Brief History of Hardee County

Hardee County, Florida: A Brief History

By Spessard Stone


The settlement of present-day Hardee County, Florida originated in April 1849 when on (now) Paynes Creek the Kennedy-Darling Indian-trading post was established. This enterprise ended tragically on July 17, 1849 when Indians killed two of the clerks, George Payne and Dempsey Whidden, wounded a third clerk, William McCullough, and his wife Nancy, and then burned the post.

Fort Chokonikla, meaning burnt house, was subsequently established on October 26, 1849, one-half mile north of the burned trading post. The threat of war abated, and the soldiers who garrisoned Fort Chokonikla soon found malaria and other illnesses their real enemy. In July 1850, the fort was abandoned. (Paynes Creek State Historic Site today recreates the era.)

In the fall of 1854 (now) Hardee County was opened for settlement, but immigration was slowed by the outbreak of Indian and Civil wars. During the Third Seminole War of 1855-58, Fort Green and Fort Hartsuff, the forerunner of Wauchula, were established and garrisoned by January 3, 1856.

During the Civil War, the Cracker farmers and cattlemen, few of whom had slaves, generally wanted no part of the war and, while initially providing its share of men to the Confederacy, in the latter part of the conflict showed an inordinate allegiance to the Union.

During Reconstruction, the region was for a time a Loyalist-Republican stronghold, but eventually became a Conservative Democratic bastion, whose politics reflected its agricultural base of cattle, citrus and vegetable farming.

The main settlements were Fort Green, Fort Hartsuff and Crewsville. In 1874 Eli English, a veteran of the Third Seminole War, Confederate soldier, and merchant, moved from Fort Meade to near Fort Hartsuff, which was renamed English after him.

The arrival of the Florida Southern Railway in 1886 resulted in a boom to Bowling Green (formerly Utica) and English, retitled Wauchula from the Mikasuki word meaning "call of the sandhill crane." Also in 1886, Zolfo Springs emerged, but its growth remained behind its sister towns.

Crewsville and Fort Green continued for a time as thriving villages, but then declined as did settlements in Lily, Limestone, and Ona. Wauchula became the major center of commerce. The citizens were, all-in-all, a hard working, and God-fearing people, with numerous churches, Baptists predominating.

On April 23, 1921, county division of old DeSoto County resulted in the creation of Hardee County. In December 1921, Wauchula was chosen as the county seat.

Hardee County from its genesis has been marked with many talented, enterprising citizens, e. g., Doyle Elam Carlton, Sr., Florida Governor from 1929-33, but, regrettably, the lack of opportunity has caused most of these individuals, including Carlton, to seek their fortune elsewhere.

County and municipal proposed operating budgets, approved September 2005, for 2005-06 included: Board of County Commissioners, $53.05 million; School Board, $81.5 million; Wauchula, $4.965 million; Bowling Green, $2,046,763; Zolfo Springs, $4,332,211. In May 2006, at the close of the Florida legislative sessuion, State Representative Baxter Troutman (Republican) reported the following funds had been approved by the Legislature, suject to Governor Jeb Bush's approval: $200,00 for the Hardee County Courthouse, $235,000 for the regional wastewater master design plan, $245,00 for the regional wastwater re-use master design plan, $250,000 for the job-traing and job-certification project, $650,00 for the Hardee/Bowling Green wastwater service area, $1 million for the city of Wauchula wastewater project, $1.3 million for the the Wauchula Hills wastewater service area, $3.38 million for the the Hardee school system; totalling $6,610,000.

On July 26, 2004 the Hardee County School Board had approved a tentative 2004-05 budget of $69,803,979, attendance for students being August 9, 2004 to May 20, 2005. The Hardee County School Board for fiscal year 2003-04, attendance for students being August 7, 2003 to May 21, 2004, enrolled approximately 5,026 students, for whom there were 671 employees, of whom 433 were instructional employees. The total for all funds for the school budget for fiscal year 2003-04 was estimated at $48,061,268. Salaries for teachers with bachelor's degrees for 2004-05 range from $29,000 for beginners to $44,927 for those with 25 or more years, plus up to $4,500 insurance benefit. For fiscal year 2005-06 salaries for schoolteachers with bachelor's degrees in July 2005 have been tentatively set at $29,500 for tyros to $47,544 for those with twenty-five or more years. School enrollment is about 45 percent white, 45 per cent Hispanic, and 10 percent black. Hardee County, as of November 2003, was one of seven school districts in Florida under the new cap for classroom size. In May 2004, the Florida budget included for a new K-8 school in Hardee County $34.5 million, of which the county will receive half each in the 2004-05 and 2005-06 school years; the Hardee School District's share will be only $7.2 million. In October 2004 and November 23, 2004, contracts were signed with Peter R. Brown Construction Inc. for $35.8 million. The school, the target date for opening being August 2006, will have a capacity of 1,696 students, and will replace Hardee Junior High School and parts of Bowling Green Elementary. It will be located on 60 acres in Wauchula Hills, south of SR 62 and west of US 17. In September 2005, an additional $6.6 million in its annual budget was projected to be received from Florida for the school.

A new $5 million, 30,000-square-foot South Florida Community College Hardee Campus, a 47-acre site at the southeast corner of Sauls Road and U. S. 17, was approved on January 22, 2002. The facility was completed in the summer of 2003, with registration having begun on August 7, and fall classes commenced on August 21, 2003.

