Instructions:
1....Print this file.
2....At its end, click on "rules" to see a copy of the trail rules, print it, and then click where indicated at the end of the 3-page rules and patch order form to get back to the list of Florida trails.
3....If you want a hand-drawn map showing the locations of all of the sites, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to Steve Rajtar, 1614 Bimini Dr., Orlando, FL 32806.
4....Hike the trail and order whatever patches you like (optional).
WARNING - This trail may pass through one or more neighborhoods which, although full of history, may now be unsafe for individuals on foot, or which may make you feel unsafe there. Hikers have been approached by individuals who have asked for handouts or who have inquired (not always in a friendly manner) why the hikers are in their neighborhood. Drugs and other inappropriate items have been found by hikers in some neighborhoods. It is suggested that you drive the hike routes first to see if you will feel comfortable walking them and, if you don't think it's a good place for you walk, you might want to consider (1) traveling with a large group, (2) doing the route on bicycles, or (3) choosing another hike route. The degree of comfort will vary with the individual and with the time and season of the hike, so you need to make the determination using your best judgment. If you hike the trail, you accept all risks involved.
This house was built in 1915 for dentist William Ralph Clickener, who came to Lake Wales in 1914. Owners include the Edwards, Hurlbuts, McLaughlins and Hunts.
This Bungalow was built in 1915, featuring paired porch columns, triangular eave brackets, and an interesting gable roofline. It was the residence of C.C. Thullbery and later served as the First Methodist Youth House.
In October of 1918, L.L. Ryan began construction of a large log cabin bungalow for E.D. Ellis, who named it The Pioneer. It was later acquired by Mr. and Mrs. Lou Louwsma.
Sessoms Ave. is named for the Estate of Albert Sessoms, a stockholder of the Lake Wales Land Company.
The Lake Wales Land Company began building a school here in Crystal Park for the "white race" in November of 1913. It was completed in January of 1914, and Maud Blackburn was its first teacher. It was one story with two rooms, and had a high-pitched roof with four dormers. The Land Company added a third classroom in 1915.
The Lake Wales Land Company built another school, beginning with one room in 1914. A second room was added in 1917. After it was expanded to three rooms in 1918, William C. Zipprer bought it and moved it here for his home.
J.F. Townsend was hired by C.L. Johnson in 1917 to build a six-room two-story stuccoed home here, to be used as rental property. He sold it in June of 1918 to M.M. Ebert, and his wife, Lee, who in 1939 sold it to Roy Thompson. Thompson moved it to the 400 block on the south side of Seminole Ave., and eliminated the second story.
The next house on the lot was a modern brick home for the Eberts, completed in November of 1939.
This Colonial Revival style home with a spectacular veranda was built in 1914 for C.L. Johnson. He first visited the area in 1905 and operated a turpentine complex on the shore of Lake Wailes. he was also involved in organizing the Lakes Wales Citrus Growers Association.
Later owners of the house have included the Scaggs, Morse, Stokes and Cardinale families. The house is on the National Register of Historic Places.
This ten-room, two-story frame house built in 1916 was the home of G.V. Tillman and family, who moved in during 1917. Its floor plan is square and it has a mansard roof. To the rear was a separate house with a crescent door, for their domestic help. This home was later turned into a bed and breakfast known as the Forget-Me-Not, and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Later owners included the Howards, O'Steens and Conns.
The hotel located here was the first major building in town, erected in 1911-12 by L.Z. Tate for $20,000. There were 12 fireplaces throughout its 22 rooms. It sat on a four-acre block, with sidewalks on the south, east and west sides. Wide verandas stretched along both the upper and lower floors. There was a widow's walk along the mansard roof.
George E. Wetmore and Sam L. Mitchell were the first northern guests at the hotel, arriving on October 30, 1912.
In 1920, ten additional rooms were added and the hotel was leased to the Mammoth Grove Corporation. It was renamed the Lake Wales Hotel, and then the Stewart Hotel when in 1924 it was sold to Nile E. and Nellie E. Stewart. In 1937, it was renamed the Lake Shore Hotel, and in 1952 it became the Plantation Inn. It burned down on May 23-24, 1979.
Built in about 1922, this house has a Colonial Revival style with a Georgian or Adam mode. It was built for Frank Brantley, who moved to Lake Wales from Missouri in 1918 and established an orange grove, and then opened a general merchandise store on Park Ave. He lost the house in 1929 after his business failed. This was bought by W.J. Frink, a lumber company owner. Later, it was the residence of Betty Stanton.
This home built in about 1920 is an example of the "airplane" Bungalow style, which attempts to extend the horizontal plane of the building with shallow, intersecting roofs.
The Methodist congregation organized in 1914 and its sanctuary here opened on October 8, 1916, and was dedicated on December 7, 1919. The following month, they began building a two-story frame parsonage on the property. Bishop Candler appointed Rev. J.L. Criswell as the pastor.
The congregation sold the original church buildings to the First Christian Church of Lake Wales, which used them until they were torn down and replaced by a new complex in the 1960s and 1970s.
This two-story brick home was new in December of 1918, with the A.L. Anderson family moved into it. They later built a photographic studio nearby. Mr. and Mrs. William L. Johnson acquired both, lived in the house, and turned the studio into a funeral home.
