Instructions:
1....Print this file.
2....At its end, click on "rules" to see a copy of the trail rules, print it, and then click where indicated at the end of the 3-page rules and patch order form to get back to the list of Florida trails.
3....If you want a hand-drawn map showing the locations of all of the sites, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to Steve Rajtar, 1614 Bimini Dr., Orlando, FL 32806.
4....Hike the trail and order whatever patches you like (optional).
WARNING - This trail may pass through one or more neighborhoods which, although full of history, may now be unsafe for individuals on foot, or which may make you feel unsafe there. Hikers have been approached by individuals who have asked for handouts or who have inquired (not always in a friendly manner) why the hikers are in their neighborhood. Drugs and other inappropriate items have been found by hikers in some neighborhoods. It is suggested that you drive the hike routes first to see if you will feel comfortable walking them and, if you don't think it's a good place for you walk, you might want to consider (1) traveling with a large group, (2) doing the route on bicycles, or (3) choosing another hike route. The degree of comfort will vary with the individual and with the time and season of the hike, so you need to make the determination using your best judgment. If you hike the trail, you accept all risks involved.
Members of this congregation began meeting in a building across from Denison Junior High School in 1924. Its 30 members moved in 1926 to the corner of Ave. H and 5th St. SE, called the Pinecrest Church of Christ.
They moved in 1943 to the corner of Ave. B and 6th St. and renamed themselves the Central Church of Christ. That building had been built during the 1890s as the Presbyterian church. The present sanctuary was completed in 1953.
This was formerly known as the Tampa Electric Building. In 1946, Kathryn A. Kikta Helmly opened a women's clothing store here named Kathryn's, which moved to W. Central Ave. in 1960.
Winter Haven Lodge No. 26, F.& A.M. was organized in December of 1908. Initially, members met in the Co-operative Store hall. Later, they moved into this building (which also housed Lodge No. 186), erected in 1922 and formerly the home of World Publishing Co. It was converted to offices during the 1980s.
In 1909, this church was founded with Rev. Sam White as its first pastor. In 1912, they built the first brick church in Winter Haven. A Sunday school was built in 1950 for $54,000 and a new Gothic style nave was added in 1960-61.
Ralph Shipe and Edwin M. Wilson founded the Winter Haven Saw Works in 1951. It was moved to this location in 1959 and renamed as Wilson's Lawnmower Center. It later became the home of Winter Haven Lock & Key.
Winter Haven's first Chevrolet agency was started in 1929 by Z.H. Patterson in a building across from the Chamber of Commerce on 6th St. NW. In 1932, he sold it to Frank Jolly, who sold it to Van and Prosser Chevrolet. Hammond Jones of Lakeland bought it in 1934 and Oscar W. Pate acquired it in 1936. In 1945, it was moved to this site.
It is now the site of Arrington's Body Shop, a business founded in 1947.
This company was started by Adolphus Dugger of Illinois in 1913, under the name of Old Winter Haven Planing Mills. It is the city's oldest business under the same ownership in the same location.
Rev. Viva Crawford organized this church in March of 1931, and the first building it used was on 5th St. SW. They moved into the first half of the present building during the late 1930s. Pastor Rev. Don L. Newell moved into the new $15,000 parsonage at 232 Ave. F SW in 1953.
A congregation organized with 24 members in 1924 and was called the Edgewood Assembly of God. They remodeled a house on Ave. G in 1939 for use as a parsonage and built a church in about the same year. This sanctuary was completed for them in 1960, and later became the home of Grace Baptist Church.
This residential complex was developed in 1966 by John G. Wood of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Eight years earlier, he had incorporated the contracting firm of John G. Wood & Associates.
This church organized in about 1944 and in 1950 Rev. August Bernthal became its first resident pastor. It used a small frame building here, which was replaced in 1952 by a more modern building. The next one was built in 1961 and the old one was converted to a parish hall. The Christian Education Building was erected in 1967.
This building, constructed for $200,000, started out in 1925 as the high school. It later served as a junior high school. The football stadium was designed by architect Jean Knox and dedicated on October 17, 1947.
