Clewiston is a city in Hendry County, Florida, United States. Its location is northwest of

Fort Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it ...

on the

Atlantic coastal plain The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

. The population was 7,327 at the 2020 census, up from 7,155 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city in the Clewiston micropolitan area. The city is located on the south bank of

Lake Okeechobee Lake Okeechobee ( ) is the largest freshwater lake in the U.S. state of Florida. It is the List of largest lakes of the United States by area, eighth-largest natural freshwater lake among the 50 states of the United States and the second-largest ...

, and the Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail (LOST) passes through the edge of the city. It is home to the Clewiston Museum and the Dixie Crystal Theatre. The area has been home to

Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, ...

tribe members and sugar plantations, with the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Seminole Indian Museum located south of the city.

History

The area beside

was once used as a

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

camp by the

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

. The first permanent settlement began in 1920, when John O'Brien of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

and Alonzo Clewis (1864-1944) of

Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa'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 t ...

purchased a large tract of land to establish a town. They commissioned a town plan and built the Moore Haven & Clewiston Railway to connect the community to the

Atlantic Coast Line Railroad The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad was a United States Class I railroad formed in 1900, though predecessor railroads had used the ACL brand since 1871. In 1967, it merged with long-time rival Seaboard Air Line Railroad to form the Seaboard Coast ...

at Moore Haven. Incorporated as a city in 1925, Clewiston would become noted for its sport fishing, particularly of

largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus nigricans'') is a carnivorous, freshwater fish, freshwater, ray-finned fish in the Centrarchidae (sunfish) family, native to the eastern United States, eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada an ...

. Large sugarcane farms were established around Lake Okeechobee. By the 1950s and 1960s, the cultivation of

citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the family Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, mandarins, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. ''Citrus'' is nativ ...

vegetable Vegetables are edible parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. This original meaning is still commonly used, and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including edible flower, flo ...

s and

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

were also important to the economy. The

US Sugar Corporation U.S. Sugar Corporation is a privately owned agricultural business based in Clewiston, Florida. The company farms over 230,000 acres of land in the counties of Hendry, Glades, Martin, and Palm Beach. It is the largest producer of sugarcane i ...

, however, remained the dominant manufacturer in Clewiston, which became known as "America's Sweetest Town". On June 24, 2008, Governor

Charlie Crist Charles Joseph Crist Jr. ( ; born July 24, 1956) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 44th List of governors of Florida, governor of Florida from 2007 to 2011 and as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. represen ...

announced that the state of Florida had arranged to buy for $1.75 billion the company's , including the

refinery A refinery is a production facility composed of a group of chemical engineering unit processes and unit operations refining certain materials or converting raw material into products of value. Types of refineries Different types of refineries ...

in Clewiston. On November 11, the plan was scaled back to $1.34 billion for of

farmland Agricultural land is typically land ''devoted to'' agriculture, the systematic and controlled use of other forms of lifeparticularly the rearing of livestock and production of cropsto produce food for humans. It is generally synonymous with bot ...

, no longer including the mill, citrus processing facilities and other assets. This would allow the company to remain in business and leave open the possibility of preserving its 1,700 jobs. Over the next seven crop cycles, the farmland would be leased back from the state to US Sugar for $60 million. It would then be converted into

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

s and water-filtering areas as part of the ongoing

restoration of the Everglades An ongoing effort to remedy damage inflicted during the 20th century on the Everglades, a region of tropical wetlands in southern Florida, is the most expensive and comprehensive environmental repair attempt in history. The degradation of the E ...

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...

Geography

Clewiston is located in the northeast corner of Hendry County at , on the southwestern shore of

. It is part of the

Florida Heartland The Florida Heartland (also known as South Central Florida) is a region of Florida located to the north and west of Lake Okeechobee, composed of six inland, predominantly rural counties— DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, and Okee ...

region. To the south it borders the CDP of

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

. U.S. Route 27 passes through the center of Clewiston, leading west then north to Moore Haven, and southeast to South Bay. Florida State Road 80 runs with US 27 through Clewiston but leads west to

LaBelle Labelle was an American funk rock band that originated out of the Blue Belles, a girl group who were a popular vocal group of the 1960s and 1970s. The original group was formed after the disbanding of two rival girl groups in the area around ...

