LaBelle, Florida

LaBelle, Florida
City
Location in Hendry County and the state of Florida
Country	United States
State	Florida
County	Hendry
Area
• Total	3.6 sq mi (9.2 km2)
• Land	3.5 sq mi (9 km2)
• Water	0.1 sq mi (0.2 km2)
Elevation	13 ft (4 m)
Population  (2000)
• Total	4,210
• Density	1,169.4/sq mi (457.6/km2)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP codes	33935, 33975
Area code	863
FIPS code	12-37225Template:GR
GNIS feature ID	0285188Template:GR

LaBelle is a city in and the county seat of Hendry County, Florida, United States. The population was 4,210 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 4,480 [1]. It was named for Laura and Belle Hendry, daughters of pioneer cattleman Francis A. Hendry.

LaBelle hosts the annual Swamp Cabbage Festival, which is held in honor of the Florida state tree during the last full weekend of February.

The city is somewhat unique in that the low population of the county makes Clewiston the center of economic activity for the county, but LaBelle is the county seat. For example the only hospital in the county is in Clewiston and all the larger retailers and motels are there too. The governmental departments enable LaBelle to compete somewhat with Clewiston.

LaBelle is known to be a cattle town, with more cows than people in the city.

Geography

LaBelle is located at 26°45′38″N 81°26′21″W (26.760591, -81.439104)Template:GR.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.5 square miles (9.2 km²), of which, 3.5 square miles (9.0 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.2 km²) of it (2.54%) is water.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 4,210 people, 1,440 households, and 995 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,214.0 people per square mile (468.4/km²). There were 1,739 housing units at an average density of 501.4/sq mi (193.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 73.28% White, 11.26% African American, 0.62% Native American, 0.33% Asian, 12.47% from other races, and 2.04% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 31.35% of the population.

There were 1,440 households out of which 32.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.2% were married couples living together, 10.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.9% were non-families. 25.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.26.

In the city the population was spread out with 26.8% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 25.5% from 25 to 44, 18.3% from 45 to 64, and 20.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 102.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $31,642, and the median income for a family was $39,550. Males had a median income of $26,327 versus $21,979 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,652. About 12.9% of families and 18.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.1% of those under age 18 and 15.4% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

• Martín Gramática - NFL place kicker
• Bill Gramática - NFL place kicker

External links

• City of LaBelle Web site
• Swamp Cabbage Festival Web site
• Caloosa Belle newspaper that serves LaBelle, Florida is available archived in full-text with images in Florida Digital Newspaper Library