‘Snowbirds’
Okeechobee has had a history of tourism dating back to the ‘Boom’
years when it was first starting to grow a little. Some of the
early hotels here were the ‘Lovvorn’ the ‘Northern’, Johnson’s
Daylight Hotel..well, they called that one a *Hotel* anyway, but
the most noted and longest lived of them all was the ‘Hotel
Southland’ built in the early 1920s by Mr. J.G.Macneff.
The Southland was right in the middle of town and in perfect
position to appeal to travelers going East to West or North to
South and vise-versa. In the 20s travel was not as easy as it is
today, you didn’t just jump in the Camry in Tampa and step out of
it in Palm Beach a few hours later. A trip like that could be
figured to take all day and maybe with an overnight stop along the
way…the Southland was waiting for you. Northern tourists then as
well as now were eager to spend the winters down here to escape the
cold and snow back home…the Southland was waiting for you. During
the ‘Land Boom’ years speculators flocked to this area to buy up
cheap land…the Southland was waiting for you.
During the time the old hotel was open it contained a soda shop,
drug store, clothing stores, restaurants, a bar and grill, the
local post office and also housed the first and still only radio
station in the county. The high school proms were held here as well
as theFFA and 'O'Club banquets.
As the tourist base changed to a more automobile driven type, as
cross state travel became easier, as such a thing as cheap land
became nonexistent, the old Southland fell on hard times. As the
60s came to and end it gave up the ghost and was closed down. By
the early part of the 70s it was demolished and a gas station was
put on the spot. After a number of years it too was gone and now it
is the site of the Eckard Drugstore.
The cache can be found south of town and very near a concentration
of these 'Snowbirds'. It is in an ammo can and you can drive very
near it. When placed it contained a logbook and pen, combination
lock, AA batteries, 3pc. screwdriver set, a few more items and a
Travel Bug.