Liberty Point Camp
Clewiston, Florida
Hendry County
This site is located in the SouthCentral region of the state.
DIRECTIONS
The Liberty Point POW Camp had been located west of SR720 in extreme SW Glades County, just NW of Clewiston.
Described by an International Red Cross inspector in March 1945 as the “...worst in all America.”, the Liberty Point POW Camp was the first branch camp in Florida. An agricultural branch of Camp Blanding, the Liberty Point Camp opened in February 1944 to provide laborers to the sugarcane industry. The camp was sited near the southwestern shore of Lake Okeechobee with Clewiston being the closest large town. The initial occupants were members of Hitler’s Afrika Korps. Guarded by the 572nd Prisoner of War Detachment, the internees worked eight hour days in the sugarcane fields for wages of $.80/day. Liberty Point has been identified as having the third highest number of escapees. Nothing remains of this site which closed in September 1945.
