Pahokee

Pahokee is a city located on the shore of Lake Okeechobee in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population was 5,649 in the 2010 census.[6]

Pahokee's residents, according to the 2010 Census, are 56% African-American; almost all the rest are Mestizo or American Indian, primarily Mexicans or descendants of Mexicans. In 2018, the Mayor, Kenneth W. Babb, and the other four members of the City Commission are all African-American.[7]

Pahokee was incorporated in 1922.[8] The name "Pahokee" means "grassy waters" in the Creek language.[9] Local residents refer to Pahokee as "The Muck", which signifies the mineral-rich dark soil in which sugar cane, citrus fruits, and corn are grown by agribusinesses. In the 1930s, it was known as the "Winter Vegetable Capital of the World".[10]

The city was severely affected, as were the other communities to the south of the lake, by the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane.[11] Hurricane Wilma, in 2005, destroyed a newly built marina.

Pahokee was founded on the produce grown in the muck, the fertile bottom of the Everglades after part of it was drained in the early 20th century. In 1939, the Federal Writers' Project guide said of Pahokee: "From Christmas until April, Pahokee is a 24-hour town; long trains of refrigerated cars roll out for northern markets day and night." "The streets are noisy and crowded; bars, restaurants and gambling places are never closed."[12]

In 1963, with access to Cuban sugar restricted, a sugar plant was built, and agriculture shifted to the mechanized crop of sugar cane. The plant closed in 2009.[10]

As a result, it is one of two Palm Beach County cities—the other is South Bay—on a list of 13 Florida municipalities in "a state of financial emergency."[when? ] Records[which? ] suggest it has been on the list continually since 1994. Unemployment exceeds 25%. Taxable property values dropped from about $99 million in 2007 to $66 million in 2014. A fifth of the population has migrated in the past 15 years. Dissolution of the city has been proposed.[13]

On November 15, 1996, the old Pahokee High School building, built in 1928, was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.[14]

Everglades Regional Medical Center, at 200 S. Barfield Highway was founded in 1936 as Everglades General Hospital; the current building opened in 1950. The 63-bed general hospital, financially nonviable, closed in 1998 after years of contention, a change from public to private ownership, and three lawsuits.[15]

Adjacent to the former hospital, at 230 S. Barfield Highway, is Glades Health Care Center, a 120-bed skilled nursing facility, with about 70 full-time employees.[16]

Pahokee belongs to the School District of Palm Beach County.

Miracle Village, founded by a minister, offers a small residential community for registered sex offenders, who sometimes have great difficulty in finding housing, or are homeless (see Julia Tuttle Causeway sex offender colony), because of Florida's strict regulations limiting where sex offenders can live. It is located about 3 miles east of Pahokee, on Muck City Road, in a former migrant worker facility, surrounded by sugar cane fields. This helps the offenders better integrate into society and not be a burden or commit further crimes in order to survive after serving their time mandated by the state and being released with little or no assistance from the Department of Corrections.

On December 18, 2009, Damien Cave, Miami Bureau Chief of the New York Times, wrote an article describing Pahokee's economic plight and the town's hopes that a new marina project might help rejuvenate business.[23] There has been a significant move towards regeneration with the re-opening of the Pahokee Marina Tiki Bar and Restaurant now known as 'Pahokee Mo's' and new Dollar General store. Governor Rick Scott also pledged $1.3 million towards the restoration of Pahokee's infrastructure in late 2014.[24] This is in addition to $200,000 pledged by Senator Abruzzo in 2014.[25]

A short by Aaron Kyle. Rabbit hunting as running training for would-be football players.[26] Famous Florida State football coach Bobby Bowden makes a cameo appearance. Days after its release it was shown on ESPN,[27] and an Adidas commercial was made using footage from it.[28]

See under Miracle Village (community)#Banished

See under Miracle Village (community)#Second Chance Sex Offenders.

Bresnan and Lucas are also the makers of Roadside Attraction (2017), which focuses on observers of former President Trump's plane, when it visited Palm Beach International Airport.

See under America Is Hard to See (play).

Naked Came the Florida Man (William Morrow, 2020), by Palm Beach County novelist Tim Dorsey, is set in Pahokee.

As of 2018, there are no active local media in Pahokee.

Pahokee's most recent local newspaper was A Better Pahokee, a free digital e-newspaper, founded in 2013 by Jessie Tsang and Minister Freddie Lee Peterkin.[35] It ceased issuing new material in 2016.

There are no radio stations in Pahokee. In nearby Belle Glade, there is WSWN Sugar 900, a gospel station, and WBGF, which simulcasts the programming of WZFL (Islamorada, Florida), a dance music station. There are three additional stations in Clewiston, Florida.

Pahokee is located at 26°49′29″N 80°39′35″W  /  26.82472°N 80.65972°W  / 26.82472; -80.65972 (26.824717, –80.659660).[36]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.4 square miles (14 km2), all land.

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 5,524 people, 1,860 households, and 1,291 families residing in the city.

As of the census[4] of 2000, there were 5,985 people, 1,710 households, and 1,328 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,109.4 inhabitants per square mile (428.7/km2). There were 1,936 housing units at an average density of 358.9 per square mile (138.7/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 25.21% White[39] 56.06% African American, 0.10% Native American, 0.50% Asian, 15.20% from other races, and 2.92% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 29.46% of the population. Whites not of Hispanic origin made up 13.6% of the populace.

There were 1,710 households, out of which 44.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.3% were married couples living together, 22.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.3% were non-families. 18.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.35 and the average family size was 3.79.

In the city, 38.4% of the population were under the age of 18, 10.3% were aged 18 to 24, 25.0% from 25 to 44, 18.1% from 45 to 64, and 8.2% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 26 years. For every 100 females, there were 104.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $26,731, and the median income for a family was $26,265. Males had a median income of $28,859 versus $20,066 for females. The per capita income for the city was $10,346. About 29.4% of families and 32.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 39.9% of those under age 18 and 32.0% of those age 65 or over.

In 2000, 72.78% of the population spoke only English at home, while those who spoke Spanish made up 26.65%, and those who spoke French Creole made up 0.56%.[40]