Lakeland, Florida
Lakeland is the largest city located in Polk County within the State of Florida in the United States. This is the most populous city of Polk County with the Council-Manager form of Government. Lakeland is a city that showers its residents with a very excellent quality of life. The city is on the road of continual progress and exhibits a great sense of beauty and charm.
The culture of the community of Lakeland is influenced by the presence of many lakes. There are about 38 lakes in the area. The prominent lakes are Lake Morton, Lake Mirror, Lake Gibson, Lake Hollingsworth and Lake Parker. This city also holds an important place in the field of education. There are many educational institutions in Lakeland; Florida Southern College is the most recognized and well known college of the city.
Munn Park is a beautiful historic district in the downtown where one can find many shops, restaurants and other entertainment facilities. Lakeland's culture and history is depicted by many historic structures that were built during the early days of development of the city. Lakeland is also the home for holiday makers with many tourist attractions and entertainment.
Welcome to the city of Lakeland, where you will be able to make just about anything happen. There are intriquing options in entertainment, education, affordable living and many other benefits the city offers its residents. People of any age or any profession will surely find the city exciting and vivacious to their own liking.
Lakeland History
The history of Florida State dates back to the Ice Age when the Paleo-Indians first reached Florida. The Native Americans were living and thriving in this region for a long time until the Spanish arrived. The majority of Native American population was almost wiped out from this region. With the arrival of the Spanish proved to be disastrous for them and many of the Native Americans fell prey to Small Pox or Yellow Fever and those that remained were turned into slaves or killed.
Florida was formed as a state in 1845 and the Polk County was later formed in the year 1861. The early settlement of Lakeland started in 1870s. Abraham Munn, the founder of this town purchased about eighty acres of land in the year 1882 that has given shape to Downtown Lakeland. He subdivided the land in 1884, the year in which the rail lines reached Lakeland thus beginning the development of the city. Lakeland was then incorporated in the year 1885. The citrus and the strawberry industry were started around 1887 and 1888. Soon after, Lakeland became the largest supplier of strawberries in Florida State compared to any other cities.
Lakeland city was blessed with electricity in the year 1891 and thus become only the 3rd city in Florida other than Tampa and Jacksonville to have electricity. The first Telephone Exchange building, fire department, free mail delivery and the change in Governance from aldermanic to the Commissioner form were all started in the early 1900s.
The major development of Lakeland was marked by the start of the Spanish-American War in 1898 when Lakeland, then a small town, accommodated around 9,000 troops. As Florida started to develop, Lakeland saw the construction of many important structures in the community. These buildings are now considered historic places and are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Lakeland was undergoing major development and it was the golden age for the city. The growth of Lakeland stopped and it took many years before it could re-emerge.
In 1934, the arrival of the Detroit Tigers for their spring training helped Lakeland recover again. The other factor was the development of the Lakeland Municipal Airport which played a major role in central Florida transportation. In 1938, the renowned architect, Frank Llyod Wright arrived in Lakeland and designed many structures for the city. The city has redeveloped into a reputable community.
About Lakeland, Florida
Lakeland is one of the largest cities located in the State of Florida in the US. A main feature of this city is that it enjoys its connectivity with the two metropolitan areas, Tampa and Orlando are joined by the Interstate 4. Among the other cities of Polk County, Lakeland is the largest city and the most populous. Lakeland has all kinds of modern amenities to facilitate in all walks of life from entertainment, sports, culture and education etc.
The weather in Lakeland city is hot and humid in summer and winter are dry with some spells of freezing temperatures during night time. There are many lakes in the area prompting the name of the city itself. These lakes are home to swans, alligators, white ducks, storks, pelicans, turtles and geese. Along these lakes one can find old and large houses and bungalows that are tell-tale of old Florida. Lake Parker is the largest lake of the area which is 2550 acres in size. The culture of this city revolves around these lakes and these lakes are also at times used as reference points or landmarks for some.
Downtown Lakeland has the Polk Art Museum exhibiting the finest of the art and the sculpture garden on Lemon Street. The most well regarded cultural center of Lakeland is Florida Southern College. The culture of this city is marked by many historic districts and educational buildings and locations. Munn Park Historic District, Lake Hunter Terrace Historic District and Beacon Hill-Alta Vista Residential District are the historic districts to name a few. Several educational buildings and locations should be mentioned like Cleveland Court School, Florida Southern College, Old Lakeland High School, Joker Merchant Stadium, Polk Art Museum, Lakeland Center and many more.
The economy of this city depends on the several kinds of industries it caters to. There are many industries here and the larger ones are those of phosphate mining, citrus and cattle. However, other industries have gained importance of late namely tourism, music, medicine and insurance. The city of Lakeland is also a transportation hub as it is located in between Tampa and Orlando.
There are many freeways and highways like Interstate 4 that connects Tampa, Lakeland, Orlando and Daytona Beach is the main interstate in Florida. Others to be mentioned are Polk Parkway, US92, US98, State Road 33, State Road 37 and State Road 540. Over the years, Lakeland has found a permanent place in the tourist map of United States of America.
About Polk County, Florida
Polk County is located in the State of Florida in the United States and Lakeland is the largest city within it. Bartow is the county seat and the population center is Lake Wales. The population of this county, according to the United States Census assessment in July 2009, was 583,403. Lakeland leads among all the other cities in the area in terms of population. The smaller cities in the county are Bartow followed by Lakeland, Lake Wales, Winter Haven and Haines cities.
Winter Haven gets its attraction from Lego Land Florida, the theme park. The Country musician Gram Parsons was from Winter Haven. In the year 1930, the city hosted the first Publix Supermarket, the regional grocery chain, circa.
Tampa and Orlando are the two metropolitan areas which are very close to Polk County and hence it has seen a lot of development. Lakeland and Haines city have developed the most in the recent time. Polk County's economy is mainly based on the three industries, citrus, cattle and phosphate mining. Phosphate mining is the main industry in Polk County due to presence of world's largest deposits of phosphate in the area. This industry employs many workers. Major employers related to phosphate mining are the chemical manufacturing plants. Polk County is also the most productive agricultural county in Florida.
Tourism is another major force of economy of Polk County. It would be precise to say that tourism has redefined the economic condition of the county. There are lot tourist attractions that bring a considerable amount of tourist to the area every year. The Polk County enjoys a very pleasant climate all throughout the year thus making it convenient for the tourists to visit the attractions. Polk state college and Southeastern University are the major colleges in this county. The Polk County is surrounded by Lake County, Highlands County, and Orange County etc. The Publix Supermarkets headquarters is located in the Polk County. Genealogical library and Polk County Historical Museum are the most popular places which tourists regularly visit each year.