LaBelle’s post office opened in 1898, and 5 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 40% of U.S. towns · #112 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
Most of LaBelle was built recently: 0.5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. 5 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 9 buildings. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1958 on, and the census since 1920.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, LaBelle is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns, #112 of 638 in Florida. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of LaBelle’s overall grade.
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 LaBelle’s 27.0 sits above most of its state (89% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 14 historic buildings outnumber those of 78% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B. The pre-1940 share (±0.9 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 LaBelle’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
LaBelle began as a settlement on the Caloosahatchee River around the time of Hamilton Disston's efforts to drain the Everglades with the hope of promoting growth. The settlement, which lay on the western edge of Captain Francis A. Hendry's large Monroe County property, was initially populated with Florida cracker cow hunters and wild game trappers.
By 1891, LaBelle had constructed its first school on the ground of what would become the white-columned LaBelle School, built in 1915. By 1921, LaBelle school was one of 18 accredited schools in Florida. The campus is now Edward A. Upthegrove Elementary School, named after one of LaBelle's original two families.
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.
The LaBelle post office opened in 1898, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does LaBelle rank for history?
LaBelle is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns, #112 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 LaBelle?
5 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Hendry County Courthouse, Old (listed 1990, the first), and 1 historic district, the Downtown LaBelle Historic District, with 9 contributing buildings. 14 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in LaBelle?
0.5% of LaBelle’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1987.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (5), Wikipedia, 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.
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