Barley Barber Swamp

The Barley Barber Swamp, once a vast Bald Cypress forest and waterway in the Greater Everglades watershed, is a 450acre parcel of land surrounded by Florida Power & Light's (FPL) Martin County power plant. The swamp is located just over a mile east of Lake Okeechobee and due west of Indiantown, Florida. The old-growth cypress swamp is named after Barley Barber, a man who lived in the area at the turn of the 20th century. Little is known of the man Barley Barber except that he left the region after he had "trouble with the law."Location and HistoryHistorically, Barley Barber Swamp connected regional wetlands, including the Allapatah Marsh, to Lake Okeechobee, ultimately feeding the Everglades ecosystem further south.The region was once a center of trading for the indigenous people of the Lake Okeechobee area. A 16ft tall sand mound with ramp extensions sits in what remains today of the Barley Barber Swamp. Anthropologists contend that the indigenous culture of the area converged on the mound to trade in pottery. Pottery shards and human remains found on the mound are 300 to 900 years old.