Wauchula, Florida
city and county seat of Hardee County, Florida, United States
Wauchula is a city and the county seat of Hardee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 4,900. Wauchula has been called the "cucumber capital of the world", although citrus has become a more important agricultural crop over the past few decades. It is home to the downtown's Wauchula Historic District and Albert Carlton Estate.
Geography
Wauchula is located in north-central Hardee County. U.S. Route 17 passes through the city, leading north 25 miles (40 km) to Bartow and south 24 miles (39 km) to Arcadia. Within the county, Zolfo Springs is 4 miles (6 km) to the south on US 17 and Bowling Green is 6 miles (10 km) to the north.
According to the United States Census Bureau, Wauchula has an area of 3.3 square miles (8.6 km2), all land.
Hurricane Charley
Hurricane Charley hit Wauchula at c. 5:30 on Friday, August 13, 2004, causing more than $750 million in damage. Sustained winds of 140 mph (230 km/h), with gusts of over 160 mph (260 km/h), were clocked in downtown Wauchula.
“Wauchula, Florida” enters the record as city and county seat of Hardee County, Florida, United States. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Wauchula, Florida and city can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Wauchula, Florida” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Wauchula, Florida and city provides the most credible route into that argument.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q990844. VIAF identifies the subject as 133688054. The Library of Congress control number is n80060949. Authority coordinates are 27.546, -81.814. 5 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020 and 2004.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Wauchula, Florida”, its source revision and the description used here.
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- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Wauchula, Florida” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.