Lake Wales

Lake Wales, Florida was founded in 1911 by the Lake Wales Land Company, a group of businessmen who purchased 5,000 acres in the hilly wilderness around Lake Wailes --a pristine lake named after Sydney Wailes, a land agent employed by the State of Florida after the Civil War. The men of the Lake Wales Land Company believed that the plentiful pine forests would form the basis of a thriving turpentine and lumber industry, the sandy soil would be ideal for growing grapefruit, oranges and other citrus, and the rolling hills would be the perfect site for a town. The first settlers arrived in 1911, the town was incorporated in 1917, and the City of Lake Wales was granted its municipal charter in 1921.

On the highest point in Central Florida, Historic Bok Sanctuary is a national historic landmark and home of the annual International Carillon Festival. Designed in the 1920's by the Olmsted Brothers, Bok Tower Gardens is now a world-renowned botanical preserve and a sanctuary for endangered plant species.

Lake Wales, voted "the friendliest small town in Florida", is a recipient of Florida Monthly Magazine's "Best of the Best Awards" - September 2003