Babson Park, Florida
14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1952 and the latest in 1988. It stands in the Lake Wales census division. It lies in ZIP code area 33827. The Survey maps it on the Babson Park quadrangle. 1,330 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 144 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1952 to 1988The same ground, surveyed 36 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


On record in Babson Park
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 1 record
Babson Park Woman's Clublisted 1997
Population over time
3 figuresBabson Park grew from 1,182 to 1,330 between 2000 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 1,182 | |
| 2010 | 1,356 | +174 (+15%) |
| 2020 | 1,330 | -26 (-2%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 surveys from 14 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1952 USGS Babson Park quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1956 USGS Fort Pierce quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1958 USGS Fort Pierce quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Fort Pierce quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1978 USGS Bartow quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1988 USGS Fort Pierce quadrangle1:250000
Fires near this place
180 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 180 fires within 5 miles of Babson Park between 1992 and 2019, burning about 1,943 acres in total. 20 started naturally. 21 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 40 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 35 |
| Debris and open burning | 28 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 21 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 21 |
| Natural | 20 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 7 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 6 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 September 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | under an acre | Florida Forest Service | not named |
| 3 September 2012 | Debris and open burning | 12 acres | Florida Forest Service | GENESIS (53) |
| 3 September 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 acres | Florida Forest Service | not named |
| 25 September 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Florida Forest Service | 2005-14-0349 |
| 22 September 2003 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Florida Forest Service | FISHER COMMAND |
| 12 September 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Florida Forest Service | BRUSH PALLET |
| 1 September 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | under an acre | Florida Forest Service | not named |
| 9 August 1993 | Equipment and vehicle use | 5.0 acres | Florida Forest Service | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
5 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Babson Park: 3 producers, 1 unknown, 1 past producer. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Clay, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Sand. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gall Silica Mining Co. - Sr 60 Mine | Sand | Producer | ||
| Early Davis - Davis Mine | Clay | Unknown | ||
| Lake Wales Sand and Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| No. 2 Mine | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Owl's Nest - Woodley Clay Pit | Clay | Producer | Clay |
Storms near this place
6 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Babson Park in 6 storm reports between 1998 and 2008: 3 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 heavy rain. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Babson Park | $1,000 | Thunderstorm downburst winds uprooted two large palm trees in Babson Park. |
| April 2008 | Hail | Babson Park | - | The public estimated nickel sized hail at Crooked Lake. |
| September 2006 | Heavy Rain | Babson Park | - | Rainfall of 5.39 inches was reported in one hour. No significant flooding or damage was reported. |
| August 2005 | Hail | Babson Park | - | A trained spotter reported nickel size hail and 45 MPH thunderstorm wind gusts. |
| May 2000 | Hail | Babson Park | - | Dime sized hail that lasted for five minutes was reported by a Skywarn Spotter in Babson Park. |
| March 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Babson Park | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts in excess of 60 mph were measured by a Skywarn Spotter. |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hillcrest Heights | 0.9 miles | 14 | |
| Highland Park | 3.1 miles | 14 | |
| Crooked Lake Park | 3.3 miles | 14 | |
| Alcoma | 4.8 miles | 15 | |
| Hesperides | 4.9 miles | 15 | |
| Nalcrest | 5.5 miles | 15 | |
| Lake Wales | 5.9 miles | 20 | |
| Frostproof | 6.0 miles | 16 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Babson Park | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q797783 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 278019. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.





