BELLE GLADE – Foreverglades, a replica of the 1920s steamboat Roseada, found a new home at the Lawrence E. Will Museum of the Glades on Tuesday, July 20.

Sofia Valiente, a writer and photographer who spent 6 1/2 years living in Belle Glade, spent much of that time documenting life in the Everglades Agricultural Area. Many of the thousands of photos she shot during that time will be displayed inside the boat.

The official opening of her exhibit is Friday, Aug. 6, from 10 a.m. to noon. The museum is at 530 S. Main St. in Belle Glade. Beginning Aug. 10, visiting hours for Foreverglades will be Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is free.

Valiente has long held a love for the Everglades Agricultural Area, and she appreciates the many hardships that the determined people who settled the area endured.

“Because of those hardy souls, the northern Everglades went from being a swamp to being a major agricultural area,” Valiente said as she watched a huge crane moving her boat from two 18-wheelers to its new, permanent “mooring” on the north side of the museum.

One truck carried the hull, with its enclosed exhibition area; the other, the wheelhouse. The boat had been stored in Riviera Beach.

“Whether those Glades pioneers were farmers or farm workers, everyone arrived here for the same purpose – to make a better life for themselves,” she added.

Foreverglades and its photos originally debuted in the historic Stub Canal Turning Basin in downtown West Palm Beach. That exhibit ran from the fall of 2019 to Feb. 29, 2020.

Until the deadly hurricane of 1928, produce traveled from the Glades to downtown West Palm Beach via the narrow Palm Beach Canal. Once it arrived at the Stub Canal Turning Basin, the cargoes were unloaded, and the boats used the open area to turn around and head back to the Glades.

“In 2019, I brought the stories of the Glades to its sister community, West Palm Beach. Now I’m gifting the experience to the Glades community and to visitors to the Lawrence Will Museum.”

The non-motorized boat is a replica of the Roseada, the name of the last 1920s steamboat to operate on Lake Okeechobee. Valiente, now a resident of Plantation in Broward County, also published a book, “Foreverglades: From Swamp to Sugar Bowl, Pioneer Days in Belle Glade.” The 171-page book details the rich history of the area and contains many of her photos, as well as archival maps and other images.

The boat’s acquisition by the City of Belle Glade and the Lawrence E. Will Museum of the Glades, as well as its installation, was made possible by the U.S. Sugar and Florida Crystals corporations.

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