Alexander designed the Tudor style house from a drawing on the cover of a pattern book.
The ice plant here was completed in February of 1913 by the Des Moines Bridge and Iron Company for E.C. Stuart.
A small wooden building was completed here in 1917 and was used by the Florida Ice & Power Company. Later, it was acquired by David Hardy of Lakeland and used by the Smith Printing Company.
E.C. Stuart hired E.D. Ellis of Plant City to draw up plans for the settlement's first water works. It was built in 1912-13, and had a 50,000 gallon steel water tank.
E.C. Stuart began work on this plant early in 1913 and completed it in January of 1914. He named E.D. Ellis of Plant City as its manager. In 1917, the plant was moved to the west side of Lake Worth.
To the extent practicable, electric light poles were located at the rear of homes.
A wooden 12 x 20 foot jail was built here in 1917, containing two cells. The walls were six inches thick and the windows had one-inch iron bars. The lot to the north was fenced to impound stray animals. It continued in use as a jail until 1928. At that time, it was incorporated into the new city hall and used as a storage house. It was later taken to the dump.
The Association had its first meeting in 1918, and erected a packing house here near the railroad tracks. J.F. Townsend built the two-story brick structure, measuring 120 x 100 feet, for $16,000. They installed equipment costing $9,000.
A two-story red brick school was erected here in 1918 with building plans drawn by T.H. Trimble of Orlando. When the high school opened in 1926, this one retained grades 1-8.
M. Leo Elliott designed Lake Wales' fourth school, a two-story red brick high school with an auditorium seating 1120. It was built in 1926 by Leslie Pendleton. This school was deemed to be inadequate in 1974 and was abandoned. It burned down on July 19, 1977.
A one-story red brick schoolhouse with six classrooms opened here in 1932. It has been expanded since.
A six-room bungalow built here by Mr. and Mrs. E.D. Ellis was completed in November of 1916. It was later acquired by Mr. and Mrs. Jesse A. Prescott, who built two rental homes to the south. One remains here, while the other was bought by W. Frank Martin, who moved it to another location.
W.L. Springer bought this property in 1919 and had a home built. It was bought by Mr. and Mrs. Ed Cotting, Jr., who erected an apartment house on the property.
Near here was the trail leading to Fort Gardner, 16 miles to the northeast of here on the Kissimmee River. It was established on December 2, 1837, and was named after Capt. George Washington Gardner, who was killed in the Dade Massacre in 1835.
This school was built in 1974 for $2,274,056.05.
This school opened in 1956. It is named after a nearby optical illusion, Spook Hill, where if you place your car in neutral at a designated point, it may appear to roll "uphill".
In 1917, a one-teacher school was established in the Institutional Baptist Church on C St., with Lille Ferrell Brown as its first teacher. It later moved to a Methodist church on A St., and then to this location.
This congregation organized as the First Baptist Church, Colored in 1914 at the blacksmith shop on the corner of Lincoln Ave. and 1st St. The first sanctuary was built in 1921 and the present site was acquired in 1924. The hall on the north side was built in 1947, and this sanctuary was rebuilt in 1954.
This site was acquired in 1936 and the school opened for classes here in 1937. Initially, it handled grades 1-9, and then became a high school in 1939.
The Lake Wales Land Company donated five acres here as a cemetery. The first grave used, for Harry Johnson who died on May 3, 1914, was located near here. The cemetery closed in June of 1920, and the bodies were exhumed and moved to a new cemetery to the southwest.
A.R. Nason started the four-page Lake Wales Highlander in 1916, with subscriptions selling for a dollar a year. It later was renamed the Daily Highlander. The newspaper has been located in this building since 1948.
Malcolm C. Cain moved to Lake Wales in April of 1913, bought that property, and had a blacksmith shop and livery stable built on it. He and brother A.B. Cain operated it and rebuilt it in December of 1914 after it had been damaged by a fire. They moved it in 1916 to the corner of Park Ave. and Market St.
Malcolm was a judge and convened Lake Wales' first court on August 12, 1916.
B.K. Bullard in 1917 hired J.F. Townsend to construct a 30 x 90 foot fireproof building here. It later became the Yarnell Warehouse & Transfer, Inc. facility.
J.R. Hickman of Munich, Indiana, started on a building here in late 1914, which he stocked with wire fencing, fertilizer, and poultry and animal feed. He named it the Lake Wales Warehouse Company, but most referred to it as Hickman's Feed Store. Son Earnest (Ernie) continued the business after J.R.'s death. After Ernie died, the business was sold to Bob and Tom Yeomans and renamed Yeomans Feed & Farm Supplies.
This hotel had 17 rooms, intended mostly for the laborers of the Lake Wales Land Company. This building was erected by the Land Company, and was completed in 1912. Shortly after it opened, Virginia Rederick was born in it, as the first child born in Lake Wales.
The Land Company sold the building in 1914 to Guy E. Pugh and his wife, Blanche, and it became known as Pugh's Hotel. They sold it in 1924 to Mr. and Mrs. Harry Austin. It was later torn down and replaced with a cement building, which itself was later removed.
In 1911, this site was used as a crudely built temporary housing unit for railroad workers.
The library was begun by the Woman's Club in 1920 in the Crystal Lodge, then moved to the Dixie Walesbilt Hotel, then the city hall. The citizens of Lake Wales erected a new building at this location in 1960.
Sessoms Investment Company incorporated in 1906 and bought 180,000 acres, paying from $2.25 to $2.50 per acre. In 1911, Lake Wales Land Company, Inc. incorporated and bought 5,000 of those acres from Sessoms. They hired Allen Carlton Nydegger of Winter Haven to map the area and set out a townsite, two miles square, beginning near this corner. The initial plan set aside 56 acres for parks and several for schools.
The Lake Wales State Bank was organized in 1915 and opened here on December 15. In the northeast corner of this building, Dr. W. Luther Ellis from Due West, South Carolina, opened his office in 1916. He was Lake Wales' first dentist and practiced here until he died in 1947.
In January of 1916, Dr. R.E. Wilhoyte opened his medical office upstairs, on the east side. That same month, J.B. Briggs opened a rail estate office, also upstairs on the east side. In 1919, he also operated the Briggs Insurance Company.
The bank moved in 1953 to the corner of Stuart Ave. and Market St. Two years later, it sold this building to the life insurance company.
T.J. Parker & Co. Bankers was the name given to the first building here, completed in May of 1914. Parker moved his safe and post office here from his previous store. The community's first jewelry store was opened here in 1916 by T.E. Hamilton. In 1919, Fred Scholz moved his barber shop into the building.
In 1920, the building was replaced by the Citizens Bank Building, constructed of buff-colored brick. Upstairs were rental offices, and downstairs was the bank which opened on March 22, 1921, with T.J. Parker as its president.
The first attorney in Lake Wales was Henry J. Crawford from Albany, New York. He opened his office in 1922 on the second floor of the bank.
The Board of Trade was formed in 1915 with B.K. Bullard as its president. They sponsored the erection of a 32-foot with electric arch sign connecting these corners, first illuminated in June of 1916. "Welcome to Lake Wales" was spelled out by 320 multicolored flashing lights.
Thomas Jefferson Parker and his wife, Julian Hankins Parker, were the first settlers to buy land and settle here. L.Z. Tate of Bartow built them a large two-story building, with the Parker General Store on the first floor and their residence upstairs. Mr. Parker was Lake Wales' first storekeeper, notary, banker, postmaster, and recorder of deaths and births.
The first post ofice was established in a niche in the front west corner of the store. In the southeast corner of the store, Parker had a cement block poured and placed a safe on it. When B.K. Bullard bought the contents of the store, Parker retained the post office and safe areas here until 1914.
In December of 1914, this one-story building opened and B.K. Bullard moved his general store into it. He installed an ice box and opened a meat market. Later in the year, he moved his stock out to another location.
The Highland Telephone Company moved the telephone exchange here in 1917. Also in 1917, C.D. Ahl bought a half interest in Bullard's General Store, and sold it back to him six months later. Bullard sold the store to W.T. Rinaldi in October of 1917, and it was renamed the Polk County Supply Company.
For a time, M.R. "Doc" Anderson had a drug store here, and when he moved out in 1920 that space was taken over by R.N. Jones & Son, which moved its stock from the Racket Store.
Later, the building was rented to Tyler Office Supply, Inc.
R.N. Jones, who arrived here in 1913, hired George and T.L. Wetmore build him a one-story frame building here. Jones opened for business with a stock of hardware. The building and the store inventory were bought in 1915 by M.M. Ebert and O'Bannon L. Huffaker, who renamed it Ebert & Huffaker Hardware. They moved the stock to the Rhodes building.
On the west side of the building in March of 1916, W.M. Martin and Mr. Bohner opened the village's first bakery, which they sold to Mary Caroline Haynes and son, Guy Haynes, in 1917. They sold it to J.C. Henry in 1919. The east half was the office of the Lake Wales Highlander for a time, and then was rented to G.S. Thompson, who installed a lunch counter, which by the end of 1919 was the McClendon Restaurant, owned by Mr. and Mrs. Wiley Benjamin McClendon.
J.T. Rhodes bought the building in 1922, and three years later replaced the building with a more modern one. In it, Western Union located its office.
T.J. Parker completed a two-story brick Masonry Vernacular style building here in April of 1920. The Parker family moved into the second floor and the Lake Wales Pharmacy moved into the first. In subsequent years, it was owned and occupied by Murray's Pharmacy, Inc. It later housed Forum II and Steedley's Upholstery, with three apartments upstairs.
Jessie T. Rhodes had L.H. Parker and his son, Bob Parker, erect a one-story building for him in 1920. Park Ave., as well as the rest of downtown Lake Wales, was platted by Allen Carlton Nydegger of Winter Haven. G.V. Tillman had wanted streets with a width of 50 feet, but Nydegger persuaded him to allow this and Stuart Ave. to be 60 feet wide, and Central Ave. to be 80 feet wide.
W.U. Gaskins of Bartow was active early in the history of Lake Wailes for a site to build a turpentine complex.
In November of 1913, he finished a two-story frame building on this lot. It housed his meat market downstairs and his family upstairs. He sold the building the following year to W.O. Edwards of Bowling Green, Florida, who opened a grocery store in it.
In 1914, Edwards added a stock of dry goods and changed its name to Lake Wales Mercantile Company. The following month, he opened a meat market in it. The building was later moved to Crystal Ave.