In May of 1959, Russell and Tom Frakes bought the H & H Pharmacy. they moved it here and renamed it.
The land for this park was donated by Sam W. Bryson and his brothers, and until 2001 was named Lake Martha Park.
This church was organized by Rev. D.W. Waddall, and a sanctuary was built here in 1912 on land donated by Florence Inman. It was renovated in 1927 and 1968-69. For a time, this was the home of Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church.
This is the oldest remaining black church in Winter Haven, having been organized in 1881 as St. Bethlehem Baptist Church. Mr. and Mrs. Curtis Whitten organized it, Rev. William Adams served as its first pastor, and its first building was located on Ave. A SW, just west of the later Lawyer's Title Building. They moved to this location in the early 1900s and erected a new sanctuary in 1928.
In 1930, the Florence Villa Baptist Church was organized by J.R. Kirby of Moody Bible Institute with 19 members and met in Browning's Furniture Store. From 1931 until it burned down in 1938, they met in the Florence Villa School. The name was changed to Inman Park Baptist Church in 1955.
This city park is named after Dr. F.W. Inman, who built the Florence Villa Hotel near Spring Lake, a little to the south of here, in 1887. It was enlarged to 36 rooms by builder A.B. Harrington. A post office called Wahnita was opened in the hotel in 1901, and four years later Inman added 43 more rooms. In 1906, he sold it and 695 acres.
The hotel was sold to Cotton Mather of the Mather Furniture Company. He dismantled it in 1942 and sold its contents.
Inman had a citrus grove and a packing plant, and blacks who worked there and in the hotel tended to live nearby. the railroad built a station for Florence Villa before it built one for Winter Haven.
In 1956, the Florence Villa frozen orange juice concentrate plant was sold to the Birdseye Division of the General Foods Corporation, which also bought the 1930 fresh fruit packing house in 1959 across the railroad tracks. Later in 1959, Birdseye also bought the ice house to the north.
In the northeast corner of the park is a concrete bird bath placed there by the Green Thumb Garden Club in 1960. Closer to the middle of the park is the Inman family cemetery, with the graves of Fred (died 1910), Florence (1916), Lillian (1929) and Mary Jewett (1928).
In October of 1958, the Salvation Army opened its headquarters in this former Inman Park Baptist Church building and a house next door.
Dr. F.W. Inman and his wife, Florence Jewett Inman, camped in this area during the winter of 1882-83. His lung problems were cured by the fresh air, and they decided to move here permanently from Akron, Ohio. After they sold the home known as Florence Villa, they built a new one near here. It was a large two-story frame home with extensive porches.
Marlowe Baxter built this motel in 1959. In June of 1968, it was sold to Mr. and Mrs. William J. Small of Dixon, Illinois.
The Perrin & Thompson Groves, owned by Russell G. Perrin and Mr. and Mrs. Charles Henry Thompson, built a shop here in the mid-1930s. It was shaped like a huge orange packing box, and from it they shipped oranges, grapefruit, candy and perfume.
In 1914, a Catholic church was organized in Winter Haven by Rev. Michael Farley, pastor of St. Joseph's in Lakeland. They used the former Methodist Episcopal church building, which they moved to the corner of Ave. K and 7th St. NW. They held their first mass in it on Thanksgiving in 1914, with Father Latalois officiating.
The present site was bought in the late 1950s, and on it was built a new sanctuary and school of pink marble and brick.
Founder George W. Jenkins opened this store in 1940 at the corner of Central Ave. and 2nd St. to replace two prior ones. This one featured pretty colors, wide aisles, terrazzo floors and modern design and equipment, although it's difficult to imagine as a result of later remodeling. The store was moved here from downtown on February 27, 1956, to increase its parking space.
A Christian Science Society formed in 1913 and was recognized by the Mother Church in 1914. Six lots were acquired here and a church was built in 1928. It was converted to use as a church school when the present sanctuary was built in 1960-61.
This church began in 1912, and early services were held in the schoolhouse. It was organized as St. Matthew's Mission by Dr. James H. Davet, the rector of the Holy Trinity Church in Bartow. A sanctuary was built in 1915 on 6th St. on the later site of Haven Floral Company.
The next church building was erected at this site in 1926-27. In 1927, it was formally dedicated by Rt. Rev. Cameron Mann and the name was changed to St. Paul's. The present sanctuary was built in 1988. The adjacent Sturrip Hall was built in 1958 and dedicated in 1972, and housed St. Paul's School.
This 17,000 square foot furniture store opened in 1958. It later housed the Salvation Army thrift store.
The first Presbyterian service in Winter Haven was held in October of 1887, conducted by Rev. Samuel T. Wilson. For a time, the congregation met in the Acres Building on W. Park St. or in the Baptist church building, the only one in town. A sanctuary was built in about 1890. An annex was constructed in 1908.
The present sanctuary was built in 1925 and dedicated in 1926. The stained glass windows in 1925 cost $6,733.54. A $100,000 building program in 1953-54 added a third story to the church school, built a chapel, rebuilt the spire, and air conditioned all of the buildings.
First Methodist Church was organized with the help of Dr. Mitchell in December of 1905, with Rev. T.J. Funk as its first pastor. They used a small wooden building on Lake Howard at a cost of $16,000. A brick parsonage was added next door in 1915. Six years later, the Sunday school was built. Those buildings were later sold to the Central Baptist Church.
The present Romanesque style sanctuary was constructed in 1950-51, and the church was renamed for Mrs. A.S. Beymer who had bequeathed $200,000 toward the building fund. A two-story church school annex was built in 1968, and named Stradley Hall after Rev. and Mrs. J.G. Stradley.
On November 18, 1913, 64 charter members organized the Women's Civic League at the Bonita Theatre. On January 22, 1924, the League dedicated this new building for its activities.
A portion of these buildings was erected by Mr. and Mrs. John A. Schneider for their residence. In 1933, a portion was transformed into a funeral home by Powell Ott and Victor Hall Laughlin. Later, part became the Wis-Flo Hotel.
This church was established at 57 6th St. NW on January 20, 1952, with 60 charter members. The first pastor was Rev. J. Millard Branson. They bought the old First Methodist building and in 1974 replaced it with a modern $130,000 auditorium.
This brick house was built in about 1910 by William J. and Creola Lamereaux Boyd. It later became the Mitchell-Hardin Funeral Home and then the Trinity Funeral & Cremation Center.
This 50-room hotel was planned in 1916 and started in the early 1920s, but construction stopped when the developers ran out of money. It was finally completed in January of 1924 for $45,000 and was leased to the Haven Villa Corporation to house its prospective purchasers. By mid-1925, that company had eight offices and 45 agencies in other cities. George L. Dick led its 500 salesmen.
The Haven Hotel opened a dining room in January of 1929 and became the social center of Winter Haven. Later, it was converted to a retirement hotel and then to condominiums, and is now known as The Haven.
At this intersection was the home of Peter Eycleshimer, who owned land from Pope Ave. and Lake Howard north to Lake Silver and east to the railroad.
A hotel was built here by Henry Gillette McCutcheon, who moved to Winter Garden in 1919. It cost him $300,000 to build in 1926. In the early 1940s, it was sold to A.B. Taylor of Bristol, Tennessee, and in June of 1946, it was sold to D.D. Tucker and S.W. Ricords of Orlando.
During the early 1930s, Mrs. Julian Paul rented half a store room in the hotel and started a home decorating business called The Little Studio. After she died in 1944, the business was continued by George and Mary Louise Dilg.
This building with the two octagonal corner towers was erected in 1926, and in 1927 it became the new home of the post office. It was later converted to shops known as Olde Towne Square.
Mary Motsinger started The Baby Shop in 1954 in the Postal Building and sold furniture, equipment and baby clothing. She sold it in 1960 to Larry Mannix, who changed the name to The Children's World. Motsinger bought it back in March of 1965, and then sold it in July of 1969 to Mr. and Mrs. James L. Casey.
