SEARS
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SEARS |
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NAME: Sears COUNTY: Hendry ROADS: 2WD GRID: 4 CLIMATE: warm most of the year BEST TIME TO VISIT: anytime |
COMMENTS:
Located in a remote part of Hendry County, off of State Road 29 between Labelle and Immokalee. Townsite is now citrus and sugarcane land with a few farmers in the area. REMAINS: very little. Possible foundations, none found |
| Sears began 1926 when Standard Lumber Company built a mill in the area about twelve miles south of LaBelle. The town was named after Richard Sears, founder of Sears & Roebuck and owner of Standard Lumber. The mill was built along the path of the Atlantic Coastline Railroad and designed to provide Sears & Roebuck with lumber for their expansive sales of premanufactured wooden housing. Soon after completion however, the sawmill and many businesses and homes in the area suffered heavy damage from the Hurricane of 1926. The sawmill was rebuilt, and the town of Sears grew to have a population of about 500, with it's own voting precinct, two schools, a hotel and a Florida Power & Light electrical plant. The mill itself though proved not to be a successful operation and closed in 1928. The community began to disappear soon after, and by 1937 both schoolhouses were closed. Most of the former town buildings were moved to LaBelle and the Sears townsite was abandoned. Submitted by: Jim Pike |
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