For the readers long ago who embarked on the journey through Dante Alighieri’s vision of the darkest steps of Hell, they found themselves guided by the poet Virgil. For listeners in the classic Golden Age of radio, it was Raymond who led them behind the creaking door of the Inner Sanctum, and for the watchers of late-night television in the ’60s through the ’80s—in some lucky cases, even later—their trip into the dark often began and ended with their local horror host. Our tr

Mary B. Jewett, MD Mary Jewett was born in 1858 in Mogadore, Ohio, and spent the first half of her life breaking through barriers that most women of her era never attempted. She completed her public education, graduated from the Philadelphia Presbyterian School of Medicine, taught at Buchtel College, the forerunner of the University of Akron, during the 1870s, and later joined the faculty at Merrill-VanLear College in New York. She started a medical practice in New York City

Gene Leedy's Bold Mid-Century vision turned a citrus town into a quiet capital of modern design. On a crest of land between an old grapefruit grove and the gentle shoreline of Lake Elbert, eleven low-slung homes sit beneath flat roofs and sliding glass walls, looking very much as they did the day Gene Leedy drew them. Locals call them the Craney Spec Homes. The rest of the world, increasingly, calls them a treasure. Decades after Leedy first set up his drafting table in town,

As we all know, Florida occupies that peculiar borderland where the unusual settles down, raises a family, and retires. It seems fitting that America’s strangest fictional newspaper was born and raised here. Weekly World News began in Lantana, Palm Beach County, Florida, in 1979 for an entirely ordinary reason. When the National Enquirer switched to color printing, its black-andwhite presses suddenly became available. Rather than retire them, publisher Generoso Pope Jr.’s com

The Haven Hotel opened in 1924. It was converted to 55 condominiums in 1982. Photograph by Robert Dahlgren In December 2023, a six-story hotel opened its doors at 305 Fifth Street NW, overlooking Lake Howard in the heart of downtown Winter Haven. The Staybridge Suites, 108 rooms, modern apartments, the full amenities of a twentyfirst century extended-stay property, was welcomed as something genuinely new. It was, in fact, the first hotel to open in the downtown core in more t

Less than a decade after the end of the Second World War, the men and women who had trained at Bartow Air Base and encountered Florida for the first time in uniform were coming back — this time with families, furniture, and the intention to stay. Housing couldn’t keep up. Developers who could read a map and a moment were platting groves as fast as the surveyors could work. One of those groves was on the north side of Havendale Boulevard, in the city’s northwest quadrant adjac

As graduation dreams approach- A Bit of WHHS History Winter Haven’s first official high school opened in 1915. It was a kindergarten through 12th grade facility located on Central Avenue on the site of the current downtown post office. Prior to 1915, Haven School’s educational offering stopped at the eighth grade. By October of 1916, the school fielded a basketball team. There were 15 students in the first graduating class. The first yearbook was published in 1917. The school

Sometime in March 1974, the Betz family discovered a metal sphere on their property on Fort George Island in Jacksonville while investigating the aftermath of a small brush fire. Partially exposed in the scorched earth was a smooth metallic sphere, roughly the size of a bowling ball. It had no seams, no markings, no visible openings—nothing to indicate how it had been made or what it had once been used for. The family, Antoine, Jerri, and their son Terry, turned it over in th

In the 1970s, the unexplained was never absent from the table — especially in Florida, where strange weather and stranger claims sometimes met. Psychokinesis, or “psi,” the ability to alter either the internal or external environment by mental effort alone, or “mind over matter” was discussed on television, tested in laboratories, and debated in newspapers. Cold War anxieties quietly fueled interest and created government-funded research programs to study whether consciousnes

Once upon a time, a grand hotel stood on the shores of Lakes Mirror and Spring on the present site of Spring Lake Shopping Center. The Florence Villa Hotel was founded by Dr. Frederick Inman and his wife, Florence (for whom Florence Villa was named). It evolved from their original home as guests suggested they convert it to a hotel in the late 1800s. By 1905 it boasted 45 rooms. Dr. and Mrs. Inman eventually built a home called Spring Lake Terrace that was situated just north

Inwood is a diverse neighborhood located on Winter Haven’s western side on the shore of Lake Cannon. During the real estate boom of the 1920s, Inwood was among several newly created neighborhoods marketed by the Haven Villa Corporation. Though never formally incorporated into Winter Haven’s city limits, it is part and parcel of the city’s rich history. My family moved to Winter Haven in September of 1960. My maternal grandparents had moved here a year earlier and had purchase

This month, we look back to 1915 when a small group of determined residents had a vision of connecting many of our lakes by canals. The group organized as the Twenty Lakes Boat Club. At the time, some of the lakes had small “runs” or swampy places that connected them. This club wanted to create canals there. Pleasure boat in Howard/Cannon canal, one the Chain’s most scenic. Foot bridge spanning the canal behind boat was originally installed to connect the properties of Dick a