This company was founded in 1927, and soon after built its office here. A later occupant of this building was Pezzsimenti Photography.
The newspaper began publication in 1930 in a building across the street from Woods Pharmacy. In 1946, it moved to this corner. It about 2000, it moved out and the building became occupied by attorneys.
Clarence Eycleshimer owned the Lake Region Telephone Company until he sold it to the Brorein family's Peninsular Telephone Company. They moved the office in 1930 into a new two-story brick building on this block. Dial telephones were first used in Winter Haven in 1931.
This building was erected during the late 1950s. General Telephone Company bought out Peninsular in 1957, and later this site was occupied by Verizon.
A building located at this intersection was known as the Roseart Hotel until 1945, when the Elks Lodge bought it and transformed it into their clubhouse. It was later town down.
The Winter Haven Citrus Growers Association built a packing house here in 1909. It later was the home of Seymour & Craig's building supplies and contracting business. The packing house moved in 1920 into a new building on 5th St.
The present Chamber of Commerce building was dedicated on January 15, 1990.
H.B. Mabson came to Winter Haven in 1921, and built this hotel in 1924-25. It was remodeled in 1982 and the building has been used as attorneys' offices.
William and Jamie Keefe started a hotel on this corner, and sold it to the Delamater family. It was later replaced by the Rickworth Building, housing the Thornton Furniture Store.
During the 1920s, the Associated 5, 10 and 25 Cent Store was located here.
Calvin Runkle built a store here in 1927, bought Howard Nogle's grocery store, and moved the business here. An archway connected it to the meat market next door owned by A.C. Roels. This was later the home of Joe Brandon's Jewelry Store, and in later years, a parking lot.
M.M. Lee founded the Chief Publishing Company, which in 1948 was called the News-Chief Printing Division. In 1957, its assets were transferred to Star Publishing & Printing Co., Inc., the publisher of the Winter Haven Daily News-Chief, which was located here until about 2000.
The first school house was a one-room frame building erected here in 1886, and Bessie Walker served as its teacher. A later teacher was Annie Gibbons. Prior to that time, makeshift classrooms were used.
Later on the same site, a graded school was built. An annex added in 1909 was designed by S.W. Bryson. The current post office is located here.
In 1944, Charles Woodall came to Winter Haven from Sheffield, Alabama, and six years later opened the Woodall Furniture Company on Ave. A SW. He expanded the business in 1955 and moved here. He also built another store at 147 Ave. A NW.
The very first Publix food store was opened here by George W. Jenkins in 1930. It and the second one, which had opened in 1935, closed in 1940. On July 19, 1959, Morrison's Cafeteria opened in the same building. It still shows a strong Art Deco influence with curved building corners and block glass.
The Baptist congregation organized with five charter members on April 25, 1886, when Rev. and Mrs. P.S. Crozier arrived in Winter Haven. Rev. Shives conducted the first church service in the railroad station. The first church building was located later that year at the corner of Central Ave. and 3rd St. (the later site of Key Drug Store), and the present one replaced it in 1916 at a construction cost of $30,000. The stained glass windows were made that year by the Empire Glass studio.
The Sunday school building was built in 1951 and was named the Griffin Educational Building after Rev. J. Harrison Griffin, who was the pastor from 1918 to 1938. Another education building was erected in 1964. The present sanctuary was built in 1965-66 for $480,000.
E.A. Talkington opened an electrical store here in May of 1946 in a building erected by Jay Tracy. In 1948, the business was sold to Robert Kramer and Thomas O. Andrews. For a time, a portion of the building was occupied by Thelma's Ladies Wear. After it was torn down, remnants of the foundation were used as a parking lot.
Morton C. Ware of Indiana came to Winter Haven in 1915 and with his son-in-law, John Alyn Smith, started Winter Haven's first funeral home here. When house numbers became mandatory, Smith put the first ones on.
The abstract company was established in 1925 and built its office here. In later years, this was the local office of the Social Security Administration.
George Ripley built the Bonita Theatre, the town's first theater building, in 1907. In the same building, M.M. Lee began publishing the Florida Chief on September 18, 1911. The building burned down in 1915.
