Okeechobee’s Historical Facts & Developments

History of Okeechobee might look something like a western novel. First Indians came to Okeechobee who built villages near Lake Okeechobee form Brighton and Fort Drum as far south as the Tamiani Trail.

In 1902, when the first part-time post office was opened, the location was called Tantie, after a particularly well-liked schoolmistress. But people then decided that the name should be made from the two Hitchiti words ‘Oka’ and ‘Chobi’ meaning big and water respectively. So in 1911 the name was changed to Okeechobee.

The schoolhouse built in 1909 still stands and has been moved to U.S. 98 North, where it now is part of the Historical Museum. Clifford Clements, a hunter, moved to the area in 1897, married Adline Raulerson and became the area’s first commercial fisherman. He also started a school, built a two-story store and called the settlement Utopia.

Dan McCarthy is another early community leader who arrived in the early 1900’s. He established the Okeechobee Hardware and Furniture Company in 1915, and it is now the second oldest continuously operating business in town.