Many remember the time during January – as citrus season is fully manifest – Winter Haven would host a grand celebration featuring parades, banquets, nationally broadcast radio and television shows, massive displays of fresh fruit, and carnival shows such as the James E. Strates company with rides (including the double Ferris wheel) overlooking Lake Silver. Crowds converge on the 1949 entrance to the Florida Citrus Exposition — this scene from Third St. at Avenue D, NW. Woode

ORIGINS & EARLY GROWTH (1500S–LATE 1800S) Oranges were first planted in Florida by early Spanish explorers (near St. Augustine) and over centuries citrus spread across the peninsula; commercial-scale production expanded after the Civil War when railroads enabled shipping to northern markets. Central Florida — including Polk County — became a major citrus-growing region in the late 19th century as settlers planted groves and rail links allowed crate shipments (many of the deco

Carol Burnett recently celebrated her 92nd birthday. She is currently among the stars of “Palm Royale” on Apple TV. She spent seven decades sharing her acting and comedic talents. Winter Haven played a role with Burnett in the early days of her career. It was January 1961 and Robert “Bobby” Hiers just returned to Winter Haven from working on an oil pipeline in the western U. S.. The twenty-nine-year-old Hiers moved here from Georgia with his family in 1938 and graduated from

In the early 1940s Winter Haven was no different than many other U.S. cities as its energies were directed to the World War II effort. Citizens learned what “blackouts” were (keeping lights out and/or shades drawn at night) and how to prevent both homes and businesses from becoming bombing targets at night. Air raid warnings were practiced, and a block system of communication helped individuals and families prepare for the possibility of attack. Children in schools were finge

Maybe they only knock on some of our doors. Those chosen are as diverse as the reports themselves. Some never share the story. Some never even realize they had company. And some of us— maybe—have our names written in an appointment book in the distant stars. And should my name be nowhere in those books, should no visitor arrive, they will still have given me a gift to be opened slowly, with many smaller surprises inside, and even more questions about each one. This isn’t a st

It is only slightly ironic that one of the oldest continuously operating restaurants in Winter Haven is the Sixth Street McDonald’s. (Andy’s Igloo predates it, but that is a story for another day.) In fact, the single-arch sign at the front of the property — original to the location — is one of less than ten left in the country. Our story begins when two brothers, Vernon and Philip Vineyard, decided to become franchisees of a new concept, McDonald’s Hamburgers. Vernon came to

Yes there were. Many people do not realize that during World War II, Winter Haven was home to a POW (Prisoner of War) camp. It was located just north of the present City Hall in two buildings that had been used as exhibition halls for the Florida Orange Festival (later moved to the south of town and known as the Citrus Showcase). Our camp was affiliated with Camp Blanding near Starke. There were 19 such affiliated POW camps in Florida supplying labor for everything from picki

As 1936 began, Dick and Julie Pope would host the grand opening of their park on January 2. Many local leaders had serious doubts about the park’s viability, and Pope often faced ridicule from those who felt the operation would surely fail. But the doubters failed to recognize Dick Pope’s skill set. His work with brother Malcolm in daredevil boating, as well as his golfing talent, had earned him valuable media contacts. He leveraged those contacts and promoted the gardens wit

Dick and Julie Pope are remembered (respectively) by many Havenites as the flamboyant and gracious founders of Cypress Gardens. Their story and its impact on our community are both rich and colorful. This month we take a look at Dick Pope long before he created Cypress Gardens ... up to the time that he met his lifelong personal and professional partner, Julie Downing. Richard Pope was born April 19, 1900, in Des Moines, Iowa, the son of J. Walker Pope and his wife, Lily May.

James Whale (Left) - Boris Karloff (Right) The Motion Picture Production Code—enforced from 1930 and reaching its most stringent application from 1934 until its decline in the late 1960s—represented one of the most aggressive regulatory frameworks in American cinematic history. Known commonly as the Hays Code, it functioned as both a moral compass and a tool of censorship, explicitly forbidding depictions of what it termed “sexual perversion.” The Hays Code was never just abo

Having survived the implosion of the Florida Boom in 1926, Florida was well on its way to recovery when the factors of the Great Depression ushered in the 1930s. While Florida was certainly affected by the economic downturn — tourism had fallen from three million annual visitors to one million (143 million in 2024), other areas of the economy such as citrus, phosphate, and cattle, were more resilient. Defying those odds, Winter Haven would see its citrus industry continue to

As Winter Haven entered the1920s the U.S. Census listed the population at 1597 people - a small but motivated populace that had embarked on big projects like connecting the areas lakes by canals. Armed with “can do” optimism, they welcomed the “roaring twenties” with gusto. Winter Haven’s City Hall circa 1923. It was torn down in the late 1960s to make way for a Royal Castle restaurant. Currently Popeye’s location. NEW CITY HALL: In 1920, a bond issue was approved to build a