LABELLE, Fla — After six years of renovations, an iconic LaBelle landmark is back! The Labelle Heritage Museum - a building that’s been part of the town since 1911.
Fox 4’s Hendry County Community Correspondent Austin Schargorodski works in the area every day, so he toured the museum to show you how it honors LaBelle’s past and what it took to bring it back to life.
Watch Austin's report here...
The craftsman-style building on Bridge Street started as the “Poole General Store,” a hub for the community and the Seminole Tribe. “We have the Indian trading post sign that was on the front of the building,” said Sue Moss, President of the museum.
Moss and the museum’s board said the building has worn many hats over the years.
“It was sold in the 60’s to the O’Farrell’s who put in the Honey House here. Then, the O’Farrell’s sold it in ’98 and it became all sorts of different things like a gift shop. There were two different churches that had service here. After that in 2010 was a foreclosure on the building so the museum bought the building and created the museum here,” Moss explained.
Now, the museum showcases everything from a replica general store to Seminole history and even mastodon bones that were dug up when the Caloosahatchee River was widened. For Sue and her team, it’s about preserving LaBelle’s legacy for future generations.
“We’ve had several people come in here that just moved to LaBelle, and they were so fascinated with everything we showed them,” said Moss.
But, restoring this historic gem took years of effort and community support. “The majority of the way this renovation was done was through community donations. A lot of the community really came together to get this opened up again,” said Lucas Pratt, Oxbow Contractor.
Pratt led the renovation, reinforcing floors, adding upstairs support, and keeping its original character intact with updates like period correct doors.
Now open, the museum is preparing new exhibits focused on LaBelle’s military history. “We had several forts here for the wars,” said Moss. “Fort Thompson - Fort Denaud. Upstairs there are pictures that will come down here,” said Moss.
The LaBelle Heritage Museum is open Saturdays from 10am to 2pm.