J.T. "Good" Rhodes began to build a two-story brick building here for W.A. Varn in 1915, and to make room he moved the 1913 Gaskins Building to Crystal Ave. Before the second story was complete, Rhodes bought it from Varn. When finished in January of 1916, the first floor had two spaces for stores, and the second was a lodge hall and large apartment. Each of the upstairs spaces had its own exterior stairway.
In 1916, Ebert & Huffaker moved their hardware store into this building. Huffaker sold out to Ebert in June of 1918, and it was renamed the Ebert Hardware Company.
W.O. Edwards also had a store here, and rented part of his space to William Garlett beginning in May of 1916, for the sale of electrical suppies. Garlett was also lake Wales' first electrician.
The upstairs hall was the site of the first meeting of the Masonic Lodge, held on June 1, 1916, which became their regular meeting place. It was also the location of the first meeting of the Baptist Church on June 25, 1916. For a time, the church paid the Masons $15 per month to rent the hall.
Dr. Mary E. Harwood, an osteopathic doctor from Lake Hamilton, set up her office here in 1918.
The building was purchased by J.E. Means in 1919 for $22,000. In 1920, brothers Ralph and Charles Bishop opened a hardware store in the building. It was later substantially remodeled and renamed the Fellows Building while it was owned by J.E. Griffin, Inc. It was subsequently owned by Joseph Land & Co. of Florida, Inc.
The building has 160 geometric opalescent transom windows which date to 1927.
L.H. Parker had J.T. Rhodes build this in 1920. It is constructed in the Mediterranean Revival style with ball-shaped filials on the parapet wall.
J.M. Mennis had O.F. Cooper construct a building near this spot, which he completed in March of 1916. It was then rented to J.I. Perry of Akron, Ohio, who opened the first ten cent variety store in Lake Wales, called the Racket Store. He sold his inventory to Elmer Ide in July of that year. The inventory was sold again in 1917 to D.M. Barber of St. Cloud. In December of the same year, it was sold to L.S. Acuff, and just one month later, R.N. Jones bought it.
R.N. Jones & Son moved out of here and into the Bullard Block shortly after it opened in 1920. Into the vacated space here moved Fred Scholz' barber shop.
Cooper bought the building in 1920 and moved it to W. Park Ave. Cooper turned it into his home and later sold it to Ed and Helen Brannen, who also moved it, further west on Park Ave. Mennis sold the vacant lot to J.E. Mearns, who erected a one-story cement building on it.
In a two-story frame building owned by Tom G. Taylor, O.S. Peltier in June of 1914 opened the Main Street Garage. Upstairs were sleeping rooms and a large hall. Peltier had visited here from Canada in 1913 and decided to stay.
In November of 1914, Taylor bought a Ford and started a taxi service, operating out of an office on the second story of the building. In the building in late April of 1915, the citizens of Lake Wales enjoyed their first motion picture show, using wooden boxes for seats.
Taylor sold the building to W.C. and Ruth Mobley in 1916, and they had it moved to the rear of the lot the following month. They sold the property to the Cains, who moved their livery stable here, fronting on Market St. In a new two-story building, they opened a garage downstairs, under a floor of rental sleeping rooms. In front of the garage in 1917, M.C. Cain installed a gasoline supply tank, making it the town's first filling station.
This site later became the home of True Value Hardware.
R.N. Jones in April of 1920 hired Lindsey Acuff to build him this two-story brick building. In August of that year, they opened a first class department store downstairs. Upstairs were 14 sleeping rooms and several baths and toilets. It was later owned by Edwin Friedlander and occupied by Toy World.
J. Walker Pope bought this lot in late 1912 and had a small one-story building erected for his real estate office. The business opened in January of 1913, and Pope became identified with the Land Company, although he continued to live in Winter Haven. His son, J. Walker Pope, founded Cypress Gardens.
In June of 1914, Oscar A. Hill opened for business here as the community's first barber and "pressing" agent. The building was sold in October of 1916 to A.R. Nason, who moved his printing press and office into it. This was the home of the Lake Wales Highlander newspaper from 1916 to 1948.
A new building for the Lake Wales State Bank was completed here in 1960. The bank was renamed several times - to Lake Wales Bank & Trust in 1961, Atlantic Bank & Trust of Lake Wales in 1974, and Atlantic National Bank of Florida in 1981.
O.P. Branch had a two-story wood frame furniture store here, beginning in 1915. In the store on July 20, 1916, the local lodge of the Modern Woodmen of America, Number 494, was organized.
Branch sold the store in 1916 to J.C. LaGrange and J. Clarence Etheridge. LaGrange established a funeral home in connection with the store, and in 1917 bought out Etheridge's share. LaGrange sold the store to W.H. Bruce in 1919, and took in Henry E. Draper as part of the firm. Draper eventually became the sole owner. In 1923, Draper moved the business to the Caldwell-Temple Building.
Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Parker moved into their new home here in 1915. Harry Friedlander later acquired it, moved it southeast to his ranch, and this property became a parking lot.
Albert B. and Lena Canfield of Litchfield, Ohio, bought about two acres here in 1913 and had a small cozy frame cottage built for them to winter in. It was completed in March of 1914 when Park Ave. ended at this intersection.
