Timeline of Lakeland, Florida
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Lakeland, Florida, United States.
19th century
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- 1884
- South Florida Railroad begins operating[1]
- Freedmen establish St. John's Baptist Church in what would come to be called the Moorehead community south of Lake Wire[2]
- Town platted on land of Abraham Munn[3]
- 1885 – Town of Lakeland 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[4]
- 1891 – Electric lighting introduced[3]
- 1894
- 1900 – Population: 1,180[6]
20th century
- 1904 – Fire[3]
- 1905 – Population: 3,299[6]
- 1910 – Munn Park and the Confederate monument were dedicated
- 1911 – Lakeland Evening Telegram newspaper begins publication[7]
- 1912 – Auditorium built[3]
- 1913 – City Hall built
- 1915 – Lakeland Morning Star newspaper begins publication[7]
- 1916 – Morrell Memorial Hospital opens[3]
- 1921 – William Bowles was the last of 20 African-American men lynched in the county since Reconstruction; he had allegedly insulted a white woman[8]
- 1922 – Florida Southern College relocates to Lakeland[1]
- 1924 – Lakeland Terrace Hotel in business[9]
- 1925 – Henley Field Ball Park opens
- 1928 – Lakeland Theatre in business[10]
- – The first high school is opened for Mooreland black students[2]
- 1930 – Population: 18,554
- 1933 – Junior Welfare League of Lakeland formed[11]
- 1935 – Southeastern College of the Assemblies of God established[5]
- 1936 – WLAK radio begins broadcasting[12]
- 1937 – Roxy Theatre in business (approximate date)[10]
- 1941 – Lakeland Ledger newspaper begins publication[7]
- 1949 – WONN radio begins broadcasting[12]
- 1953 – Filmland Drive-In cinema in business[10]
- 1957 – WWAB radio begins broadcasting[12]
- 1960 – 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[2]
- 1977 – "It snows in Lakeland"[9]
- 1980 – Population: 47,406
- 1988 – Lakeland Square Mall in business[9]
- 1990 – Population: 70,576
- 1993
- George Jenkins High School opens[9]
- International Sport Aviation Museum established[13]
- 1998 – Lakeland.net website online (approximate date)[14][15]
21st century
- 2004 – August: Hurricane Charley occurs[5]
- 2005 – Lakeside Village shopping center in business[9]
- 2009 – Gow Fields was elected as Lakeland's first African-American mayor[2]
- 2010 – Population: 97,422[16][17]
- 2014 – Florida Polytechnic University opens[9]
- 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[18]
- 2022 – Opening of Bonnet Springs Park
See also
- Lakeland history
- List of mayors of Lakeland, Florida
- Polk County history
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Polk County, Florida
- Timelines of other cities in the Central Florida area of Florida: Clearwater, Largo, Orlando, St. Petersburg, Tampa
References
- ^ a b Federal Writers' Project 1939.
- ^ a b c d Kimberly C. Moore, "Confederate vets, former slaves form Lakeland’s history", The Ledger, 09 May 2018; accessed 27 June 2018
- ^ a b c d e "Lakeland". Viva Florida: History Happened Here. Tallahassee: Florida League of Cities. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
- ^ Florida Legislative Committee on Intergovernmental Relations (2001), Overview of Municipal Incorporations in Florida (PDF), LCIR Report, Tallahassee, archived from the original on April 28, 2017
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ a b c d Hellmann 2006.
- ^ a b "Population of Cities and Towns", Census of the State of Florida...1905, Tallahassee: Capital Pub. Co., 1906
- ^ a b c "US Newspaper Directory". Chronicling America. Washington DC: Library of Congress. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
- ^ Kimberly C. Moore, "Lynchings, Klan activity part of Polk’s history", The Ledger, 07 May 2018
- ^ a b c d e f Lakeland Public Library. "Lakeland Timeline". City of Lakeland. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
- ^ a b c "Movie Theaters in Lakeland, FL". CinemaTreasures.org. Los Angeles: Cinema Treasures LLC. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
- ^ "History". Junior League of Greater Lakeland. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
- ^ a b c "United States AM Stations: Florida", Yearbook of Radio and Television, New York: Radio Television Daily, 1964, OCLC 7469377 – via Internet Archive
- ^ American Association for State and Local History (2002). "Florida". Directory of Historical Organizations in the United States and Canada (15th ed.). ISBN 0759100020.
- ^ "Lakeland.net". Archived from the original on January 9, 1998 – via Internet Archive, Wayback Machine.
- ^ Kevin Hyde; Tamie Hyde (eds.). "United States of America: Florida". Official City Sites. Utah. OCLC 40169021. Archived from the original on August 24, 2000.
- ^ "Lakeland city, Florida". QuickFacts. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
- ^ Florida Legislative Office of Economic and Demographic Research; U.S. Census Bureau (2011), "City of Lakeland", 2010 Census Detailed City Profiles
- ^ "A Florida Gunman Killed 4, Including A Mother Who Was Still Cradling Her Baby". NPR. September 5, 2021. Retrieved 2021-09-06.
Bibliography
- "Lakeland". Florida Gazetteer and Business Directory 1907-1908. R. L. Polk & Co.
- "Lakeland". Florida State Gazetteer and Business Directory. R. L. Polk & Co. 1918.
- Lakeland and Polk County Directory. R.L. Polk & Co. 1923.
- Federal Writers’ Project (1939). "Lakeland". Florida: a Guide to the Southernmost State. American Guide Series. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 515–518 – via Google Books.
- This Was Yesterday: a History of Lakeland, Florida. Junior Welfare League of Greater Lakeland. 1973.
- Hampton Dunn (1976). Yesterday's Lakeland.
- Lynn M. Homan; Thomas Reilly (2001). Lakeland. Images of America. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia.
- Paul T. Hellmann (2006). "Florida:". Historical Gazetteer of the United States. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 1-135-94859-3.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lakeland, Florida.
- "Brief History of Lakeland, Florida" (PDF), Lakelandgov.net
- "(Lakeland)". Florida Memory. Florida Department of State, Division of Library and Information Services.
- Items related to Lakeland, Florida, various dates (via Digital Public Library of America)