Okeechobee ( ) is a city in and the

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 ...

Okeechobee County, Florida 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. History Okeechobee County was incorporated in 1917. It was ...

, United States. As of the 2020 US census, the city's population was 5,254. The

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 ...

area was severely damaged in the 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane, the first recorded Category 5 hurricane in the North Atlantic. This was one of the deadliest hurricanes ever to strike the US. Okeechobee is served by the

Okeechobee County Airport Okeechobee County Airport is a general aviation airport located 3 mi (4.82 km) northwest of Okeechobee, in unincorporated Okeechobee County, Florida. - Find the icon of the aircraft. History The airport was opened in April 1940 a ...

History

Okeechobee is close to the site of the

Battle of Lake Okeechobee The Battle of Lake Okeechobee was one of the major battles of the Seminole Wars. It was fought between 1,000 U.S. Army troops of the 1st, 4th, and 6th Infantry Regiments and 132 Missouri Volunteers under the command of Colonel Zachary Taylor, ...

, a major battle of the

Second Seminole War The Second Seminole War, also known as the Florida War, was a conflict from 1835 to 1842 in Florida between the United States and groups of people collectively known as Seminoles, consisting of Muscogee, Creek and Black Seminoles as well as oth ...

, fought between forces under the command of

Zachary Taylor Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850) was an American military officer and politician who was the 12th president of the United States, serving from 1849 until his death in 1850. Taylor was a career officer in the United States ...

and

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, ...

warriors resisting forced removal to

Indian Territory Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United States, ...

west of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

in the 1830s. (This territory was later admitted as the state of Oklahoma in 1907.) From 1918 to 1929, the international drink company

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

had a plant to bottle their drinks in Okeechobee in the current location of Jersey Mike’s Subs .Damages sustained from the 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane was the primary reason they stopped bottling in Okeechobee. In the 1930s, Okeechobee was the commercial center for the surrounding area, shipping hundreds of train cars of winter vegetables annually. It had poultry farms, a catfish shipping plant, and a bullfrog breeding industry. The Florida guide described bullfrog breeding in the Okeechobee region:

Geography

The exact coordinates for the location of City of Okeechobee is at . Okeechobee is located just north of

. Taylor Creek flows through the east side of the town. The area is served by US routes 98 and

441 __NOTOC__ Year 441 (Roman numerals, CDXLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Cyrus of Panopolis, Seleucus without colleague (or, less frequently, year 119 ...

and state routes 70, 700 and 15. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (0.96%) is water.

Climate

Okeechobee 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 ...

( ''Cfa''), bordering within one degree of a tropical climate with hot, humid summers and warm, drier winters.

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 5,254 people, 1,814 households, and 1,316 families residing in the city. Of the city's population in 2020, 6.7% were under 5 years old, 22.5% were under 18 years old, and 17.0% were 65 years and over. 47.7% of the population was female. There were 383 veterans living in the city and 14% were foreign-born persons. In 2020, the median household income was $40,149 with a per capita income of $21,449. 21.8% of the population lived below the

poverty threshold 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 ...

. As of the 2010 United States census, there were 5,621 people, 1,839 households, and 1,152 families residing in the city.

Education

The sole school district in the county is Okeechobee County School District.

Points of interest

On 25 December 1837, Lake Okeechobee became the site of an important battle in the

, fought between a number of

Native American groups, the United States government, and allied militias. The battlefield is now the site of a park, and annual reenactments. In 2016, the

Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival The Okeechobee Music and Arts Festival (commonly referred to as Okeechobee) is an annual four-day music and arts festival. It is held at the 800-acre Sunshine Grove property in Okeechobee, Florida. History The first Okeechobee Music and Arts Fes ...

was organized for the first time. This multi-day, multi-genre music festival attracted approximately 30,000 people to the city in its first year. The annual festival has continued since then, and is planned for 2023.

Notable people

* Janet Bonnema,

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

* Kutter Crawford,

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

baseball player * Evan Neal,

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

football player * Lonnie Pryor, NFL football player * Reggie Rembert, NFL football player * Thomas Rooney, U.S. House of Representatives,

Florida's 17th congressional district Florida's 17th congressional district is an congressional district, electoral district for the U.S. Congress, located in Southwest Florida. In the 2020 United States redistricting cycle, 2020 redistricting cycle, the district was shrunk to only ...

References

External links

City of OkeechobeeEvergreen (Okeechobee) Cemetery deceased records and online map
at Chronicle Cemetery Map {{authority control County seats in Florida Cities in Okeechobee County, Florida Cities in Florida Populated places on Lake Okeechobee 1917 establishments in Florida Populated places established in 1917