In 1915, it became the home of the village's first telephone exchange. Ethel Alford served as the first switchboard operator. The telephones were not in service on Sundays. The Highland Telephone Company moved out in 1917.
The town's post office settled into its fifth different location here in October of 1940. The building was enlarged by 10,000 square feet in 1952.
This hotel has tall arched windows, a two-story lobby, an interior shopping arcade running from Park Ave. to Stuart Ave., and ornate mezzanine handrails. It shows a Mediterranean Revival style with its ornamented parapet.
One hundred guest rooms are contained in the ten-story, 150-foot tall hotel. The top rises to a point 300 feet above sea level. When the hotel was built in 1912, it cost $500,000.
In 1916, a large tent was erected here by A.R. Nason and Mr. Williford, who also installed motion picture equipment. Movies were shown on Tuesday and Thursday nights.
On June 18, 1926, O.A. Brice began publishing the Lake Wales News as a 24-page tabloid, expanding later that year to a full-size seven-column newspaper. In 1931, it moved to an office on Park Ave.
Later in 1938, it acquired the present Masonry Vernacular building and moved into the western portion of it the following year. After World War II, it expanded into the eastern portion of the building.
This street is named after E.C. Stuart, one of the original stockholders of the Lake Wales Land Company.
This store was the first in Lake Wales to be air conditioned.
In 1953, the bank moved here from the intersection of Park Ave. and Scenic Hwy. It remained here until 1960.
The Board of Trade began in 1915. In 1924, it was renamed the Chamber of Commerce and was located here.
This three-story building was completed in 1923, and became the home of Henry H. Draper's Wales Furniture Store, with a showroom on the first floor and warehouse on the second. The third floor was the home of the Masonic Lodge. Draper bought the building in 1943.
This building was first erected in Dundee, then disassembled, brick by brick, and in 1942 was rebuilt here.
This Masonry Vernacular building was erected in about 1926. The wrought iron posts are a Mediterranean Revival style element. It was used as a grocery store and diner into the 1960s, and later housed a law firm.
This was built in about 1925. The filials on the parapet and the stucco covering are typical of that period.
Mr. and Mrs. C.L. Johnson moved into their two-story house here in May of 1914. It had separate living quarters for their cook and maid, with a privy for their use. On the property was a large barn. The house had a large porch and Colonial style door, with an overhead light and side lights of leaded glass.
Johnson Hired J.F. Townsend in 1917 to build an $8,000 buff brick one-story building on this property, to be used for rental to others. The first tenant was the Wetmore Bros., who opened their Scenic Highway Garage on October of 1917.
This 400-seat theater was built for $30,000 in 1920 by the Lake Wales Amusement Company. It had a covering of stucco with green tile trimmings. The first talking pictures came to Lake Wales on November 25, 1929.
Lindsey Acuff was hired by Bernice Kennedy Bullard to erect a large two-story brick building here in March of 1919 for $70,000. The building was completed in January of 1920, and a portion was rented to M.R. "Doc" Anderson for his drug store, with a prescription department, cigar case, news rack, wall rack and $2,500 soda fountain made from Mexican onyx. Blue and white tile covered the floor. The space was later rented to the Act II Shoppe, Inc.
Other space was occupied by Paul and Shirley Sanford's barber shop, the post office, Frank and Bill Rinaldi, and M.M. Ebert's Hardware Store. The hardware store space later became the home of Morris Hardware, which Bill Morris sold to J.L. "Ted" Holman in 1964.
Mrs. M.L. Wilbur opened the town's first millinery shop upstairs in 1920.
The Scenic Highland Branch of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad arrived from Haines City on June 11, 1911. At this site, a platform and small unpainted shack were erected to serve as its depot. It was labeled "Lake Wailes" after the lake, and the community name was spelled "Lake Wales" after the Lake Wales Land Company.
In November of 1913, the shack was replaced by a larger passenger and freight depot. G.V. Tillman suggested that the "i" in "Wailes" be remeoved, as it might create an overtone of distress. The new sign on the depot was spelled "Lake Wales", and thereafter only the lake had a different spelling.
A building at this corner was erected by L.Z. Tate to be used by the Lake Wales Land Company to handle the overflow from Hotel Wales. As such, it was the first guest house in the community. It was built from the lumber left over from the construction of Hotel Wales.
In 1912, it was sold to John A. Caldwell of Strawberry Plains, Tennessee. In 1968, it was purchased by the Presbyterian Church from Mr. and Mrs. John Morley. The church had the house razed and the land was converted into a parking lot.
The Woman's Club was founded on May 16, 1914, in the Hotel Wales. Its first name was the Merry-Go-Round Club, and was renamed the following year as the Mutual Aid Society. In 1916, it became the Civic League. In 1920, it was renamed the Lake Wales Woman's Club.
A small one-story frame cottage was erected here by the city at a cost of $2,000 to be used for town-oriented gatherings. It was approved by the town council in November of 1919, and was completed the following April. Known as Crystal Lodge, its biggest user was the Woman's Club, which started the library in it during 1920 when Carrie Cundy volunteered her services as the first librarian.
It sat diagonal to the corner of Park Ave. and Depot St., renamed Cypress Garden Ln. on December 20, 1966, and was moved away in 1938. In May of that year, the city gave the club a portion of this block, known as Washington Square, and this clubhouse was built that year for $20,000.
