Lakeland
Central Florida

Located between Tampa and Orlando, Lakeland is a town founded in 1882 by Abraham Munn, who purchased 80 acres of land which is now part of the downtown area. The town was incorporated three years later in 1885, and with the building of a railroad depot the fledgling town began to prosper - within a decade there were 25 trains a day stopping in Lakeland. The city founders soon found the area was perfect for growing citrus fruits and in 1887 Ed Tison, a local nursery owner, claimed to have created a seedless grapefruit. Shortly after perfecting this grapefruit, he sold his nursery to C. M. Marsh, who promptly gave his name to the new fruit - and so the Marsh Seedless Grapefruit was born. Strawberries followed shortly thereafter and by 1894 Lakeland was shipping more strawberries than any other area of Florida.

HOME TO THE LARGEST COLLECTION OF FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT BUILDINGS...
The town continued to grow and in 1938, at the invitation of Ludd Spivey - the president of Florida Southern College - renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright arrived in the town. Over the next 20 years Wright worked on his project 'A Child of the Sun', overseeing the building of 12 of the 18 buildings he planned. The college today is home to the largest collection of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings in the world.

THRIVING ENTERPRISES...
Today Lakeland is home to the corporate headquarters of Public supermarket chain, is responsible for the production of approximately 25% of the county's citrus and over 70% of the phosphate produced in the U.S. is extracted and processed within a 25 mile radius of the city.

MUSEUM COLLECTIONS RANGING FROM SIX MONTHS TO 2,500 YEARS OLD!...
The Polk Museum of Art was originally established in 1966 under the name of the Imperial Youth Museum, changing its name in 1969 and finally settling on its current name in the 1980s. The museum trustees took the decision to focus its collections in five specific areas : modern and contemporary; Asian, European and American decorative; Pre-Columbian and African art. The museum has objects as diverse as a 2,500 year old vessel made by the Chavin culture in Peru to contemporary artworks less than six months old. One of the museum's founding principles is that any object obtained must add to the educational and artistic value of the permanent collection while reflecting community interests.

AN OASIS OF BEAUTY AND PEACE IN A HISTORIC SUB TROPICAL GARDEN SECOND TO NONE ...
The Historic Bock Sanctuary, located in Lake Wales, was founded by Edward Bock who emigrated to the United States from the Netherlands at the age of 6. He went on to become a noted publisher and magazine editor, eventually winning the Pulitzer Prize for his autobiography. In 1921, after spending time taking evening walks to the top of Iron Mountain, Bock decided to preserve the hilltop by creating a bird sanctuary. Bock commissioned renowned landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted Jr, to change the arid land into an area of beauty second to none and so this subtropical garden took root. Today the gardens provide shade to visitors as well as a refuge for more than 100 species of birds and squirrels. Believing something was missing and remembering the sound of bell towers in his native Holland, Bok commissioned Milton B. Medary to design and build a carillon tower. Noted New York Sculptor, Lee Lawrie, was hired to create the elaborate marble sculpture that adorns the tower. In 1970 the Historic Bok Sanctuary purchased the nearby Pinewood estate, whose gardens were also designed by Olmsted. The gardens have now been lovingly restored by renowned landscape architect, Rudy Favretti.

BOTANICAL GARDENS AND THRILLING RIDES...
Opened in 1936, Cypress Gardens is Florida’s first theme park and is a mixture of botanical gardens, waterskiing show and thrill rides. Located in Winter Haven, the park has recently had a turbulent history - a series of owners and a drop in visitor numbers due to the September 11th terrorist attack contributed to the park closing in 2003. It reopened a year later under the name of Cypress Gardens Adventure Park following a complex deal to save the park. The botanical garden has over 8,000 varieties of plants that combine to make it a floral paradise. The water-ski show takes place three times a day and always draws the crowds as the performers dazzle the audience with a display of dramatic stunts and barefoot skiing, culminating in a gravity-defying pyramid of ten skiers. For the more adventurous visitors the park has several thrill rides, including the Triple Hurricane Rollercoaster - a classic wooden coaster - and the stomach churning Galaxy Spin.

Browse rental properties available in Lakeland: