Wauchula, FL is located in Hardee County in southwest central Florida. About 90 miles southwest from Orlando and 90 miles southeast of Tampa. It is the county seat of Hardee county and was established in 1907. The population is 5001 with a median income of $26,000 and a median age of 30. Wauchula comes from a Miccasoukee Indian word "wa-tu-la-ja-kee" which means "call of the Sand Hill Crane". It was once known as the "Cucumber Capital of the World" but now the agricultural crop is Citrus. There are citrus trucks running into town 24 hours a day due to the citrus processing plant located in Wauchula. As you pass it by you can smell the oranges. Wauchula had a book and movie written about an incident that happened here in 1978 when at the Hardee Memorial Hospital two babies were switched at birth. ArlenaTwiggs and Kimberly Mays were switched and sent home with the wrong parents. The book that was written was "The Baby Swap Conspiracy" by Loretta Schwartz-Nobel. In 1991 a made for TV movie was made about the incident called "Switched At Birth". Wauchula is also home to the Florida Institute for Neurological Rehabilitation. A residential therapy facility for patients suffering from severe brain trauma.
Wauchula was one of the communities that took a direct hit from Hurricane Charlie in 2004. 85% of the buildings in the town were either damaged or destroyed causing $750 million worth of damages to the town and no power for nearly three weeks.
Wauchula is a small quiet town. The downtown area is a historical district and is mostly made up of the County courthouse, Chamber of Commerce and banks. The shopping district runs the length of the town on US Highway 17 and, of course, there is a Walmart. There are a couple of good restaurants in town that we will visit while we are here in the area.
Today is a rain day so Tim and I will be reorganizing our cabinets and storage areas in the RV to create maximun space and also doing a deep cleaning. Let's just say we will be "Spring Cleaning" the RV!
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