Lake Wales' first church service was held on February 9, 1913, when Rev. Nathan Erskine Smith, associate pastor of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in Bartow, presided in the Hotel Wales. A church building was completed a month later on this land donated by E.C. Stuart. Other denominations also used the building until they erected their own.
The Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church was officially organized on June 14, 1913. The first building was torn down in 1935, and for a time services were held in the Dixie Walesbit Hotel. Later that year, a Gothic style church was completed for $27,500. A $100,000 educational building was completed in 1957.
The church was renamed in 1964 as the First Presbyterian Church of the A.R.P. Synod. In 1968, a new semi-Gothic sanctuary designed by J. Clyde Parlier was built for $439,000 by William Helms. The stained glass windows are from the 1930s.
In 1914, J.J. Johnson built this home for A.C. Thullbery of Allerton, Illinois, who invested in the citrus industry. This house has a Frame Vernacular style with a Bungalow influence.
This house built in 1916 has interesting gables, two dormers and exposed rafters, and is reminiscent of gabled New England cottages. It was built for Caroline Armstrong of Illinois, and was later owned by Earl V. and Olive Norton.
In May of 1914, Dan McCorquodale of Echo, Minnesota, bought this lot and hired Mr. Canningham to build him an all-modern two-story house. He finished it before the end of the year. It was later owned by Mr. and Mrs. Earl V. Norton, Jr. It features a large dormer and shed roof on the gable end. Its being built on brick piers rather than a concrete slab is typical of homes of the 1910s.
After the Bullards returned to Bartow, Tillman and his companion, "Old Jack" Jordan, remained in the area. They pitched their tents and built a primitive kitchen near this corner of the lake.
This house was built in 1915 by E.D. Ellis, the engineer who designed the Lake Wales Ice and Electric Light plants. Its first occupants were the family of B.H. Alexander, the first manager of the Lake Wales State Bank. In 1919, the house was bought by W.L. Ellis, the town's first dentist.
This is a Bungalow variation with the porch beneath the gable end.
After its first service in the Masonic Lodge Hall the year before, the Baptist Church formally organized on July 23, 1917, with Rev. H.G. Kenny as the first pastor. Their present sanctuary was built here, opening on November 9, 1924, with a Greek cross plan and a Classical Revival style. Ionic columns flank the front doors, a dome sits atop an octagonal crossing, and the windows have Palladian style stained glass.
A wing known as the Mason Chapel is named for James S. Mason, a developer living in Lake of the Hills. He donated the funds to build a room for the Men's Bible Class.
This building has been placed on the National Registry of Historic Places.
This Bungalow built in 1920 shows multiple roof planes and intersecting gables.
J.F. Townsend built this house in 1917 for C.L. Johnson as speculative property, and it was then sold to M.R. Anderson, a pharmacist and the first mayor of Lake Wales. Later owners include Hotel Wales proprietor George Swanke and then Joe Ayers. The house features pediments, symmetry and a hip roof characterisitic of the Colonial Revival style.
In 1915, Mr. and Mrs. Bothwell Hugh Alexander moved to Lake Wales and stayed in the E.D. Ellis rental house located on 4th St. When it was finished in 1919, they moved into their new bungalow on this lot. Alexander came to Lake Wales to manage the Lake Wales State Bank, and later his son Hugh Bothwell Alexander was its president.
E.C. Stuart hired J.F. Townsend in November of 1919 to build a home here for the Leroy Dunn family of Bartow. It was later owned by Dorothy Oliver. Townsend was a businessman and civic leader, president of the Chamber of Commerce and a member of the State Road Board during World War II.
A large family-type hotel opened at this site in 1920. On the first floor was an office, a writing room, lavatories, a dining room seating 100, store rooms, a kitchen, pantries, and the owner's apartment. On the second floor were 50 sleeping rooms.
The Wetmore brothers built a one-story modern fireproof garage here in 1920, and added a second story in 1925. It was later renovated by owner Frank Anastasia, adding a more modern appearance. F.C. Buchanan rented space in it and sold Briscoe, Pontiac, Buick, Cadillac, and Pierce Arrow cars. He was Lake Wales' first automobile dealer. It was later known as One Scenic Central.
During May of 1915, J.T. Rhodes built a bungalow here for Guy E. Pugh, who rented it to the W.O. Edwards family. It was moved away in 1927 to make room for the city hall.
This building completed in 1928 has a Mediterranean Revival style with its red tile roof and brick arches at the entryway. It also has cast stone decorative quoining, frieze, keystones, and lintels.
This city was established in 1911-12 by the Lake Wales Land Company, which consisted of E.C. Stuart of Bartow, C.L. Johnson, G.V. Tillman, B.K. Bullard, and Alex Sessoms.
In 1915, Byron D. Flagg and his wife, Hattie M. Flagg, arrived in Lake Wales from Missouri. Mr. Flagg built a home here, into whch they moved during 1922.
This street is named after G.V. Tillman, one of the original stockholders of the Lake Wales Land Company.
A lovely frame cottage was built here in 1921 for Dawson Armstrong Walker and his wife, Vila Hallan.
This Tudor style home was built in about 1938 and features a small second roof over the front door. Later owners include the Taylors, Hurlbuts and Whites.
The round columns on this home from about 1920 are unusual for Bungalows. The French doors and sidelights are also uncommon for this style.
This building was erected in 1919-20 as Crystal Lodge, used as a community building on the lot now occupied by the Woman's Club. It was moved here in 1938 and used by the Chamber of Commerce before it became the Children's Museum. Just across the street to the north is the 1916 railroad depot.
In 1928, a new railroad station was built here for about $51,000, and was reached by 20 foot wide automobile driveways to the north and south, ending in parking lots at the ends of the building. Its first train arrived on November 15, 1928. The pink stucco and red tile roof showed a post-boom Mediterranean Revival style.
In 1938, a loading platform and freight room were added. Passenger service ceased in 1954. Seaboard Air Line and Atlantic Coast Line merged in 1966 to form the Seaboard Coast Line Railway. Freight service shifted to the West Lake Wales station in 1974.
The city took over the building in 1975 and converted it to the Lake Wales Museum and Cultural Center. It serves as a historical resource center for this area. Included in the exhibits are a 1926 Seaboard Air Line caboose and a 1916 Pullman car.
This Mission style building had Palladian arches, giving the effect of a loggia. F.C. Buchanan moved here from Orlando in 1920, sold General Motors cars, and retired in 1956.
This school opened here in 1953.
Mrs. I.A. Yarnell donated land to the Catholic Church, which traded it for this larger site. The sanctuary was built in 1927 with a Mediterranean style, with a suggestion of a Mission type. It was designed by P.C. Samuell of Winter Park, landscaped by A.E. deLeon, and built by R.W. Burrows Construction Company. Mrs. Yarnell selected the name.
This building later housed the Lake Wales Arts Center after the church moved to a newer and larger building.
Elements from multiple styles come together to form an ecelctic home. This one shows Bungalow eaves, Colonial Revival window massing, and a Mediterranean influence in the chimney cap, roofing material and wrought iron false balcony. Built in about 1925, later owners include the Tibidos, Motts and Connells.
This 1925 house gives a villa effect, enhanced by a patio garden surrounded by a low courtyard wall. The house fetures arched doorways and windows and a monitor tower. Later owners include the Tinklers and the Hunts.
This house was built in about 1920 and shows several Bungalow details. There is a large veranda porch with the roof extending from the main portion of the house, plus exposed rafter eaves. Later owners include the Stegalls and Whittens.
The massive exterior chimney, stuccoed exterior and the narrow arched entryway are elements of the Tudor Revival style present in this home, built in about 1925. After the Aldermans, the home was owned by the Bryce, Boyte and Story families.
Features of this Mediterranean Revival style home from about 1925 include the abbreviated tower, arched entryways, and tiled pentroof.
This was also built in about 1925. The abbreviated towers suggesting battlements and the parapet roof are elements of the Spanish Mission style. Later owners include the Woolfolks and the Staffors.
J.B. Corlett visited here from Clevland in 1890 and bought this lot. He moved here in 1917 and had this home built in1925. It is Masonry Vernacular in style with a Bungalow gable-over-gable roof. Corlett is the one who found the piece of non-native raw iron on what was thereafter called Iron Mountain, now the site of Bok Tower.
This Bungalow was the home of J.M. Cissne of Ohio, who moved here in 1919 and had this home built the following year. It features pent roofs which close the gable ends.
Contractor Frank Shelton built this Mission style home in 1927 with a stepped roof and arched windows. Later owners include Charles Tillman, a grandson of one of the founders of Lake Wales.
This is a Mediterranean Revival style home with sunburst design Palladian windows, built in about 1925.
J.T. Rhodes of Indiana had this house built in about 1925 with a Mission style, featuring a curved parapet and tiled visor roof. It was later owned by the McClennons, Hunts and Cranors.
Frank Shelton built this home for plumbing contractor J.E. Swartz, who opened his business in Lake Wales in 1919. This Tudor Revival style home with a steeply pitched side-gable roof was completed in 1926.
This Bungalow was built in about 1925 with unusual projecting wings and a flat-roofed central porch. Later owners include the Manns and Kahlers.
This home shows a Spanish influence and Palladian arches, and the four windows set in the second story have a Moorish design. This was built for George Kirch in 1926, and was later owned by municipal judge Michael Crews.
Built in about 1925, this Tudor Revival style home features a large tapered exterior chimney, steep gable rooflines and a round arched doorway. Later owners include the Phillips and Parlier families.
In 1879, this area was surveyed for the federal government by Col. J.W. Childs, who named this lake after S.I. Wailes, an agent and attorney for the State of Florida. Wailes' job was to obtain title to swamp lands for the state.
G.V. Tillman visited this area in 1902 and found beautiful undeveloped territory. He returned in 1905 with B.F. Bullard, representing Sessoms Investment Company, and his son, B.K. Bullard. They pitched a temporary camp here on the shore. The Bullards later returned to Bartow.
This colonial Revival home built in about 1939 shows symmetrical rectangular massing of windows and a hip roof.
Homer Gibbs of Winter Haven designed this house and L.S. Acuff built it in 1938. It features a polygonal bay extension, suggesting a Romanesque tower. It was the home of Fletcher M. Campbell, who came to Lake Wales in 1915 as the horticulturalist at Mountain Lake.
This house was built by Mr. and Mrs. R.B. Buchanan, who arrived here from Shelbyville, Tennessee, in July of 1919. It was later the home of Mrs. Ben Davis, Sr.
