Hardee County is located in south-central Florida. Hardee County was named for Cary A. Hardee, Governor of Florida (1921-1925) when it was officially created on April 23, 1921. Hardee County presently contains 637 square miles of land area and 1 square mile of water surface. The county seat is Wauchula.

Hardee County was hit very hard by Hurricane Charley on August 13, 2004. Sustained winds were running at 149 miles-per-hour with even higher gusts. While many buildings were simply destroyed, most in the county were damaged in some way.

The big business here used to be all citrus fruits but now the area has become "the Cucumber Capital of the World."