Politically, there are, according to Jeff Ussery, Supervisor of Elections, 10,872 active voters, i.e., 6,594 Democrats, 3,154 Reublicans, 1,039 with no party affilation, and 85 other. There are 739 inactive voters, which includes 442 Democrats, 169 Republicans, 121 of no affiliation, and 7 others. (Jim Kelly, "Kelly's Column," The Herald-Advocate, 2A, April 20, 2006.)

The economy of Hardee County is agricultural-based. According to Carolyn J. Coker, Hardee County Property Appraiser, the 2003 county tax roll was $1.285 billion in taxable value for the Board of County Commissioners and $1.378 billion for the School Board, SWFWMD, Peace River Basin and Indigent Health Care. In 2000 there were 13,358 real estate parcels, which produced a taxable value of $539,431,315. Of this, $233,074,438, or 42.91% was assessed agricultural. Of its 403,200 acres, 345,000 acres are agricultural. There are 54,961 acres of citrus, which produced in the 2002-2003 season 17,485,000 boxes, with an on-tree value of $100,000,000, an economic impact of over $500,000,000. In 2002, the county ranked as ninth in the U. S. in beef cattle and sixth in Florida with 50,000 beef and 9,400 dairy cattle, which were pastured on 227,882 acres, of which 38,496 acres are improved. In January 2002, there were 446 cattle ranches, and there are presently ten dairy ranches. Additionally there are 79,500 acres of timber land. In the spring of 2002, there were 1,900 acres in vegetables, as follows: 500 in cucumbers, 500 in watermelons, 300 in peppers, 200 in green squash, 150 in yellow squash, 150 in beans, 100 in tomatoes. In the fall of 2002, 1,560 acres were set aside for vegetable farming, with acreage as follows: 500 in cucumbers, 300 in green peppers, 200 in green squash, 150 in yellow squash, 140 in beans, 100 in tomatoes, 100 in watermelons, 70 in strawberries.

In recent years the economy has diversified. According to Carolyn J. Coker, Hardee County Propert Appraiser, phosphate companies in June 2002 owned 111,901 acres, as follows: IMC, 49,746 acres; CF Industries, 24,617 acres; Cargill, 21,574 acres; Farmland Hydro LP, 14,752 acres; and US Agri Chemicals, 1, 212 acres. Established in 1991 was the Hardee Correctional Institution, which now has over 1,000 inmates. There is a neurological center, Florida Institute for Neurological Rehabilitation, Inc. In the northwest edge of the county Seminole's Payne Creek Generating Station began generating power on January 1, 2002; also, the Vandolah Power Plant has been completed. Two natural gas pipelines crosses the county. Florida Gas Transmission Co.'s line parallels CR 63 S (Ona-Fort Green Road) on its way to Fort Myers. Gulfstream Natural Gas System in about May 2002 completed placing its lines across the northern rim of the county. The county has further become a haven for snow birds with over 3,000 spaces for recreational vehicle parking. There are Kash n' Karry and Winn-Dixie grocery chains and the omnipresent Wal-Mart, which on July 18, 2001 opened a Wal-Mart Supercenter on U.S. 17 North and moved from its 1984-based Hardee County Centre in south Wauchula. Local government (1997) has 1,001 employees. In 2000, there were 8,166 households, with a 73.4% home ownership rate and a median household income in 1997 estimated at $25,482, with 27.8% living below the poverty level. Main Street Wauchula is endeavoring to revitalize downtown Wauchula, and in July 2003 land was purchased on the south side of SR 62, just west of US 17, for development of an industrial park.

Hardee County's 26,938 residents have bec ome racial more disparate. The 2000 U. S. Census enumerated 9,611 Hispanic (35.7 %) and 2,244 African Americans (8.3%). Accordingly, Cinco de Mayo has become a yearly festival.

Other popular events are Pioneer Park Days, the Hardee County Fair, and high school sports, especially football. On May 6, 2006, Hardee Lakes Park, containing 1,200 acres, with four lakes totalling about 400 acres, had its grand opening. It was donated to the county by then IMC, now Mosaic.

Situated in the Peace River Valley, Hardee County provides a people-friendly home for families of all ages and is posed to advance confidently into the twenty-first century.


The original version of this article was published in The Herald-Advocate of January 2, 2003.

See also these Hardee County goverment links:
Hardee County Government
Hardee County School Board.

See also these other articles by Spessard Stone:
Hardee County, Florida Leaders Of 1932
Hardee County, Florida Leaders Of 1932, Part 2
Hardee County, Florida News Of June 1945
Hardee County, Florida News Of August 1945
Hardee County, Florida News Of January 1946
Hardee County, Florida News Of June 1959
War Casualties Of Hardee County, Florida
Wauchula High School
Wauchula Merchants Of April 1887
Wauchula News Of September 1889
Wauchula News Of October 1896
Wauchula News Of January 1908
Wauchula News Of November 1908
Wauchula, Florida Early History, 1909, Part 1
Wauchula, Florida Early History, 1909, Part 2
Wauchula News Of July 4, 1910
Wauchula News Of March 1914
Wauchula News Of January 1915
Wauchula News Of January 1917
Wauchula News Of November & December 1921
Wauchula News Of 1927

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