Polk County is located in the U.S. state of Florida. The county population was 602,095, as of the 2010 census. Its county seat is Bartow, and its largest city is Lakeland.
Lake Alfred is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. The population was approximately 5,183 in 2013. It is part of the Lakeland–Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area.
These are tables of congressional delegations from Florida to the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate.
Bartow Senior High School, formerly Summerlin Institute and Union Academy is the only high school located in Bartow, Florida. The school is also the location of the International Baccalaureate School at Bartow High, as well as Summerlin Academy, the only public military school in Florida.
Ben Hill Griffin Jr. was a prominent American businessman, citrus producer, politician, and philanthropist who was a native and resident of Florida. He was an alumnus of the University of Florida, a former legislator, one-time candidate for governor, and a patron of college sports and higher education in Florida. Several of his grandchildren remain active in Florida politics. Griffin is the subject of the final chapter of John McPhee's work of creative nonfiction 'Oranges'.
The Goodbread–Black Farm Historic District is a U.S. historic district located north of Lake City, Florida. The district is off Corinth Road, bounded by Suwannee Road to the north, US 41 to the west, and US 441 to the east. It contains two historic buildings and two structures. The Goodbread family established the homestead in 1868 and the Black family joined through marriage. The family continues to own and operate it. Lassie Goodbread-Black was the certified family member of the Century Pioneer Family Farm Program, established by the state of Florida in 1985 to honor families who have maintained at least 100 years of continuous family farm ownership. She was also named a Great Floridian by the State of Florida.
The Old Polk County Courthouse is an historic courthouse in Bartow, Florida, located at 100 East Main Street. It was ostensibly designed in the Classical Revival style by architect Edward Columbus Hosford. On August 7, 1989, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
The Joseph Wesley Young House is a historic home in Hollywood, Florida. It is located at 1055 Hollywood Boulevard. On August 10, 1989, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. Joseph Wesley Young Jr. (1882–1934) was a founder and developer of Hollywood, Florida. He is listed as a Great Floridian.
The Ephriam M. Baynard House is a historic home in Auburndale, Florida, located at 208 West Lake Avenue. On November 10, 2001, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places and houses the Baynard House Museum.
The South Florida Military and Educational Institute was established in 1895 by Evander M. Law in Bartow, Florida, United States, and is considered as one of several predecessors of the University of Florida.
The Sun is a group of newspapers published in Charlotte, Sarasota, DeSoto, Hardee, and Highlands counties, in southwestern and central Florida.
Paula Dockery is an independent politician from the U.S. state of Florida. She served as a member of the Florida Senate for ten years, representing parts of Central Florida from 2002 to 2012 as a Republican. Previously, she served three terms in the Florida House of Representatives, representing a Lakeland-based district from 1996 until her election to the Senate. In January 2017, she left the Republican Party and became an independent.
Lassie Moore Goodbread was an American farmer and educator who, in 1925, became the first woman to enroll at the University of Florida, in the College of Agriculture. In 2000, Goodbread was named a Great Floridian by the State of Florida.
May Austin Elizabeth Mann Jennings was one of Florida's most powerful and influential women. She was a leader of organizations, both civic and philanthropic, and founder of the Florida League of Women Voters. Her father was a state senator and later, when he ran for and was elected state representative she worked as his assistant. She was the First Lady of Florida as wife of Florida Governor William Sherman Jennings and is credited with having advanced his political career significantly through relationships gained while working for her father and through her many activities.
The history of Bartow, Florida spans over 150 years, although humans have inhabited the area for close to 12,000 years. Established in 1851 by Redding Blount, the city has gone from being a small frontier outpost vulnerable to Seminole Indian attack to being the county seat of Polk County, a county with more than half a million people.
The Polk County Democrat is a newspaper published in Bartow, Florida, Polk County, Florida. It is a semi-weekly paper which began publication in 1931 and is the only newspaper published within Bartow. The paper endorsed the U.S. Senate campaign of Katherine Harris, a graduate of Bartow High School. The Democrat was run by members of the Frisbie family for many years. It is owned by Sun Coast Media Group. Louise Kelley Frisbie was a columnist at the paper.
Tommie (Tommy) Camilla Stephens Barfield was instrumental in the education system of Collier County, Florida, as its first School Superintendent. Tommie Barfield Elementary School, at which her Great Floridian plaque is located, was named for her. Tommie moved to Marco Island in 1901 with her family and married James Madison Barfield in 1906. In 1910, she turned her home into a hotel and began to make and sell jellies and candies to her guests.
Charlotte E. Maguire was the first woman doctor in Orlando, Florida and opened the first pediatric practice run by a woman in Orlando in 1946. She was one of the founders of the University of Florida College of Medicine as well as the Florida State University College of Medicine. Maguire was denoted as a “Great Floridian” in a 2013 ceremony and was inducted into the Florida Women's Hall of Fame posthumously in 2015.
