Lake Wales, Florida

The 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.

1952 1988

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 12 of 21 shown

• Singing Tower, Bok Mountain Lake SanctuaryNational Historic Landmark · listed 1972
• Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Depotlisted 1990
• B. K. Bullard Houselisted 1990
• Casa De Josefinalisted 1975
• Chalet Suzannelisted 1990
• Church of the Holy Spiritlisted 1990
• Dixie Walesbilt Hotellisted 1990
• El Retirolisted 1985
• First Baptist Churchlisted 1990
• C. L. Johnson Houselisted 1989
• Lake of the Hills Community Clublisted 2000
• Lake Wales City Halllisted 1990

Every listing in Polk County

Lake Wales grew from 14,225 to 16,361 between 2010 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.

Matched 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 Lake Wales quadrangle1:24000, 9 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

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 172 fires within 5 miles of Lake Wales between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,693 acres in total. 12 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.

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

• Floritan
• Highland Park
• West Lake Wales
• Crooked Lake Park
• West Scenic Park
• Alturas

Every fire recorded in Polk County

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 13 workings within 5 miles of Lake Wales: 5 producers, 3 unknowns, 2 prospects, 2 past producers. 5 still produce. What was taken out: Sand, Diatomite, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Every working recorded in Polk County

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Lake Wales in 42 storm reports between 1995 and 2024: 17 hail, 15 thunderstorm wind, 6 tornado, 1 lightning. The reports record 4 injuries. 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.

Every storm recorded in Polk County

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

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.

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 285290. 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.