Biohazard Cleanup Near Moss Landing LaBelle, FL

LaBelle is the county seat of Hendry County, a role it has held since the county was created in 1923.

Captain Francis A. Hendry, a pioneer cattleman known as the 'Cattle King of South Florida,' named LaBelle in 1896 by combining the names of his daughters, Laura and Belle.

LaBelle was first incorporated as a town in 1911, and the Florida Legislature chartered it as a city in 1925, with D. A. Mitchell as its first mayor.

LaBelle sits on the banks of the Caloosahatchee River about 30 miles east of Fort Myers, at the crossroads of State Roads 29 and 80.

LaBelle hosts the annual Swamp Cabbage Festival on the last full weekend of February - held since 1967, it honors the sabal palm, Florida's state tree, with a parade, rodeo, pageant and swamp cabbage dishes centered on Barron Park.

The Old Hendry County Courthouse in LaBelle was built in 1926, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is still in daily use.

LaBelle's population was 4,966 at the 2020 census, up from fewer than 1,000 residents in 1950 as the citrus and cattle town slowly grew.

LaBelle has about 1,727 households, with an average of 2.80 people per household, according to U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts.

LaBelle's first school was built in 1891 and replaced in 1915 by the white-columned LaBelle School.

For eight years in the 1920s LaBelle was split between two counties, with the Glades County portion called 'North LaBelle,' until residents voted to reunite the city in Hendry County.