Glades County, Florida

Glades County, Florida
Glades County Courthouse
Location in the U.S. state of Florida
Florida's location in the U.S.
Founded	April 23, 1921
Named for	Florida Everglades
Seat	Moore Haven
Largest city	Moore Haven
Area
• Total	987 sq mi (2,556 km2)
• Land	806 sq mi (2,088 km2)
• Water	181 sq mi (469 km2), 18.3%
Population (est.)
• (2015)	13,670
• Density	16/sq mi (6/km²)
Congressional district	17th
Time zone	Eastern: UTC-5/-4
Website	www.myglades.com

Glades County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2010 census, the population was 12,884. Its county seat is Moore Haven.

Indigenous people lived in this area for thousands of years. Due to warfare and exposure to infectious diseases after European contact, native tribes became depopulated. In the eighteenth century, when the area was under Spanish rule, Native American peoples of Creek and other tribes migrated into present-day Florida from Georgia. Africans and African Americans who escaped from slavery and shipwrecks also migrated to the area, where they created maroon communities. Some were given freedom by the Spanish in exchange for serving with their militias. Gradually the Seminole nation formed out of these multi-ethnic people. Some African-descended people set up communities near the Seminole and became known as Black Seminole. In the nineteenth century, most of the Seminole and many blacks were removed to Indian Territory after the Seminole Wars, a result of pressure from increasing Anglo-American settlement.

Glades County was created in 1921. It was named for the Florida Everglades. It is one of five counties surrounding Lake Okeechobee and the Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail.