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.
Dr. D.A. Haines built this two-story home in 1919 for C.A. (Aligar) and Nettie Moule from Skaneateles, New York. Mr. and Mrs. James Mason arrived here with them. Elderly friends and relatives frequently visited here, giving it the name of "The Old Folks Home". The Moules gradually sold off their 30 lots here along CR 17A. Mrs. Clayton Morrison later purchased the home, subject to a lifetime lease for Mrs. Duncan McPherson, a cousin of Nettie.
This was the home in 1927 of newlyweds Forrest Smith and Edna Hardy, and was built by James S. Mason. Mr. Smith had become a postal clerk in Lake Wales in 1925 and moved up to postmaster in 1954, a position he held until 1965. Mrs. Smith built the garage apartment after the death of Mr. Smith. Later, the house was acquired by William T. and Loretta McCollum, who owned Home Garden Supplies in Lake Wales.
Grandma Smith's henyard, the lot behind the house, later had a trailer placed on it.
This was built in 1950 and was the home of Mr. Self of the Restanite Motel. It was later acquired by Ed Sickle of Ohio.
In 1919, James S. Mason and Aligar Moule came to Starr Lake. Mason built this house, which was later enlarged and occupied by William and Opal Harrison. A later owner was Mary E. Backus.
Mason was the developer of "Mason Villa", these several residential acres with a large archway at the road. He also built a bungalow north of his main house. The Mason Chapel wing of the First Baptist Church in Lake Wales was named for him after he donated the funds to build a room for the Men's Bible Class.
Lindsay S. and Velma Acuff lived here. He was a builder in Highland Park and constructed the historical landmark, Casa Josefina. Behind this house, James S. Mason had a water tower with a windmill pump. This house was later occupied by Naomi Davis.
Dr. D.A. Haines took an existing one-room house and made it the kitchen of a new house which he built around it in 1926. In 1930, N.L. and Oma Guin moved into it.
E.L. Williams built this home for himself in 1953 on the last lot from the original Moule tract. It was later owned by Mrs. Goldsmith, who sold it in 1962 to Leon and Martha Sniff.
R.B. McNabb built this home in 1961 and its first residents were William and Lillian Tnkler from Washington, DC. It was later acquired by William Watson.
Mr. and Mrs. J.C. Wolcott lived in a house here, and he had his commercial photography studio in a building in the rear. He was the official photographer for Mountain Lake and produced thousands of postcards. The house burned down in 1946, and the Wolcotts bought the house across the street from Mrs. Moule.
G.H. Bell, Sr. and his wife, Naomi, bought the tangerine grove from the Wolcotts in 1948 and, in 1959, had R.B. McNabb construct a house here. They sold other lots to McNabb, who built homes for himself and Harold and Selma Downing in 1960.
This home of William Roth, Jr. was built by Zellers and McCombs in 1959. The land was part of the original lots purchased by R.B. McNabb from the Bell family.
This was built by R.B. McNabb in 1959 for Harry and Nancy Fowler. They sold it to Harry Meachem, who later sold it to Mr. and Mrs. Nate Coffey.
This started as army barracks and was turned into a house for Ruth McCurdy and Flora Coan, a noted area artist. It was later the home of Richard A. Saxon.
Robert Hinman built this home in 1954 for Mr. Mandelkoe, who sold it in 1956 to Col. and Mrs. Harry E. McKinney. Col. McKinney was a public relations officer of the U.S. Constabulary in the U.S. Army of Occupation in Germany during 1947 and 1948. He founded a Korean Military Academy, patterning it after West Point.
On this lot in 1914 was the one-room home of Arthur E. Hutchens, brother of Bertha Hinshaw of Chalet Suzanne. He occupied it alone until it was replaced by a large double house, and he lived in half of it with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. O.B. Hutchens, residing in the other.
The original one-room house was used as quarters for the servants, and then as Mr. Hutchens' office. Artist Zilla Hutchens later had her studio in it. On the grounds was a tennis court. In 1970, the house was sold to Mr. and Mrs. Tony Mark.
Robert Hudson built this house in 1920 and drilled wells with his partner, Leo Zimmer. Hudson built a sky watchers' tower manned by volunteer residents during World War II. Later, this house was owned by Emil R. Jahna, the head of Jahna Industries.
A home was built here in 1947, but it burned down seven years later. It was rebuilt under the supervision of Robert Hinman and was the home of Robert Hutchinson.
Stella Skiff Jannotta, the widow of the founder of the Jewel Tea Company, bought this land in 1926. Loving Italian styles, she had this built to look like a white Italian villa. It has two two-story buildings, a main house, servants' quarters (for the chauffeur, his wife, a gardener, and a maid), and a garage. The villa was constructed by Mr. Shelton, and the landscaper was William L. Phillips.
In 1948, Mr. and Mrs. W.H. Sellers bought the home. Mr. Sellers had department stores in Lake Wales and Bartow and other business ventures in Groveland, Zephyrhills, Winter Garden and Apopka. The home was later renamed Fry Villa.
Mr. and Mrs. Reed Hill had this home built for them in the early 1950s. They sold it to William Christian Pederson and his wife, Vivian, in 1963 and they added a second story. Mr. Pederson had been manager of the Florida Citrus Exchange in Waverly, and was later the president of the Waverly Citrus Cooperative. For his efforts to expand and improve Waverly, he was known as "The Patriarch of Waverly".
W.J. Craig owned seven lots here, and Eugene M. Turner persuaded him to subdivide and sell them. He and his wife, Lavinia Turner, were given first choice and picked the one at the south end, on which they built a home in 1955.
Frank and Betty Scheerer had this home built in 1949, then sold it in 1966 to Morris and Goldie Lipson of New York.
Walter and Lillian Dull sold this land in 1950 to Rahlin A. and Bertha Warren, who built a house on it for his mother, Mrs. Robert Warren. Rahlin's brother, Joseph, had a small citrus nursery on the upper part of the property.
Clarence and Freda A. Gustalson bought the home in 1957, and in 1966 sold it to Dr. Dorothy Kaucher and her sister, Mildred Kaucher. They both enjoyed painting and added a studio.
Berman Johnson built this home in 1962 for Wayne and Lucy Patch, who moved here after operating a hardware store in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. In 1973, they sold it to Mrs. Jack Dortin.
In 1954, Robert Hinman built this house for Mr. and Mrs. Loren D. Stealy. Beginning in 1969, it was occupied by their son, Alison Richard Stealy II and his wife, Norma. The younger Mr. Stealy was a fighter pilot during World War II.
Nearby Lake Pierce was previously known as Catfish Lake, and before that the Indians called it Sar-sho-o-kee-long-wow. On its shore was the village of Chief Tallahassee, who succeeded Chief Chipco, who is buried near here. The village was abandoned by 1891.
Eli Davis settled on the lakeshore in 1914, followed soon after by Walter Norton. In 1960, the Lake Wales Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution erected a marker honoring Chief Tallahassee.
Ken Curtis was the original owner of "The Great Masterpiece", a large work of art surrounded by gardens, visited by many tourists. It was later purchased by the Peninsular of Florida Assembly of God.
Dr. Haines built this home in 1918 for Tom Pease and his mother. His widow sold it in 1951 to Allison Richard Stealy, Jr. and his wife, Norma. They moved out in 1969, and three years later sold it to C.B. and Lois Treloar of Detroit.
Albert Hart arrived from Michigan in 1914 and bought 3 1/2 acres here. He cleared them, planted a portion with citrus trees, and built this house. In 1919, his wife, Cora, and daughter joined him in it. T.J. and Christine Stokes Flagg bought the house in 1967.
Anton Brees, who served as the carillonneur of Bok Tower, originally owned this lot. It was acquired by Alfred Carver of Connecticut, who built this house in 1955.
In 1951, this was built by Robert Hinman from Anchorage, Kentucky. He had a good reputation for home building, and eventually built about a third of the homes around Lake Starr.
C.C. "Pop" Redic sold beverages and operated a filling station where the Big Oak Motel now is. After he died, this became the residence of his stepson, William Chaldecott, who took care of Walter Fromm's groves. This house later became part of the Fromm estate.
Morton Howell built this home in 1954 and lived in it with his wife until 1956, when they sold it to Arthur L. Stevens. It was later acquired by Lou and Vicki Louwsma.
This was the site of the two-story white house of Mrs. W.H. Jackson, a music teacher, which was destroyed. In 1975, the present house down by the lake was completed for Tom P. and Katherine Galloway, with Mr. Galloway doing part of the building himself.
While living on the tract known as Kampong Tasik, Lillian Burns had a barn and garage apartment erected here. While she lived in that apartment, she had the larger house erected in 1936 with the help of Waverly Growers, and moved into it in 1938. She died the following year at the age of 79, one year after buying her first car and learning how to drive.
In 1938, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Howell moved in and started a farm with two cows, a turkey, two chicken houses and a garden. Mrs. Howell's mother joined them, bringing 25 young turkeys by car from Illinois, keeping them in a motel shower stall for the night on the trip. From them, a flock of 100 turkeys resulted.
This land was owned by Mr. and Mrs. A.D. Majors, who sold several acres to John and Hattie Little during the 1940s. They built the first portion of their home here in 1961 and used it during their frequent visits, and in 1970 after they retired they completed the rest of the home. Mr. Little was a director of Florida Citrus Mutual.
Mr. Perez from Cuba was the original owner of this property, later acquired by retired Sgt. Weichers. He sold it in 1946 to Mr. and Mrs. Arthur T. Herrington.
In 1914, Lillian Burns came to Florida from Springfield, Illinois, and bought a 20-acre grove next to Mountain Lake and this 3.4-acre lot. A one-room cabin was built here that year, and enlarged in 1915.
Dr. Robert Delafield Rands and his wife, Minne Frost Rands, designed this home and had it built in 1953 by Robert Hinman. Its name is Indonesian, in memory of the years spent by Dr. Rands in Java. He was a rubber consultant and worked for the B.F. Goodrich Rubber Company in Africa and Asia. They were honored by Cypress Gardens for introducing new plants there.
Mrs. Rands wrote Punki, a children's book about a Javanese nursemaid. She published A Life in Verse in 1969, contianing 70 of her poems. She was a life member of the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs and was a founder of the Lake of the Hills Garden Club.
In 1961, R.B. McNabb was building this house when he was seen by Martin and Edna Dietrich, who were here on a visit. They bought it and moved in during the following January, and continued to own their veneer plant in Merrill, Wisconsin.
Walter and Mabel Fromm came here from Wisconsin and bought this land for $300 per acre. The house and garage were constructed in 1955, and most of the citrus was planted during the next three years. The landscaping around the house was done by C.A. Pickens of Bartow.
This home was built in 1965 for Mrs. Paul L. Blum and her daughter, Mrs. Evelyn Buss.
This home was built in 1962 for Fred J. and Edith Johnson, who sold it in 1968 to Porter and Charlotte Greenwood.
This house was designed by Mr. and Mrs. Wellington Howard, who moved in here in September of 1959 from Eglin Air Force Base.
This two-story stucco house was built during the early 1920s for Col. Gerald Pierce and his wife and daughter. They bought land on the south side of the lake to prevent it from being overdeveloped, and therefore there are fewer homes here than on the north side. Pierce also built a water tower near the house.
After Col. and Mrs. Pierce died, the property was bought by Mr. and Mrs. L.B. Dunham of Pennsylvania. They died, and the house remained vacant for years before it and the next lot toward the lake were bought by Mr. and Mrs. L.E. Tocci, who moved in during 1974.
Dr. Roy A. Crossman and his wife, Edith, were winter visitors in this area since 1937. In 1954, this house was built for them on land bought from the Comptroller of the City of Chicago.
At the end of the grassy meandering road is the guest house built by Strauss Ellis during the 1950s and later owned by his stepson, Harold Gelnaw.
Charles Prince Knill moved here from New York in 1922. His daughter, Dorothy Knill, married Myron Hart, Sr., who built two houses for his sons. One house, later occupied by Francis Hart, was known as the Knill Homestead because it had been the home of Grandpa and Grandma Knill. The other house was owned by Myron Hart, Jr. until it was sold to Stratton Story.
The land on which this house sits was sold in 1914 by Mr. Pennypacker to the W.J. Howey Land Co., which then sold it in 1917 to N.M. and Rose Lipinski. they built several structures on it and sold them to Lewis H. and Mary Stebbins in 1923. They sold to Frank and Katherine McLean in 1935, and in 1944 it was bought by Leon "Kid Lee" and Gladys Barnett. They sold to Dawson Armstrong Walker and his wife, Ara V. Walker, in 1953, and their heirs sold the property to the Blanton family, who moved here from Kentucky in 1955.
Near the road, A.R. Wilson rented a house to Lee Barnett. It burned down. Nearer to the lake is the present house, built in 1974 by Mr. and Mrs. William W. McMahon, and her parents from Chicago, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Miller.
Myron Bishop Hart, Sr. and his wife, Dorothy, built this home in 1926. In 1932, they sold it to Mr. and Mrs. Stratton Story, and in 1942 it was acquired by Jenny Baumgarten. She sold it to William and Cora Lee Roth in 1948. They in turn sold it to Mae Pohle during 1972.
This house was just a small building in comparison to the two-story main house when John Francis sold them to William and Cora Lee Roth in 1941. They sold them to Milton and Clementine Graves, who moved into the small (present) home when the larger one burned in the 1950s. It was later owned by Jerry Bruce Powell.
The land on which the two-story house sat was bought by Claude and Velma Lee Bozeman in 1962, and then they bought an additional lot to the west from Mrs. Wieza. They lived in a trailer and had a garden on the site of the former house, while their house was being built in 1976 on the former Wieza lot.
Robert Hinman built this house in 1955 for Tom Boyd. In 1960, it was sold to the Guglietti family from Connecticut.
In 1885, Robert J. Ruth of Baltimore acquired 1,400 acres here. J.B. Corlett from Cleveland, Ohio, built a home on the southern slope of Lake Wailes in 1917. In 1890, he had visited the area and at the top of the mountain found a mass of iron ore. He concluded that Indians must have brought it there for use in some of their religious ceremonies. He named the place Iron Mountain.
The tower project was conceived by Edward W. Bok in 1922, then the editor of Ladies Home Journal, who bought the land for a bird sanctuary to be established in memory of his grandparents. Milton B. Medary was the architect for this Gothic tower, modeled after one in Malines, Belgium. It is covered by Georgia marble and Florida coquina rock and features elaborate carved screens, friezes and ornamentation depicting fables and human and natural scenes.
The tower is 205 feet, 2 inches tall, with a base 51 feet wide, narrowing to a width of 37 feet. The structure weighs 5,500 tons. From the base, 14 lakes in the surrounding countryside are visible. From the top of the tower an additional 22 can be seen. The sundial carved on the south wall indicates the latitude of the tower's location.
The large carillon has 53 bells designed and cast in England, ranging from 17 to 22,400 pounds. They cover a range of 4 1/2 octaves. The sixth floor carillonneur's office has a practice keyboard and stairs that wind to the main keyboard on the seventh level. The fourth floor is offices and the fifth is a library.
Landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead, Jr. designed the sanctuary, which consists of about 130 acres. Beginning in June of 1923, plantings began to supplement the natural flora. These included over 1,000 live oaks, 10,000 azaleas, 100 sabal palms, 300 magnolias, 500 loblolly bays, and 10,000 sword and Boston ferns.
The project was dedicated by Pres. Calvin Coolidge on February 1, 1929, attended by a crowd of 70,000. During the late 1960s, Bok Tower Gardens acquired a seven-acre property and residence adjacent to the sanctuary. Bok Tower Gardens was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 21, 1972.
The farm on this road was established during the mid-1950s by Andrew Eames of Maine, who built the farm buildings himself and sold brown eggs. Later, it was owned by Robert Klann and it was expanded to include fishworms. When Mr. and Mrs. Herman Hurr bought it in 1972, its name was changed to Ben Hurr Enterprises.
Spanish-American War veteran J.M. Buxton settled here before the W.J. Howey Land Company became involved in the area. Buxton raised free-roaming cattle and planted citrus. In 1910, he deeded for $1 the right-of-way for Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, and in 1912 was the first mail carrier between Bartow and Lake Wales, covering the route three times each week.
This hazardous curve used to be square, but was rounded somewhat when the Scenic Highway was built. The third Buxton house is on a road leading off of it, later owned by William R. Boyd of Mountain Lake. The present house was built by Marion Buxton after the first two burned.
On the other side of the present grove property, F.S. Ruth in 1914 renamed the former Buck Lake, instead calling it Mountain Lake. It had previously been named for the large buck deer that had grazed along its shore. Mountain Lake Corporation was formed in January of 1915 to develop a community designed to attract the elite businessmen of America.
The gated development includes "El Retiro", a home designed by Charles Wait and erected in 1930-32 as one of the last Mediterranean Revival style estates built in this area before the Depression. The two-story home is built of masonry covered with stucco, with wrought iron balconies.
It also includes "El Caserio", the home of Roger Babson. He, the founder of Babson Park, needed a place to keep his library of 12,000 volumes, so he bought the rambling, pink Spanish style mansion. It had been built in 1927 for Alfred H. Chaplin, a businessman from Massachusetts. The home gave Babson room for studying and entertaining visitors.
Frederick Law Olmstead, Jr. was given a free hand in designing the gardens at Mountain Lake. He introduced many callitris trees here from Italy, and they grew to a height of about 60 feet.
From 1948 to 1962, Mr. and Mrs. R.D. Smith operted the Palms Inn here, and then sold it to Mr. Kuder of Winter Haven. The inn was bulldozed by Robert Shields, the Smith house behind the inn was moved to Frodens Rd., and the land was planted with citrus trees in about 1974.
In 1968, Putt boucher started the Pet Motel in the garage of this old home, built in 1916 by her grandparents who moved here from Quebec and Wisconsin. Her grandparents managed the Lake Shore Hotel in Lake Wales, and her father operated the Canteen Club in the Ridge Manor section of that city.
This area between US 27 and US 27A is partly marshy, partly tropical, and now partly drained. It was originally an island, with only one place where the surrounding water could be forded.
The area was farmed by Chief Chipco of the Seminole and Creek Indians, and during the 1880s Cecil Mann drove his cows through here. In about 1900, Mr. Simmons was farming it, and in 1914 Lap Caldwell arrived. His home is near the middle of the hammock.
The Peace River Drainage Canal built in 1916 lowered the water level and made it posible to farm. Caldwell plowed under 100,000 boxes of grapefruits and fertilizer and planted vegetables. He established the Hickory Hammock Campground on US 27 with fish ponds and nature trails under the Farm Recreation Program of the 1970s designed to help the small farmer.
Arthur Kirch built this house in 1938 from heart cypress, and it was lived in by himself and his wife, Margaret. The large oak tree was planted in 1949.
This land belonged to Arthur Kirch as part of the original ten acres given him by his father, Jacob. In 1957, Mr. and Mrs. James Fensermacher built a motel here.
Sylvester "Wes" Kirch built and lived in this frame house. The adjoining Frodens Rd. was formerly known as Loretta Park, named after Kirch's first wife, Loretta.
The first portion of this building was erected by Lon Bartholomew, with living quarters in the rear. C.C. "Pop" Redic bought it in about 1927, and he operated it as a filling station, selling ice cream and soft drinks. When Prohibition was repealed in 1932, Redic added beer to his inventory.
It was acquired by George Manley, and later by Michaelena Wieza, who ran a bar and restaurant here in the 1940s. It burned down, and she rebuilt it as motel during the 1950s. In 1958, she and her daughter Wanda established the Lantern Motel and Restaurant on US 27.
This ten-acre tract was originally the Kirch grove, planted with citrus by Jacob Kirch in 1915. In the early 1960s, E.L. Williams built the two-story concrete block house with a brick veneer for Edward and Maria Estee, importers from New York City. The house has three apartments - one on the first floor, one on the second, and one in the basement.
E.L. Williams moved here from Louisvile, Kentucky, in 1951 and bought this land. In 1955, he built these apartments.
This house was built in 1928 by retired candy maker F.H. Wolfe, who used the basement to make chocolate peanut clusters for sale in Buck Ekeland's store. Robert Hudson acquired the house, then sold it to Pete and Hattie Stokes in 1946, and it was later owned by Kermit Stokes.
W.H. Stokes built this store in 1937, after leasing Ekeland's for four years. In 1968, this building was rented by Shirley Rappold for "Shirley's Pantry", and later it included a watch repair shop operated by William F. Roth, Jr. It was purchased in 1975 by Mr. and Mrs. Lou Louwsma, who called it Louwsma's Country Store, and then Torbert's Country Store.
Gudrun Ekeland hired Dr. D.A. Haines in 1921 to build a house for her, her mother and her brother at this site. Mr. and Mrs. Lou Louwsma bought it in 1976.
The square two-story white building was built by George Kirch. In March of 1915, Emanual and Olinda Ekeland, with their children Gudrun and Leiv Torolv, moved here from Minneapolis. They lived upstairs over a grocery store, and there was a feed store in the back. They received their groceries from Tampa by Seaboard Airline Railroad, with the last few miles from Lake Wales hauled by mule.
The store was leased to W.H. Stokes from 1933 to 1937, then taken back and remodeled in 1940. It remained in operation until 1946.
Ekeland's store was the original meeting place of the Starr Lake Improvement Association in 1915, and the following year an open pavilion was built here by Dr. D.A. Haines and Wes, Arthur and George Kirch. After being damaged by a hurricane, the pavilion was replaced by the Community Club building in 1929.
This was the site of dances and card parties, and until 1936, the annual meetings of the Waverly Citrus Growers Association. Early clubs here were the men's Recreation Club and the women's Willing Workers.
One story of the naming of the lake dates back to 1885, when 17 people had a picnic atop Iron Mountain at today's site of the Bok Tower. On the return trip, the horse pulling the wagon refused to continue at about the present intersection of E. Starr Ave. and SR 17/US 27A. From that point, Mrs. F.W. Ohlinger saw the lake and noted that it appeared to have five points, and called it Starr Lake. There is no accepted explanation as to why it was spelled "Starr" instead of "Star".
In 1914-15, the W.J. Howey Land Company of Chicago bought about nine square miles here from E.E. Ohlinger for $7,200. They had A.C. Nydegger of Winter Haven survey it and set out lakefront lots of three to four acres each.
In 1923, the residents met to deterine the name of the community. They retained Starr Lake for the body of water and selected Lake of the Hills for the community.
A house built on this corner in 1914 was the first in the Howey development. Jacob Kirch had seen an ad in the Indianapolis Star and brought his family by train to Haines City, then went to the Howey headquarters in the Highlands Hotel in Dundee. Property nearby wasn't quite what they wanted, so Mr. Baxter, a real estate salesman from Indianapolis, brought them to Starr Lake. The Kirches bought a three-acre lakeside lot and 20 acres across the highway. His two sons were given five acres each, and Jacob kept ten to develop for citrus.
A sawmill was set up to the east at the end of Starr Ave., and trees were cut from this property for construction of the house. Other building materials came from Lakeland. Kirch planted citrus trees obtained from Mr. Ohlinger of Haines City.
William Henry Stokes and his wife, Tokie Rosetta Stokes, of Stokesville, Georgia, settled here in 1925. After renting two houses, they bought a homestead on what ia now called W. Starr Ave. Son Bill worked at Mountain Lake driving its express baggage truck. Son Henry worked in a store built by William in 1938 near the Ekeland store on SR 17/US 27A. Henry became known as the unofficial "Mayor of Lake of the Hills".
Dr. D.A. Haines built this home in 1921 for Mr. and Mrs. Charles Andregg, who later added a garage apartment in the rear. In the 1950s, John Schneider added the Spinning Wheel Gift Shop, which later became the Spinning Wheel Motel. When it was owned by James and Sue Maggard, it became the Starr Lake Motel.
Bertha Hinshaw, the sister of Arthur Hutchens who lived in this area since 1915, and her husband, Carl F. Hinshaw, arrived in this area in 1923. They started the Carlton Club resort on a portion of the present 70 acres. With plans not yet completed for a major resort, Mr. Hinshaw died.
The present establishment was opened in 1931 by Bertha Hinshaw, who at the time was living in a six-room house here, which she turned into a restaurant. She name the resort after her daughter, Suzanne. A 1944 fire left her with only the chicken house, horse shed, rabbit hutch frames, and a game room over the lake, and the rest was rebuilt in 1946-47. She and her son, Carl Jr., operated the establishment together, and he continued to do so after Bertha's death in 1975.
Five dining rooms are set on 14 levels, with no two alike. One resembles a Viking longboat. The food, especially the soups, is legendary. The 30 guest rooms have a variety of gables, chimneys, hips, turreted peaks, spires, gingerbread, carved belfries, and pastel colors.
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)
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 1980)
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)
Lake of the Hills: Its History, by Mildred Kaucher (Bay Center Corporation 1976)
Yesterday's Florida, by Nixon Smiley (E.A. Seeman Publishing, Inc. 1974)
Yesterday's Polk County, by Louise K. Frisbie (E.A. Seman Publishing, Inc. 1976)
Click here for a copy of the trail rules.