Allen Carlton Nydegger, as the individual who laid out the town, was offered the opportunity to have a street named after him. He thought Nydegger was not appropriate for a street name, so this street has his middle name.
Mr. and Mrs. Fred Manley had a cozy bungalow built here during the 1920s. It was old in 1926 to Mr. and Mrs. Henry H. True, who enlarged it.
Built in about 1919, this T-shaped Bungalow features decorative brackets and wide eaves.
Known as Beacon Hill, this Colonial Revival home was built in 1915 for B.K. Bullard. This shows a low-pitched hip roof and a symmetrical facade. It originally had a buff-colored front created from bricks brought here from Bartow. This home was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
This 1938 shows a Monterey style, popular from the 1920s to the 1950s. It has paired windows, false shutters and a second story balcony.
This home was built for Frank and Blanche Rinaldi in 1918 with Bungalw style columns. Mr. Rinaldi and his brother, Bill, ran a grocery store and meat market. Mrs. Rinaldi opened the Log Cabin Tea Room in 1926. Later, this house was owned by Mr. and Mrs. Stratton L. Story.
This Neoclassical style home was built in 1938, and is dominated by full-height porch columns, somewhat resembling a Greek temple. It was the home of S.D. Gooch, Jr., and later of physician William Hardman.
This Colonial Revival style home was built for Maj. and Mrs. Joseph C. Watkins, who moved to Lake Wales in July of 1919. It was later acquired by Mr. and Mrs. R.L. Johnson.
This 1925 house has the symmetry of a Georgian style Colonial Revival home, but also had Mediterranean details. It was the residence of Harold Norman of Minnesota, who invested in citrus and then managed the Scenic Theater and served as a city commissioner.
H.J. Crawford had an airplane style bungalow here, built in about 1920 with an offset entrance porch and a gable-over-gable roof. Crawford sold it to James A. and Emma Curtis, and it was later owned by the Whiddens, James B. Broaddus, and the Connor family.
This Bungalow built in about 1920 features a full-front veranda and broad eaves with prominent support brackets.
Mr. and Mrs. G.D. Benninger moved into their large bungalow here in March of 1915. It was later owned by Mr. and Mrs. Ira Eckels, Jr.
During 1917, Dr. E.L. Hardman was visiting Lake Wales from Allerton, Illinois. While he was here, he decided to buy land and contracted to have a 1 1/2 story "airplane" style Bungalow home built here. It was completed in March of 1918 with a tile roof of a type which was not common in the area until about 1923. Later owners include the Roach, Keen, O'Byrne and Connor families.
In 1913, hardware and lumber dealer Robert Nelson Jones and his wife, Myrtle Thullbery Jones, moved here from Allerton, Illinois, and purchased a homesite at this corner. They built a two-story Frame Vernacular style home and sold it the following year to Mrs. James M. Sprott.
Lake Wales Land Company had J.J. Johnson design and build a large wooden pavilion here in 1914, then donated it to the city. It included 20 dressing rooms.
South of the pavilion in August of 1916, a boathouse was erected.
This Frame Vernacular style house was the first permanently occupied home in Lake Wales, completed in 1914. It belonged to Samuel Burt Curtis of Minnesota, who worked as a salesman for J. Walker Pope and then acquired a small citrus grove.
This two-story home with mostly Bungalow elements was built by Joseph Bennett "Booster" Briggs, Jr. in 1914-15 for himself and his family. They joined the Curtis and Jones families in the first block of homes on the shore of Lake Wailes. Briggs earned his nickname by being an enthusiastic promoter of the new town.
A baseball diamond became the home to Lake Wales' first baseball team, organized on May 18, 1916.
A Guide to National Register Sites in Florida, (Florida Department of State 1984)
America's Taj Mahal, by Edward W. Bok (The Bok Tower Foundation, Inc. 1989)
Century in the Sun: A History of Polk County, Florida, by Ed McNeely and Al R. McFadyen (Polk County Centennial Committee 1961)
Crooked Lake - Babson Park Rediscovered, by Louis Quinn (Cody Publications 1990)
Crown Jewel of the Highlands: Lake Wales, Florida, by Janyce Barnwell Ahl (Lake Wales Library Association 1983)
Florida Bed & Breakfast Guide, by Valerie C. Bondy (Queen of Hearts Publications 1995)
Florida's Fabled Inns, by Louise K. Frisbie (Imperial Publishing Company 1990)
Florida Historic Stained Glass Survey: Sites of Historic Windows in Public Facilities in the State of Florida, by Robert O. Jones (Florida Members of the Stained Glass Association of America 1995)
Florida's History Through Its Places: Properties in the National Register of Historic Places, by Morton D. Winsberg (Florida State University 1988)
Guide to Florida's Historic Architecture, (University of Florida Press 1989)
Guide to the Small and Historic Lodgings of Florida, by Herbert L. Hiller (Pineapple Press, Inc. 1991)
Historic Lake Wales, by William R. Adams (Southern Heritage Press 1992)
They Built a City, by Dorothy Kaucher (Kirstein & Son 1970)
Yesterday's Polk County, by Louise K. Frisbie (E.A. Seeman Publishing, Inc. 1976)
Click here for a copy of the trail rules.