Historic downtown, City of Lake Wales, Polk County, Florida, USA

Lake Wales is a city in Polk County, Florida. The population was 14,225 at the 2010 census. As of 2019, the population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau is 16,759. It is part of the Lakeland–Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area. Lake Wales is located in central Florida, west of Lake Kissimmee and east of Tampa.

The land around the present city was surveyed in 1879 by Sidney Irving Wailes, who changed the name of a lake, then known as Watts Lake, to Lake Wailes.

The city of Lake Wales was established near the lake in 1911–12, planned by the Lake Wales Land Company. The spelling Wales was used for the city, although the lake is still generally spelled Lake Wailes. Allen Carleton Nydegger, a Civil Engineer, was contracted by the Lake Wales Land Company to plot out the community of Lake Wales. He and his crew camped on the shores of Crystal Lake and spent months plotting out the new community. In 1925 the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad built a new line from Haines City joining lines to Everglades City. A depot was opened on this line at Lake Wales. The City of Lake Wales was officially incorporated in April 1917.

In 2004, Lake Wales endured the effects of three hurricanes which came through the area: Hurricane Charley, Hurricane Frances and Hurricane Jeanne. The three hurricanes brought hurricane-force winds to the Lake Wales area within a space of 44 days. In 2017, Hurricane Irma brought more hurricane-force winds to Lake Wales.

The town lies near the geographical center of the Florida peninsula. Lake Wales is located on the Lake Wales Ridge,[8] a sandy upland area running roughly parallel to both coasts in the center of the peninsula. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 14.0 square miles (36 km2), of which 13.4 square miles (35 km2) is land and 0.7 square miles (1.8 km2) (4.71%) is water.

Lake Wales is located in the humid subtropical zone of the (Köppen climate classification: Cfa). In 2004, the eyes of Hurricanes Charley, Frances and Jeanne all passed near the town. Virtually all physical damage has been restored.

Local attractions in the area include:

*Bok Tower Gardens

*Camp Mack's River Resort

*Spook Hill, an optical illusion which makes a car in neutral appear as if it is traveling uphill (gravity hill)

*The commercial historic district in the heart of the old town contains important examples of architecture from the period of the Florida land boom of the 1920s. The district's tallest building, the Hotel Grand, has been boarded up for many years but has been purchased and is in the process of being restored.

*The Lake Wales Museum and Cultural Center is a history museum funded by a public-private partnership. It offers exhibits and artifacts from the pre-Columbian era to modern.

*Grove House, the visitor's center for the agricultural cooperative Florida's Natural (located across from the company's processing plant).

*Chalet Suzanne This attraction has closed.

The Shrine of Ste Anne des Lacs

Credit for the data above is given to the following website:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Wales,_Florida

Credit for the data above is given to the following website:

Taken in: United States / Florida / Lake Wales (show map)

Taken on: April 8, 2023

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