Ripley sold the business to F.E. Williamson, who moved it to this location, built for Mr. and Mrs. Arthur S. Beymer of Michigan. It was known for a time as the Williamson Theatre, and later as the Ritz Theatre. It shows a Spanish influence in its roofline and tile roof, plus ornate brickwork.
W.H. Schulz, Jr. built this structure in 1926 to house the post office. It included two clerk's cage windows that opened to the pedestrian traffic. In it was also the H & H Drug Store, a popular place for young people to congregate in the 1930s.
The post office moved out in 1935 and into a new building at the corner of Ave. A and 3rd St. SW. On September 10, 1949, Mr. and Mrs. James E. Frederick opened an unusual toy store here, called Frederick's Play Shop.
Sam W. and Houston Bryson had a livery stable at this intersection during the 1880s. Part of the land for Oak Lawn Cemetery was donated by Sam.
A.B. Coker opened a pharmacy across from the park on 4th St., and later moved it to this location. Coker was also in the business of selling insurance and real estate.
The brick buildings on this side of the street were erected by Walter W. Mann and Lester Windsor.
In 1937, Arthur and Ethel Jacobson moved to Winter Haven and opened a general merchandise store near the American National Bank on 5th St. They moved it to this corner in 1941, into space vacated when Dr. Anderson moved to the corner of Central Ave. and 3rd St.
The South Florida Railroad opened in Winter Haven on January 25, 1885.
The railroad tracks ran through Winter Haven north and south between 4th and 5th Sts. The railroad station was built in the exact middle of Central Ave. and 4th St.
Seaboard Air Line Railway built a new station in 1947. The station and tracks were removed and replaced by the present parking mall extending from Central Ave. to Ave. A.
Located here is a time capsule buried in 1985, to be opened in 2035.
Erich Weitzenkorn founded a family clothing store in 1951 and located it here. It was sold in 1968 to Weitzenkorn, Inc., whose president was Paul J. Weitzenkorn. Later, this was the home of Rocco's Cafe.
At this intersection was the store and post office owned by F.A.K. Harris in March of 1887, and from it the early settlement was known as Harris' Corner. It was also the Harris residence, and was the first building in Winter Haven.
This is the site of the second store opened in Winter Haven. Behind it was Boyd Hall, a two-story white building built by Col. Boyd. The second floor was used as a school, which may have been started by Mary Boyd Kreider. On the first floor was a grocery store.
In 1908, this was the location of the two-story Robert H. Bryson real estate office.
Harry W. Snell moved to Winter Haven in 1892 and operated a store here. He served as the town's first banker, because he had the only available iron safe. The store burned in 1890 along with the real estate office of Blount & Whitledge, who initially owned most of the land that is now downtown Winter Haven. He opened another store, and it burned in 1903.
In 1908, the first town pump was located on this corner.
A bank located here was started by Kee-Moore & Co. as a private bank on November 1, 1911, and O.B. Kee served as its president. In 1912, a controlling interest in it was acquired by John D. Porter, and it was renamed J.D. Porter & Co. In September of 1914, it became First State Bank.
The National Bank of Winter Haven opened on January 26, 1922, in this building. Roswell C. Irwin was its first president. In 1926, it was renamed American National Bank of Winter Haven, in 1929 as American National Bank in Winter Haven, and in 1960 as American National Bank and Trust Company of Winter Haven.
The bank was remodeled in 1962-63 and Philip Berkovitz's property on 5th St. was cleared for a parking lot and drive-in tellers. A new facility was built in the late 1960s at the corner of Cypress Gardens Rd. and 9th St. This building was later owned by Barnett Bank and then by Bank of America.
This building was erected in 1911. The clock was designed and built by O.B. McClintock in 1918 at his Minnesota business.
Thelma Davis started her clothing shop in Auburndale in 1933, and moved to the Postal Building in Winter Haven the following year. Thelma's Ladies Wear moved to the Ridgeland Hotel in 1935, the Arcade Building in 1938, then to Pope Ave. on the later site of Delgado's Grande Market, then to the Talkington Building at 235 W. Central Ave. The Exchange Bank moved out of this building in 1959, and Thelma's moved in.