, the Hendry County seat. According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, 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 U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, Clewiston has a total area of , of which , or 0.54%, are water.

Climate

Clewiston has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: Cfa).

Demographics

2010 and 2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 7,327 people, 2,532 households, and 1,921 families residing in the city. As of the 2010 United States census, there were 7,155 people, 2,269 households, and 1,643 families residing in the city.

2000 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 6,460 people, 2,174 households, and 1,632 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 2,434 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 75.79%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 10.93%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.39% Native American, 1.18% Asian, 9.64% from other races, and 2.07% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 40.94% of the population. In 2000, there were 2,174 households, out of which 39.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.9% were married couples living together, 12.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.9% were non-families. 18.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.93 and the average family size was 3.32. In 2000, in the city, the population was spread out, with 29.7% under the age of 18, 10.3% from 18 to 24, 28.3% from 25 to 44, 20.8% from 45 to 64, and 10.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 103.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 104.4 males. In 2000, the median income for a household in the city was $37,143, and the median income for a family was $38,652. Males had a median income of $31,139 versus $21,049 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $15,527. About 14.8% of families and 18.8% 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 ...

, including 25.9% of those under age 18 and 7.1% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The following are public schools located in the area, operated by Hendry County Schools: *Eastside Elementary *Westside Elementary *Central Elementary *Clewiston Middle School * Clewiston High School Private school: *Clewiston Christian School Native American School: *There is a tribal school affiliated with the

Bureau of Indian Education The Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) is a division of the U.S. Department of the Interior under the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs that directs and manages education functions. Formerly known as the Office of Indian Education Programs ...

, Ahfachkee School, that has a Clewiston postal address but is outside the city limits, on the Big Cypress Reservation.

Libraries

The Hendry County Library Cooperative in Florida includes the Clewiston Library, Barron Library (located in

, the county seat) and the Harlem Library. All three libraries provide Hendry County residents with materials and general information, and each library has a secondary individualized area of focus. The Clewiston Library has a Florida room to house historical reference material and books pertinent to local and state history. The Harlem Community Library is located in a former school building which also houses the Harlem Academy daycare center and its specialty is a growing African American collection. The Barron Library collects genealogical materials. The Clewiston Library also recently sought and received an LSTA grant to digitize their local newspaper, '' The Clewiston News'' and have the digital versions added to the free, open access Florida Digital Newspaper Library.

Sites of interest

* Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Seminole Indian Museum, south of Clewiston in the Big Cypress Indian Reservation
Billie Swamp Safari
* Clewiston Inn * Clewiston Museum * Dixie Crystal Theatre * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail (LOST) * Tony's Mound * U.S. Sugar Headquarters & Factory

Notable people

* Archie Boston Jr., graphic artist and retired professor. * Steffon Bradford, professional basketball player * Hayward H. Davis, former member of

Florida Senate The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida House of Representatives being the lower house. Article III, Section 1 of the C ...

* Randy Dixon, former NFL football player * Titus Dixon, former NFL football player * Reggie Freeman, former NFL football player * Glenn Glass, former NFL football player * Eric Green, former NFL football player * Deon Humphrey, former NFL football player * Goodwin Liu, associate justice of the

Supreme Court of California The Supreme Court of California is the Supreme court, highest and final court of appeals in the judiciary of California, courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly ...

* Alfonso Marshall, former NFL football player * Roland Martin, professional

fisherman A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million Commercial fishing, commercial and Artisan fishing, subsistence fishers and Fish farming, fi ...

* Anthony Midget, NFL coach and former NFL football player * Dan Miller, former NFL football player * Quorey Payne, former professional

Arena football Arena football is a variety of gridiron football designed to be played indoors. The game is played on a smaller field than American or Canadian football, designed to fit in the same surface area as a standard North American ice hockey rink, an ...

player * Junior Tucker, singer

References

History of Clewiston, Florida

External links

City of Clewiston official website

Clewiston Chamber of Commerce
{{authority control Cities in Hendry County, Florida Micropolitan areas of Florida Populated places established in 1920 Cities in Florida Populated places on Lake Okeechobee