Glades County, which is actually
just north of the Everglades, was one of several new counties carved from DeSoto in the
partition of 1921. It was almost named "Muck County." Prior to 1921 many
DeSoto residents faced a circuitous all-day journey to the county seat in Arcadia, a fact
exacerbated in the Glades area due to a total lack of highways.  Following a referendum the county seat of new Glades
County was located at Moore Haven, at the site (marked by the famous "sentinel
cypress" ) where the Caloosahatchee River exits Lake Okeechobee. The town had been
founded in 1916 by James A. Moore. Among its claims to fame is Marian Newhall Horwitz
O'Brien, said to be the first female mayor in the United States. Original meetings of the
county government were in space provided
by the county school board. Much of Moore Haven and the surrounding area was destroyed in
a catastrophic 1926 hurricane. The present courthouse, designed by E. C. Hosford, dates
from 1928. |
Updated 10/17/2003