
Port Mayaca (pronounced ''port my-ak-kuh)'' is a sparsely populated place located in western
Martin County,
Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
, United States, on the eastern side of
Lake Okeechobee
Lake Okeechobee ( ) is the largest freshwater lake in the U.S. state of Florida. It is the List of largest lakes of the United States by area, eighth-largest natural freshwater lake among the 50 states of the United States and the second-largest ...
.
Named for the
Mayaca Tribe, Port Mayaca is centered just south of the
Port Mayaca Lock and Dam
The Port Mayaca Lock is a navigable lock and dam on the Okeechobee Waterway ( St. Lucie Canal), adjacent to U.S. Route 441 and U.S. Route 98 at Canal Point, in Martin County, Florida, United States.
It is located near Port Mayaca at latitude ...
s on the Okeechobee Waterway (St. Lucie Canal) at the intersection of S.W. Kanner Highway, (
State Road 76), and S.W. Gaines Highway, (
State Road 15, which is signed as
U.S. Route 441
U.S. Route 441 (US 441) is a auxiliary route of U.S. Route 41. It extends from US 41 in Miami, Florida to US 25W in Rocky Top, Tennessee. Between its termini, US 441 travels through the states of Florida, Georgia, North ...
and
U.S. Route 98
U.S. Route 98 (US 98) is an east–west United States Highway in the Southeastern United States that runs from western Mississippi to southern Florida. It was established in 1933 as a route between Pensacola and Apalachicola, Florida, and has sin ...
).
There are few houses and businesses at this intersection. Most are strung out North and South along Gaines Highway or east along Kanner Highway. In November 2008,
Cypress Lodge, for many years the only
inn
Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway. Before the advent of motorized transportation, they also provided accomm ...
in Port Mayaca, was added to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
.
Post office
The Port Mayaca post office was established on June 7, 1928, and discontinued on June 30, 1958, after which time mail went to the
Canal Point post office in neighboring
Palm Beach County
Palm Beach County is a county in the southeastern part of Florida, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's third-most populous county after Miami-Dade County and Broward County and the 24th-most populous in the United States, wi ...
. Mail delivery for most of Port Mayaca continues to come from Canal Point.
Port Mayaca Cemetery

Located a few miles east of this intersection is the Port Mayaca Cemetery, which was chosen in 1928 as the site for the mass burial of over 1,600 unidentified people who lost their lives in western Palm Beach County as the result of
an unnamed Category 5 hurricane in September 1928 and the flooding that ensued after the earthen dikes surrounding Lake Okeechobee collapsed. Originally operated by a trust set up by the cities of
Belle Glade,
Pahokee
Pahokee is a city located on the shore of Lake Okeechobee in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The population was 5,524 in the 2020 census.
According to the 2020 U.S. Census, ...
and
South Bay, the cemetery has been operated since 1992 by the city of Pahokee alone.
City of Pahokee site for Port Mayaca Cemetery
/ref>
See also
* 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane
* Mayaca (tribe)
* Myakka City, Florida
Myakka City (also Myakka) is an unincorporated community in southeastern Manatee County, Florida, United States. It lies along State Road 70 near the city of Bradenton, the county seat of Manatee County. Its elevation is , and it is located at ...
, a settlement in eastern Manatee County which uses a variant spelling of the name.
* Old Miakka, Florida, is a pioneer era-established settlement in eastern Sarasota County, that shares the same pronunciation of this variant spelled name.
Resources
* Nash, Jay Robert, ''Darkest Hours'', Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1976, pp. 321–322.
References
External links
Okeechobee Waterway bridges and locks
Florida's forgotten storm: The Hurricane of 1928
* ttp://www.cityofpahokee.com/Port%20Mayaca%20Cemetery/Port%20Mayaca%20Cemetery.htm City of Pahokee site for Port Mayaca Cemetery
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Unincorporated communities in Martin County, Florida
Port St. Lucie metropolitan area
Unincorporated communities in Florida
Populated places on Lake Okeechobee