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CHistory
History · Belle Glade

Belle Glade’s post office opened in 1921, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 26% of U.S. towns · #199 of 638 in Florida. What drives it

Most of Belle Glade was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Its Register listing is the Old Belle Glade Town Hall. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1970 on, and the census since 1930.

1921first post office
1on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
34famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Belle Glade’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Belle Glade began

When was Belle Glade founded?

1921

The Belle Glade post office opened in 1921, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1925.

First census: 926 in 19302020 census: 16,698105 years

How historic is Belle Glade?

C

More historic than 26% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Belle Glade post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1925.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Belle Glade’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Belle Glade is more historic than 26% of U.S. towns, #199 of 638 in Florida. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Belle Glade’s overall grade.
Founding era1921, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19405.3% of homes (±2.8) · typical FL town 0.6% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register1 listing, 0.6 per 10,000 residents · typical FL town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 26%
NewerOlder
Florida towns of 2,500+ (638)Ahead of 69%

Few Florida towns list much on the Register (a typical Florida town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Belle Glade’s 0.6 sits above most of its state (70% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C+. The pre-1940 share (±2.8 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1925 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Belle Glade’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages10 hamlets and corners are still on the map.A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers, 1928–1941.Famous sons and daughtersSantonio Holmes, Kelvin Benjamin and 32 more were born here.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Belle Glade’s post office has been open since 1921.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Beardens Trailer ParkGladeview Mobile Home ParkHesters Mobile Home ParkJohnsons Trailer ParkLewis Trailer ParkMid City Trailer ParkMohr's Trailer ParkMotes Mobile Home ParkTillmans Mobile Home ParkTwin Palms Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Glades Correctional Institutionbuilding
1cemetery inside Belle Glade
Foreverglades Mausoleum Gardens

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

By decade

Belle Glade, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1920s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s–1930s7 items
1928 Okeechobee Aftermath 2219281928 Okeechobee Aftermath 221928 Okeechobee Aftermath 719281928 Okeechobee Aftermath 7Automotive garage, demolished by the hurricane of 19281928Automotive garage, demolished by the hurricane of 1928Zora Neale Hurston and unidentified man 19351935Zora Neale Hurston and unidentified man 1935Migratory workers fishing to eat, Belle Glade, Florida, Janu1939Migratory workers fishing to eat, Belle Glade, Florid…Vegetable pickers, migrants, waiting after work to be paid1939Vegetable pickers, migrants, waiting after work to be…WhiteAndColoredServedBelleGlade1939WhiteAndColoredServedBelleGlade
1940s5 items
Florida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)]1940Florida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)]Florida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)]1940Florida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)]Florida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)]1940Florida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)]African American migratory workers by a 'juke joint'. Belle Glade, Florida, February 19411941African American migratory workers by a 'juke joint'.…FSA JukeJoint1941FSA JukeJoint
1950s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Famous people

34 famous people were born in Belle Glade

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Santonio HolmesAmerican football wide receiver · b. 1984
Kelvin BenjaminAmerican football player · b. 1991
Barkevious MingoAmerican football player · b. 1990
C
Carl WilliamsAmerican boxer · b. 1959
J
Joe StrawderAmerican basketball player · b. 1940
Brad BanksAmerican gridiron football player · b. 1980
The story

How Belle Glade came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Belle Glade.

Read it all →

The Belle Glade or Okeechobee culture was an archaeological culture that extended around Lake Okeechobee and included the lower Kissimmee River valley. It existed from as early as 1000 BCE until about 1700 CE. The culture is named for the Belle Glade site, which was excavated in the mid-1930s as part of a Civil Works Administration project. The Belle Glade site included a midden and a burial mound.

ChaptersPre-historicSettlement1928 hurricaneWorld War IIHIV/AIDSIn recent years

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Belle Glade, 1921 to 1991

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1921Post officeThe Belle Glade post office opens
  3. 1928In the archive1928 Okeechobee Aftermath 22
  4. 1935In the archiveZora Neale Hurston and unidentified man 1935
  5. 1940In the archiveFlorida [Hamilton County - Sarasota County (part)]
  6. 1959Born hereCarl Williams is born here
  7. 1970On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1984Born hereSantonio Holmes is born here
  9. 1990Born hereBarkevious Mingo is born here
  10. 1991Born hereKelvin Benjamin is born here
On the map

Belle Glade on the map, 1970 to 1984

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Belle Glade. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Belle Glade on the 1970 USGS mapBelle Glade on the 1984 USGS map1970Belle Glade sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Belle Glade.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

1928 Okeechobee Aftermath 22
Retake this view1928 Okeechobee Aftermath 22, 1928

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Belle Glade’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Belle Glade

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2014
Old Belle Glade Town Hall
Old Belle Glade Town Hall
Buildings
Old Belle Glade Town HallBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Belle Glade, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,00016,00018,00019401960198020002020Peak: 17,467

Between 926 and 17,467 people in every census since 1930.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Belle Glade’s Wikipedia page.

Help out

Finish Belle Glade’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1928 Okeechobee Aftermath 22: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Belle Glade’s history

What year was Belle Glade founded?

The Belle Glade post office opened in 1921, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1925.

How does Belle Glade rank for history?

Belle Glade is more historic than 26% of U.S. towns, #199 of 638 in Florida. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Belle Glade?

One place: the Old Belle Glade Town Hall (listed 2014).

How old are the homes in Belle Glade?

5% of Belle Glade’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.8 points), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1979.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (12), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.