Lakeland, Florida

==History==
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{{hidden begin
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* 1884
** [[South Florida Railroad]] begins operating{{sfn|Federal Writers' Project|1939}}
** [[Freedmen]] establish St. John's Baptist Church in what would come to be called the Moorehead community south of Lake Wire<ref name="monument"/>
** Town [[plat]]ted on land of [[Abraham Munn]]<ref name=Viva />
* 1885 – Town of Lakeland [[Local government in the United States|incorporated]] on January 1, 1885. Kentucky businessman, Abraham Munn, who had purchased 80 acres of land in what is now downtown Lakeland in 1882 and platted the land for the town the previous year. He donated the land and money to build the first railroad depot in Lakeland which helped boost transportation and enterprise<ref>{{citation |url=https://localgov.fsu.edu/readings_papers/Boundaries%20of%20Government/Munincipal_Incorporations_in_Florida.pdf |year=2001 |title=Overview of Municipal Incorporations in Florida |author=[[Florida Legislature|Florida Legislative Committee on Intergovernmental Relations]] |location=Tallahassee |series=LCIR Report |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170428092419/https://localgov.fsu.edu/readings_papers/Boundaries%20of%20Government/Munincipal_Incorporations_in_Florida.pdf |archive-date=April 28, 2017 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>
* 1891 – Electric lighting introduced<ref name=Viva>{{cite web |url=http://vivafl500.org/find-a-city/ |title= Lakeland |work=Viva Florida: History Happened Here |publisher=Florida League of Cities |location=Tallahassee |access-date= April 21, 2017 }}</ref>
* 1894
** [[Acton, Florida|Acton]] becomes part of Lakeland{{sfn|Hellmann|2006}}
** "Freeze damages [[Citrus production|citrus]] crops"{{sfn|Hellmann|2006}}
* 1900 – Population: 1,180<ref name=census1905>{{citation |chapter=Population of Cities and Towns |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=rn0zAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA186 |title=Census of the State of Florida...1905 |year = 1906|publisher=Capital Pub. Co. |location=Tallahassee }}</ref>
* 1904 – Fire<ref name=Viva />
* 1905 – Population: 3,299<ref name=census1905 />
* 1910 – [[Munn Park Historic District|Munn Park]] and the Confederate monument were dedicated
* 1911 – ''Lakeland Evening Telegram'' [[List of newspapers in Florida|newspaper]] begins publication<ref name=LOC>{{cite web |url= http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/search/titles/results/?city=Lakeland&rows=50&state=Florida&page=1&sort=date |title=US Newspaper Directory |location=Washington DC |work=[[Chronicling America]] |publisher=Library of Congress |access-date= April 21, 2017 }}</ref>
* 1912 – Auditorium built<ref name=Viva />
* 1913 – City Hall built
* 1915 – ''Lakeland Morning Star'' [[List of newspapers in Florida|newspaper]] begins publication<ref name=LOC />
* 1916 – Morrell Memorial [[List of hospitals in Florida|Hospital]] opens<ref name=Viva />
* 1921 – William Bowles was the last of 20 African-American men [[Lynching in the United States|lynched in the county]] since Reconstruction; he had allegedly insulted a white woman<ref name="polk">[http://www.theledger.com/news/20180505/lynchings-klan-activity-part-of-polks-history Kimberly C. Moore, "Lynchings, Klan activity part of Polk’s history"], ''The Ledger'', 07 May 2018</ref>
* 1922 – [[Florida Southern College]] relocates to Lakeland{{sfn|Federal Writers' Project|1939}}
* 1924 – Lakeland Terrace Hotel in business<ref name=CityTimeline />
* 1925 – [[Henley Field Ball Park]] opens
* 1928 – Lakeland Theatre in business<ref name=cinema />
**     – The first high school is opened for Mooreland black students<ref name="monument"/>
* 1930 – Population: 18,554
* 1933 – Junior Welfare League of Lakeland formed<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jlgl.org/about/history/ |title= History |publisher=[[Junior League]] of Greater Lakeland |access-date= April 21, 2017 }}</ref>
* 1935 – [[Southeastern College of the Assemblies of God]] established{{sfn|Hellmann|2006}}
* 1936 – WLAK [[List of radio stations in Florida|radio]] begins broadcasting<ref name=Radio1964>{{citation |title=Yearbook of Radio and Television |oclc=7469377 |year=1964 |publisher= Radio Television Daily |location=New York |chapter= United States AM Stations: Florida |chapter-url= https://archive.org/stream/r00radi#page/180/mode/2up |via=Internet Archive }} {{free access}}</ref>