Henry Tandy had his store here, and lived upstairs. He had a barn and livery stable business and sold farm implements, groceries, clothing, and hardware. The scope of the store was gradually reduced to clothing and notions, and in 1913 became known as the Winter Haven Mercantile Company. Tandy had the town's first telephone. He installed an electric light plant in April of 1908.
The Anderson Drug Co. was founded in December of 1912 by Dr. William Henley Anderson. Its store was located here.
In 1923, DeWitt Taylor arrived in Winter Haven. He was the supervisor of the construction of the DeWitt Taylor Office Building, the tallest in the city. Later, it became known as the Professional Building.
Taylor was the also involved with the establishment of Kossuthville, a settlement between Winter Haven and Lakeland for Hungarians.
Harvey Henderson and Robert Kenneth "Doc" Harmon opened the Postal Pharmacy in 1927 in the 300 block of 3rd St. NW. After buying the Grand Pharmacy and Bakers Pharmacy, they moved the Postal to this corner and renamed it H & H Pharmacy. They closed the other two in 1936.
The H & H Pharmacy moved to 41 3rd St. SW and was sold in 1957.
The first sanctuary of the First Baptist Church was located on this corner.
This was formerly known as the Beymer Building, built by Mr. and Mrs. Arthur S. Beymer. Its first tenants were the Carrithers Drug Store, and then the Wilkinson Drug Store.
Clyde Hughes Pettijohn moved to Winter Haven in 1916. He and his wife Ruth and Bob Welsh formed the Key Drug Store, Inc. on July 1, 1935, and moved it into this building. In September of 1960, the Winter Haven Business College moved in upstairs.
In 1941, Jim Harrington moved here from Lakeland. Ten years later, he opened The Slack Shop on 3rd St. SW. After ten more years, he expanded and moved a block north, next to the old post office. In 1966, he moved the business to this location.
In February of 1955, a woman's clothing store opened here, and later moved to North Gate Shopping Center. It was a continuation of the store begun in 1880 in Ocala by brothers Charles and Maurice Rheinauer from Thomasville, Georgia.
In June of 1957, Joseph L. and Susie E. Bockover moved to Winter Haven and a month later bought George Weirbach's bakery at 9 5th St. NW. They moved it in 1961 to 100 3rd St. NW, and in February of 1968 they moved it again, to this location. Later, this building was the House of Vacuums.
Century In the Sun: A History of Polk County, Florida, by Ed McNeely and Al R. McFadyen (Polk County Centennial Committee 1961)
Fifty Years of Pleasure: The Illustrated History of Publix Super Markets, Inc., by Pat Watters (Publix Super Markets, Inc. 1980)
Florida Bed & Breakfast Guide, by Valerie C. Bondy (Queen of Hearts Publications 1995)
Florida Historic Stained Glass Survey: Sites of Historic Windows in Public Facilties in the State of Florida, by Robert O. Jones (Florida Members of the Stained Glass Association of America 1995)
Florida's Fabled Inns, by Louise K. Frisbie (Imperial Publishing Company 1980)
Guide to the Small and Historic Lodgings of Florida, by Herbert L. Hiller (Pineapple Press, Inc. 1991)
History 1885-1985 First Baptist Church, Winter Haven, by Louise Vaughn Beauchamp (Spalding Publishers, Inc. 1985)
History of Polk County, Florida, by M.F. Hetherington (The Mickler House 1971)
History of the First South Florida Missionary Baptist Association (1888-1988), by Altermese Smith Bentley (The Mickler House 1988)
History of Winter Haven, Florida, by Josephine G. Burr (The Larry Burr Printing Company 1974)
Wish You Were Here: A Grand Tour of Early Florida Via Old Post Cards, by Hampton Dunn (Byron Kennedy and Company 1981)
Yesterday's Polk County, by Louise K. Frisbie (E.A. Seeman Publishing, Inc. 1976)