Bok Tower Gardens

Lake Wales, FL

As I continue my journey around Central Florida to go to the sites less visited than the big attractions and theme parks, on April 27, 2024, I drove down to Lake Wales and visited “The Iron Mountain,” which a dedication plaque says was the highest point above sea level surveyed by the United States government on the Florida peninsula (as of 1929) — it’s about 300 feet above sea level. It is here that Edward W Bok, retired editor of “The Ladies’ Home Journal,” purchased the property and in 1929 established it as a gift to the American people. He hired landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. to design its 70-acre garden, which was created 1924-28. The highlight of the grounds of Bok Tower Gardens is “The Singing Tower” and its 60-bell carillon — performances are daily at 1pm and 3pm, and the video in this post includes music from 3pm. The site is a National Historic Landmark that was dedicated by President Calvin Coolidge in February 1929, just before the end of his term.

Most of these photos and all the video was shot on my iPhone 15 Pro Max. A few of the vista photos looking away from “The Iron Mountain” and some of the closeups of the details of the tower were shot on my Canon PowerShot with its 40x optical zoom.