* 1937 – Roxy Theatre in business (approximate date)<ref name=cinema />
* 1941 – ''[[Lakeland Ledger]]'' newspaper begins publication<ref name=LOC />
* 1949 – [[WONN]] [[List of radio stations in Florida|radio]] begins broadcasting<ref name=Radio1964 />
* 1953 – Filmland Drive-In cinema in business<ref name=cinema>{{cite web |url= http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/united-states/florida/lakeland?status=all |title=Movie Theaters in Lakeland, FL |work=CinemaTreasures.org |publisher= Cinema Treasures LLC |location=Los Angeles |access-date= April 21, 2017 }}</ref>
* 1957 – [[WWAB]] [[List of radio stations in Florida|radio]] begins broadcasting<ref name=Radio1964 />
* 1960 – [[Lakeland Flying Tigers|Lakeland Indians]] baseball team formed
* 1966 – [[Joker Marchant Stadium]] opens
* 1967 – Much of the Moorehead community is displaced as city uses eminent domain to buy property for civic center and later Veterans Memorial Park<ref name="monument"/>
* 1977 – "It [[Snow in Florida|snows]] in Lakeland"<ref name=CityTimeline />
* 1980 – Population: 47,406
* 1988 – [[Lakeland Square Mall]] in business<ref name=CityTimeline />
* 1990 – Population: 70,576
* 1993
** [[George Jenkins High School]] opens<ref name=CityTimeline />
** International Sport Aviation Museum established<ref name=aaslh2002>{{cite book |title=Directory of Historical Organizations in the United States and Canada |year=2002 |edition=15th |isbn=0759100020 |author= American Association for State and Local History |chapter=Florida |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LY0Q5Rv4O3YC }}</ref>
* 1998 – Lakeland.net website online (approximate date)<ref>{{cite web |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/19980109095102/http://city.lakeland.net/ |url-status= dead |url= http://city.lakeland.net:80/ |archive-date= January 9, 1998 |title= Lakeland.net |via= Internet Archive, [[Wayback Machine]] |df= mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20000824034412/http://officialcitysites.org/Florida/Cities/L/ |url= http://officialcitysites.org:80/Florida/Cities/L/ |url-status= dead |archive-date= August 24, 2000 |title= United States of America: Florida |work= Official City Sites |editor1= Kevin Hyde |editor2= Tamie Hyde |location= Utah |oclc= 40169021 |df= mdy-all }}</ref>
* 2004 – August: [[Hurricane Charley]] occurs{{sfn|Hellmann|2006}}
* 2005 – Lakeside Village shopping center in business<ref name=CityTimeline />
* 2009 – Gow Fields was elected as Lakeland's first African-American mayor<ref name="monument"/>
* 2010 – Population: 97,422<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045216/1238250,00 |title= Lakeland city, Florida |work=QuickFacts |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |access-date=April 21, 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{citation |url=http://edr.state.fl.us/Content/area-profiles/index.cfm |work=2010 Census Detailed City Profiles |author1=[[Florida Legislature|Florida Legislative Office of Economic and Demographic Research]] |author2=U.S. Census Bureau |year=2011 |title= City of Lakeland }}</ref>
* 2014 – [[Florida Polytechnic University]] opens<ref name=CityTimeline>{{cite web |url=http://www.lakelandgov.net/libraryspecialcollections/special-collections-home/lakeland-timeline |title=Lakeland Timeline |author=Lakeland Public Library |publisher=City of Lakeland |access-date= April 21, 2017 }}</ref>
* 2020 – Population: 112,641
* 2021 – September: A shooting and subsequent [[shootout]] occurs in Lakeland, killing four people and injuring a fifth, and resulting in the arrest of a suspect<ref>{{Cite news|title=A Florida Gunman Killed 4, Including A Mother Who Was Still Cradling Her Baby|url=https://www.npr.org/2021/09/05/1034474532/a-florida-gunman-killed-4-including-a-mother-who-was-still-cradling-her-baby|access-date=2021-09-06|newspaper=NPR|date=September 5, 2021|language=en}}</ref>
* 2022 – Opening of Bonnet Springs Park
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===Early history===
[[File:Lakeland fl.jpg|thumb|right|Lakeland's business district, early 1920s]]
[[File:Lakeland Cox School01.jpg|thumb|The John F. Cox Grammar School opened in 1925, now re-purposed as the clinic for Lakeland Volunteers in Medicine]]

