Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993. 6 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1952.
From the record
“Mountain Lake is a private community and U.S. historic district north of the City of Lake Wales, Florida, United States, off the FL 17 Scenic Highway. Mountain Lake was founded in 1915, with major development of the property commencing in the 1920s.”
Wikipedia article Mountain Lake, Florida, CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 78 National Register listings published here for Polk County · listed in 1993 · category: District.
National Register reference number.93000871- the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.
Then and now
1952 to 1988
The ground this property stands on, surveyed
36 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are
United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.
19521988
Fires near this property
149 since 1992
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The
federal wildfire occurrence database
lists 149 fires within 5 miles of Mountain Lake Estates Historic District
between 1992 and 2020, burning about 851 acres in total. 13 started naturally. 13 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
Debris and open burning
34
Railroad operations and maintenance
33
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
22
Equipment and vehicle use
17
Arson/incendiarism
13
Natural
13
Misuse of fire by a minor
9
Recreation and ceremony
5
Power generation/transmission/distribution
3
The most recent of
them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service
that recorded it.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists
11 workings within 5 miles of Mountain Lake Estates Historic District: 5 producers, 3 unknowns, 1 occurrence, 1 prospect.
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.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The National Weather Service names
Lake Wales, the town this property stands in, 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.
A tornado touched down at Fourth and Johnson Streets in Lake Wales and caused significant roof damage to 25 homes, damaged a few vehicles, downed numerous large tree limbs and power lines along an intermittent path. Five homes in the North Point subdivision incurred moderate roof and lanai damage. One large vehicle was rolled and severely damaged by the tornado before it lifted and dissipated in the Crown Pointe subdivision along Burns Avenue in Lake Wales.
A tornado touched down along U.S. Highway 27A and North Crooked Lake Drive and lifted near Gulf View Cutoff Road in Babson Park. Five homes in a Babson Park division incurred roof damage by the tornado while several trees and power lines were downed before the tornado lifted and dissipated.
The Polk county sheriffs department reported that thunderstorm winds caused moderate to minor damage to twelve mobile homes and caused minor hanger damage at the Lake Wales Municipal Airport.
Thunderstorm winds caused minor roof and structural damage to a few homes along Alternate U.S. Highway 27 in Lake Wales. Also, a few trees and power lines were downed by thunderstorm winds approximately one mile north of Lake Wales.
Florida Power Electric Company officials reported that thunderstorms winds downed several large trees and power lines in Lake Wales of eastern Polk county.
Broadcast media shared video from a social media account depicting a very brief land spout tornado impacting a trailer and small carport-style structure, causing minor damage. No additional damage was reported.
A short-lived tornado touched down and shredded a 14-by-42 foot aluminum and screen enclosure of a home along U.S. Highway 27. The enclosure was tossed over the home and the remains scattered over an area 150 yards downstream from the damage site.
The Peace River Electric Company reported several power lines were downed by thunderstorm winds along Old U.S. Highway 27 (Old Scenic Highway) in Lake Wales.
A large waterspout touched down on Crooked Lake east of U.S. Highway 27 and south of County Road 640. The waterspout moved onshore near North Crooked Lake Drive.
United States Geological Survey topographic
sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the middle of the area the National Park Service maps for this listing, then
testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.
Other National Register properties close
enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both
positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties
to their map sheets.
Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
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.
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