Hardee County, Florida
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Hardee County is a
county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
located in 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 ...
of the
Central Florida Central Florida is a Regions of the United States#Florida, region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, in ...
region in the
U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...
of
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,327. Its
county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...
is Wauchula. Hardee County comprises the Wauchula, Florida, Micropolitan Statistical Area.


History

Hardee County was created by an act of April 23, 1921 in which the Florida Legislature divided "old DeSoto County" into five parts, forming the Counties of Hardee, DeSoto, Charlotte, Highlands and Glades. The county is named after Cary A Hardee, the Governor of Florida who served from 1921 to 1925 and who signed the act creating the county. The settlement of what is now Hardee County, Florida, began with the establishment of the Kennedy–Darling Indian-trading post on Paynes Creek in April 1849. The enterprise came to an end on July 17, 1849, when two of the clerks, George Payne and Dempsey Whidden, were killed by Indians. A third clerk, William McCullough, and his wife Nancy were also wounded, and the post was burned down. Reports of the attack motivated the U.S. Army to establish a chain of fortifications across Florida, and construction began on Fort Chokonikla on October 26, 1849. The fort was subsequently abandoned in July 1850 due to an outbreak of sickness and never reoccupied. During the
Seminole Wars The Seminole Wars (also known as the Florida Wars) were a series of three military conflicts between the United States and the Seminoles that took place in Florida between about 1816 and 1858. The Seminoles are a Native American nation which co ...
, Fort Green and Fort Hartsuff were both garrisoned in the area. Fort Hartstuff would later become the settlement and county seat of Wauchula. The
Florida Southern Railway The Florida Southern Railway was a railway that operated in Florida in the late 1800s. It was one of Florida's three notable narrow gauge railways when it was built along with the South Florida Railway and the Orange Belt Railway. The Florida ...
arrived in 1886 and ushered in a new era of increased settlement for what is now Hardee County, with many new settlers finding employment working with the railroad, tending stores, farming, ranching and teaching. At the dawn of the 20th century, the county seat Wauchula was incorporated in 1902, and the first bank was opened in 1904. A community group of activists referred to as "Divisionists" first began lobbying for the creation of new counties with the area of "old DeSoto County" in 1907, and after a 15-year campaign, the Florida Legislature separated Desoto into five parts, creating the 638-square mile Hardee County. On August 13, 2004, Hurricane Charley went directly through Hardee County. Maximum sustained winds in downtown Wauchula were clocked at with higher gusts. Most buildings in the county sustained damage, and many were totally destroyed.


Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.1%) is water. Hardee County is located in a region colloquially referred to as " Bone Valley." The region contains most of North America's phosphate deposits and a large portion of the world's accessible deposits. Commercial
Phosphate Phosphates are the naturally occurring form of the element phosphorus. In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthop ...
mining in the region that is now the county has been ongoing since the late 19th century. The Mosaic Company currently operates the only mines in the county with around 10,000 acres near Fort Green and 16,778 acres near Ona, FL. There is controversy over the mining practice and the rezoning and conversion of agricultural land into open pit mines. Land is reclaimed after mining and leaves artificially-created lakes and wetlands. Reclamation standards for phosphate lands include contouring to safe slopes, providing for acceptable water quality and quantity, revegetation, and the return of wetlands to pre-mining type, nature, function and acreage. Opponents of mining say converting agricultural land to phosphate mining is harmful to the environment, increasing background radiation levels, harming water quality and rendering some areas poorly suited for agriculture. Supporters of mining say it is critical to America's food supply and economy, and that reclaimed mine land is better for the environment than agricultural land.


Adjacent counties

*
Polk County, Florida Polk County () is a County (United States), county located in the Central Florida, central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. The county population was 725,046, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, and estimated to be 818,330, as ...
- north *
Highlands County, Florida Highlands County is a county located in the Florida Heartland region of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 101,235. Its county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital ...
- east *
DeSoto County, Florida DeSoto County is a County (United States), county located in the Florida Heartland region of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 33,976. Its county seat is Arcadia, Florida, Arcadia. ...
- south *
Manatee County, Florida Manatee County is a county in the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 399,710. Manatee County is part of the Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, North Por ...
- west *
Hillsborough County, Florida Hillsborough County is located in the west-central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. In the 2020 census, the population was 1,459,762, making it the fourth-most populous county in Florida and the most populous county outside the Miami metro ...
- northwest


Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 25,327 people, 7,991 households, and 5,838 families residing in the county. 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 26,938 people, 8,166 households, and 6,255 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 9,820 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 70.66%
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 ...
, 8.33%
Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
or
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 ...
, 0.68% Native American, 0.30% Asian, 0.06%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 17.99% from other races, and 1.97% from two or more races. 35.68% of the population were
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. According to 2005 Census Estimates the county's population was 50.6% non-Hispanic white, 39.8% Latino, 9.0% African-American and 1.3% Native American. In 2000 there were 8,166 households, out of which 34.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.00% were
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 11.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.40% were non-families. 18.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.06 and the average family size was 3.40. In the county, the population was spread out, with 27.60% under the age of 18, 11.00% from 18 to 24, 28.30% from 25 to 44, 19.20% from 45 to 64, and 13.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 119.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 123.00 males. The median income for a household in the county was $30,183, and the median income for a family was $32,487. Males had a median income of $23,793 versus $18,823 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 county was $12,445. About 17.00% of families and 24.60% 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 30.20% of those under age 18 and 16.10% of those age 65 or over.


Politics


Libraries

Hardee County is part of the Heartland Library Cooperative which serves Hardee County and some of the surrounding counties, including Glades, Highlands, Okeechobee, and DeSoto. The seven-branch library system has one branch in Wauchula. Hardee County Public Library and the Heartland Library Cooperative are also members of the Tampa Bay Library Consortium. Hardee County Public Library was established in the mid-1980s after a group of residents expressed concern that the current small local library was not enough for the growing county. In September 1984 the Board of County Commissioners adopted the Resolution 84-21 that allowed the creation of the Hardee County Public Library. Later in 1997, the Board of County Commissioners signed an inter-local agreement to become a member of the Heartland Library Cooperative. Becoming a member of the Heartland Library Cooperative allows the library more resources and materials for its members. In the summer of 2004, the library building was severely damaged by Hurricane Charley and managed to keep its doors open for a couple of years before ultimately closing in 2006 for much-needed repairs. The library reopened its doors in January 2007. The library went from 5,800 square feet in 1984 to 15,680 square feet in 2007. It circulates an average of 71,251 items per year to 27,652 residents. In addition to traditional materials and online resources, the Hardee County Public Library contains archives from the Florida Advocate and Herald-Advocate (local newspapers) on microfilm as well as Wauchula City Directories from the 1970s-to 1980s. A library card is free for people who reside in Hardee County and other participating counties in the Heartland Library Cooperative.


Cities

*
Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...
* Wauchula


Town

* Zolfo Springs


Census-designated places

* Fort Green * Fort Green Springs * Gardner * Lemon Grove *
Limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
* Ona


Other unincorporated communities

* Crewsville * Lake Dale * Oak Grove * Popash * Sweetwater Ranch * Village of Charlie Creek


Transportation


Airports

* Wauchula Municipal Airport


Major highways

* U.S. Route 17 * State Road 62 * State Road 64 * State Road 66 * State Road 636


Government and infrastructure

Hardee Correctional Institution is in an
unincorporated area An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
in the county.


Education

The Hardee County School District is the sole school district of the county. Its education system consists of nine schools that serve approximately 5,300 students. The district has five elementary schools, one junior high school, one high school, one alternative school, and one adult/community school. Hardee Senior High and Hardee Junior High are situated in Wauchula, while the preschools and elementary schools are located in
Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...
, Hilltop, North Wauchula, Wauchula, and Zolfo Springs. The District is diverse, with a minority enrollment of 70%, 47.9% of whom come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. The high school graduation rate in the county (91%) is above the state average of 87.3%. South Florida State College is a public college serving Hardee, Highlands and DeSoto Counties. Its Hardee campus is in Bowling Green.


See also

*
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 ...
* National Register of Historic Places listings in Hardee County, Florida


Notes


References


External links


Government links/constitutional offices


Hardee County Board of County Commissioners
official website
Hardee County Supervisor of Elections

Hardee County Property Appraiser

Hardee County Sheriff's Office

Hardee County Tax Collector


Special districts


Hardee County Public Schools

Southwest Florida Water Management District

Heartland Library Cooperative


Judicial branch


Hardee County Clerk of Courts
(Official Site)

serving Hardee, Highlands, and Polk counties

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20041212092900/http://jud10.org/ Circuit and County Court for the 10th Judicial Circuit of Florida


Museum and library resources


''Heartland Library Cooperative''
Hardee County is part of the Heartland Library Cooperative
''The Herald-Advocate''
the local newspaper for Hardee County, Florida fully and openly available in th
Florida Digital Newspaper Library


Other resources


Photos of Damage from Hurricane Charley at FloridaDisaster.org
{{authority control Florida counties 1921 establishments in Florida Populated places established in 1921 Micropolitan areas of Florida