In the 18th century Native Americans groups, collectively called "[[Seminole]]s", moved into the areas left vacant. In 1823, the United States and the various tribes in Florida signed the [[Treaty of Moultrie Creek]], which created a reservation in central Florida that included what is now Polk County.<ref>{{cite book|last=Mahon|first=John K.|title=History of the Second Seminole War 1835–1842|year=1985|publisher=University of Florida Press|location=Gainesville, Florida|isbn=0-8130-1097-7|edition=Revised|pages=2–8, 18–37}}</ref> Starting in 1832, the United States government tried to move the Seminoles in Florida west to the [[Indian Territory]]. Most of the Seminoles resisted, resulting in the [[Second Seminole War]], 1835–1842. By the end of that war, most of the Seminoles had been sent west, with a few remnants pushed well south of what is now Polk County.<ref>{{cite book|last=Mahon|first=John K.|title=History of the Second Seminole War 1835–1842|year=1985|publisher=University of Florida Press|location=Gainesville, Florida|isbn=0-8130-1097-7|edition=Revised|pages=317–318}}</ref>

===Statehood and the 19th century===
Florida became a state in 1845, and Polk County was established in 1861. After the [[American Civil War]], the county seat was established southeast of Lakeland in [[Bartow, Florida|Bartow]]. While most of Polk County's early history centered on the two cities of Bartow and [[Fort Meade, Florida|Fort Meade]], eventually, people entered the areas in northern Polk County and began settling in the areas which became Lakeland.<ref name="Brown-2001">{{Cite book|last=Brown|first=Canter Jr.|title=In the midst of all that makes life worth living : Polk County, Florida, to 1940|publisher=Sentry Press|year=2001|isbn=9781889574127|location=Tallahassee, Fla.|language=English}}</ref>

Lakeland was first settled in the 1870s, and began to develop as the [[railroad|rail lines]] reached the area in 1884. [[Freedmen]] settled here in 1883, starting development of what became the [[African-American neighborhood]] of Moorehead. Lakeland was incorporated January 1, 1885. The town was founded by [[Abraham Munn]] (a resident of [[Louisville, Kentucky]]), who purchased {{convert|80|acre|m2|abbr=on}} of land in what is now downtown Lakeland in 1882 and [[plat]]ted the land for the town in 1884. Lakeland was named for the many lakes near the town site.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FLROAAAAIBAJ&pg=1418%2C2813009 | title=Polk towns named from various sources | work=Lakeland Ledger | date=July 8, 1987 | access-date=June 6, 2015 | author=Sawyer, Martha F. | pages=5C}}</ref>

In April 1898, the [[Spanish–American War]] began and started a crucial point in Lakeland's development. While the war ended quickly and had little effect on most of the nation, the Florida peninsula was used as a launching point for military forces in the war. The then small town of Lakeland housed over 9,000 troops. The [[10th Cavalry Regiment]], one of the original [[Buffalo Soldier]] regiments, were housed on the banks of Lake Wire.<ref name="Spanish American War">{{cite web| url=http://www.polkcountyhistory.org/pdf/june03.pdf| page=6| title=Spanish American War| date=June 2003| access-date=September 26, 2010|work=Polk County Historical Quarterly|volume=30|issue=1|publisher=Polk County Historical Association|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402101638/http://www.polkcountyhistory.org/pdf/june03.pdf|archive-date=April 2, 2012}}</ref> Soon after being stationed there, the black troops faced conflict with the local white population. In one event, a local druggist refused to sell to black soldiers and an argument ensued which eventually escalated to the point where the druggist brandished a pistol. The soldiers shot the druggist before he could fire, which resulted in two of the troops being arrested.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Knetsch |first1=Joe |title=Florida in the Spanish-American War |date=2011 |publisher=The History Press |location=Charleston, SC |isbn=9781609490881 |pages=131–132}}</ref>

===The Florida Boom and the 20th century===
[[File:Florida - Lakeland - NARA - 23936679 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|View of Lakeland, April 1922]]
[[File:Florida - Lakeland - NARA - 23936675 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Factory under construction, August 1941]]
The Florida boom resulted in the construction of many significant structures in Lakeland, a number of which are now listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]]. This list includes the Terrace Hotel, New Florida Hotel (Regency Tower, currently Lake Mirror Tower), [[Polk Theatre and Office Building|Polk Theatre]], [[Frances Langford Promenade]], [[Polk Museum of Art]] (not a product of the 1920s boom), Park Trammell Building (formerly the [[Lakeland Public Library]] and today the Lakeland Chamber of Commerce), and others. The city also has several historic districts that have many large buildings built during the 1920s and 1940s. The [[Cleveland Indians]] held spring training there from 1923 to 1927 at [[Henley Field Ball Park]]. Parks were developed surrounding Lake Mirror, including Barnett Children's Park, Hollis Gardens, and the newest, Allen Kryger Park.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Lake Mirror Complex|url=https://www.lakelandgov.net/departments/parks-recreation/lake-mirror-complex/|access-date=2021-10-29|website=City of Lakeland|language=en}}</ref>

