola and Apalachicola, Florida, and has sinc ...

, on the northeastern shore of Lake Okeechobee.

History

Upthegrove Beach was named for the Upthegrove (originally Op Den Graef) family, including Union Army Captain William Hendry Upthegrove and others. Robert Upthegrove, later one of the inaugural

commissioners, settled in the area ''circa'' 1912. His son, Clarence Dewitt Upthegrove (Dewitt), at one time worked for

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventio ...

in Fort Myers, and later owned a heavy equipment operation that helped build the

Herbert Hoover Dike The Herbert Hoover Dike is a dike around the waters of Lake Okeechobee in Florida. History In the 1910s, a small earthen dike was constructed. This containment was breached by the storm surge from the Great Miami Hurricane in 1926 and the 1 ...

around Lake Okeechobee and was the Supervisor of Elections for Palm Beach County. Another family member,

Laura Upthegrove Laura Beatrice Upthegrove (October 5, 1896 - August 6, 1927) was a 20th-century American outlaw, bank robber, bootlegger, and occasional pirate active in southern Florida during the 1910s and 1920s, along with John Ashley. From 1915 to 1924, the A ...

, also known as The Queen of the Everglades, was a member of the notorious

Ashley Gang John Hopkin Ashley (March 19, 1888 or 1895 – November 1, 1924) was an American outlaw, bank robber, bootlegger, and occasional pirate active in southern Florida during the 1910s and 1920s. Between 1915 and 1924, the self-styled "King ...

, and was the subject of the 1973 movie ''

Little Laura and Big John ''Little Laura and Big John'' is a 1973 American feature film about the exploits of the John Ashley (bandit), Ashley gang in the Florida everglades in the 1910s and 1920s. Plot Loosely based on the true story about Laura Upthegrove and John Ashle ...

''.

Geography

References

External links

Unincorporated communities in Okeechobee County, Florida Unincorporated communities in Florida Populated places on Lake Okeechobee {{OkeechobeeCountyFL-geo-stub