1918 to 1925
Late in his life, William M. “Dad” Bacom established a catfish business and farm on a point that protruded into the southeast corner of Lake Okeechobee. By the time he died about five years later while traveling to West Palm Beach on the mail boat, Bacom had abandoned his vegetable packing plant at the end of the point.
A low earthen levee was completed at about the same time, 1922, from Bacom Point to Moore Haven to keep the lake from flooding crops. When the dike was later rebuilt, Richlands, Inc. convinced the state to build it in such a way that it added 2,500 acres of farmland at Bacom Point, which the company improved and leased from the state. The Pahokee airport on Bacom Point Road is now on the reclaimed land.