The "boom" period went "bust" quickly, and years passed before the city recovered. Part of the reemergence was due to the arrival of the [[Detroit Tigers]] baseball team in 1934 for spring training. The Tigers still train at Lakeland's [[Joker Marchant Stadium]] and own the city's [[Minor League Baseball|Class A]] [[Florida State League]] team, the [[Lakeland Flying Tigers]]. In the mid-1930s, the [[Works Progress Administration]] built the [[Lodwick Field|Lakeland Municipal Airport]].<ref name="Brown-2001" />

In 1938, [[Florida Southern College]] President [[Ludd M. Spivey|Ludd Spivey]] invited architect [[Frank Lloyd Wright]] to design a "great education temple in Florida."<ref name="www.bostonglobe.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/travel/2014/10/25/frank-lloyd-wright-fla-campus/hnSzBNZNmLsB17705tRbSM/amp.html|title=Frank Lloyd Wright's Fla. campus – The Boston Globe|website=www.bostonglobe.com|language=en|access-date=2017-04-01}}</ref> Wright worked on the project for over 20 years as Spivey found ways to fund it and find construction workers during [[World War II]].<ref name="www.bostonglobe.com" /> Wright's original plan called for 18 structures; in total he designed 30, but only 12 were completed.<ref name="MacDonald-2007">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EZi_CEycn2cC&q=frank+lloyd+wright+child+of+the+sun&pg=PA126|title=The Buildings of Frank Lloyd Wright at Florida Southern College|last1=MacDonald|first1=Randall M.|last2=Galbraith|first2=Nora E.|last3=Rogers|first3=James G.|date=2007-01-01|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=9780738552798|language=en}}</ref> Wright's [[Textile block house|textile block]] motif is used extensively on the campus. The concrete blocks he used are in need of restoration.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu/post/new-frank-lloyd-wright-house-constructed-florida-southern#stream/0|title=New Frank Lloyd Wright House Constructed at Florida Southern|last=Sussingham|first=Robin|access-date=2017-04-01|language=en}}</ref>

Wright titled the project ''Child of the Sun'', describing his Florida Southern buildings as being "out of the ground, into the light, a child of the sun."<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/architectureoffr0003stor|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/architectureoffr0003stor/page/252 252]|quote=wright out of the ground into the light child of the sun.|title=The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright: A Complete Catalog|last1=Storrer|first1=William Allin|last2=Wright|first2=Frank Lloyd|date=2002-04-15|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=9780226776224|language=en}}</ref> It is the largest single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings in the world, and attracts 30,000 visitors each year.<ref name="MacDonald-2007" /> In 1975, the "Florida Southern Architectural District" was added to the National Register of Historic Places.<ref name="MacDonald-2007" /> In 2012, Wright's campus was designated as a [[National Historic Landmark]] by the [[National Park Service]].

===World War II===
At the beginning of [[World War II]], the Lakeland School of [[Aeronautics]]—headquartered at the recently built [[Lakeland Municipal Airport]]—became part of a nationwide network of civilian [[flight school]]s enjoined for the war effort by the [[United States Army Air Corps]].<ref name="LEDGER" />

Between 1940 and 1945, more than 8,000 Army Air Corps and [[United States Army Air Forces|Army Air Forces]] [[cadet]]s trained on two-seater [[Boeing-Stearman Model 75|Stearman PT-17]] and PT-13 [[biplane]]s at the school (renamed the Lodwick School of Aeronautics in the midst of this period).<ref name="LEDGER">{{Cite news|url=http://www.theledger.com/news/20110206/flight-cadets-attended-lakeland-school-of-aeronautics|title=Flight Cadets Attended Lakeland School of Aeronautics|last=LEDGER|first=GARY WHITE THE|work=The Ledger|access-date=2017-04-01|language=en}}</ref>

From June 1941 until October 1942, 1,327 British [[Royal Air Force]] cadets trained at the Lakeland facility.<ref name="LEDGER"/> The Lodwick School of Aeronautics closed in 1945. The airport ceased flight operations in the 1960; the site has since then housed the [[Detroit Tigers]]' "Tiger Town" baseball complex.<ref name="LEDGER"/>