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The Roaring Twenties and the Florida Boom...
As Winter Haven entered the1920s the U.S. Census listed the population at 1597 people - a small but motivated populace that had embarked...
Bob Gernert
Apr 1


The Village Blossoms... A Decade Defines Winter Haven's Future
Polk County’s population increased by 93 percent between 1900 and 1910. Winter Haven’s population more than tripled from 429 to 1436...
Bob Gernert
Feb 28


Black History Month
WINTER HAVEN’S EARLY HISTORIC AFRICAN AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Florence Villa Station In the late 1990s Winter Haven completed a series of...
Bob Gernert
Jan 31


Snell's Bank, Salted Hides and Seven Saddles
HENRY SNELL OPENS WINTER HAVEN’S FIRST BANK In 1892 a man named Henry W. Snell left his home in Georgia and relocated to the Polk County...
Bob Gernert
Dec 30, 2024

The Inmans and Florence Villa
FREDERICK INMAN, M.D. AND FLORENCE VILLA In 1887 Dr. Frederick William Inman and his wife Florence Jewett Inman came to the area from...
Bob Gernert
Dec 1, 2024


The Village is Platted and F.A.K. Harris Comes to Town
The railroad brought development to central Florida and Polk County. Travel guides and brochures from the 1870s and 1880s describe the...
Bob Gernert
Oct 28, 2024


Beneath the Chinaberry Tree: Vignettes from Winter Haven’s History
ABOUT THE CHINABERRY TREE In the beginning years of Winter Haven’s history, the early 1900s, a Chinaberry tree grew in the east-bound...
Bob Gernert
Sep 29, 2024

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