Winter Haven, Florida Winter Haven Winter Haven in a green serif font on top except for a cursive W, "The Chain of Lakes City" on bottom in an italicized sans serif font Polk County Florida Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Winter Haven Highlighted.svg Winter Haven is positioned in Florida Winter Haven - Winter Haven Website City of Winter Haven Winter Haven is a town/city in Polk County, Florida, United States.
Enumeration Bureau's 2015 estimates, the town/city had a populace of 37,689, making it the second most populated town/city in Polk County.
It is a principal town/city of the Lakeland-Winter Haven, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The Timucua and the Calusa were the earliest known inhabitants of the territory that would turn into Winter Haven.
In the 19th century, the Creek and the Seminole were known to live and hunt in this area. During the Seminole Wars, the Seminole leader, Chipco, and his followers were known to live in the Winter Haven area.
Henry Haines working for Henry Plant and the Plant System, successfully assembled the first barns athwart Polk County, passing just north of Winter Haven.
Lake Haines, in Winter Haven, was titled after Col.
Harris, who opened the first mercantile store in the region around this time. The name Winter Haven was later suggested, in reference to the area's pleasant climate. By the end of the century, the populace interval to approximately 400 and in 1911, the City of Winter Haven was incorporated.
Winter Haven Hospital was established in 1926 and has been in the town/city ever since.
During this period, the populace of Winter Haven began to expanded substantially.
Many beautiful single-family homes were assembled in Winter Haven at this time in the colonial revival style.
There are four historic districts in Winter Haven.
They are Interlaken, Pope Avenue, Winter Haven Heights, and the downtown area.
Another defining event in Winter Haven was the opening of Cypress Gardens in 1936 by Dick Pope, Sr.
Legoland Florida is a state-of-the-art, world-class infamous park that successfully retained some of the tradition and history of the initial site, including part of the initial botanical garden and a water ski show. Winter Haven featured many buildings designed by Gene Leedy, one of the framers of the Sarasota School of Architecture.
Regency Medical Center, which is Winter Haven Hospital's women's hospital, was assembled in 1987. In February 2012, the Orange Dome was completed to make way for The Landings, a proposed $150 million mixed-use evolution that was intended to include high-end retail stores, restaurants, hotels, apartements and a new movie theater to be assembled at the Chain of Lakes Complex. However, after the assembly of three fast food chain stores, the universal collapsed.
Fountain Walk in Downtown Winter Haven, Florida According to the United States Enumeration Bureau, the town/city has a total region of 25.4 square miles (66 km2), of which 17.7 square miles (46 km2) is territory and 7.7 square miles (20 km2) (30.45%) is water.
Winter Haven is positioned inside the Central Florida Highlands region of the Atlantic coastal plain with a terrain consisting of flatland interspersed with gently rolling hills. It has an average altitude of 146 feet (45 m) above sea-level. The town/city is positioned at the headwaters of the Peace River (Florida). Winter Haven has 50 lakes inside its borders, including its famous Chain of Lakes.
Winter Haven bills itself as "The Chain of Lakes City".
The town/city has two prominent chains of lakes; the northern chain has nine lakes interconnected by a series of canals. The southern chain features sixteen lakes interconnected by a series of canals.
The southern chain has a several prominent lakes, including Lake Eloise, Lake Howard, and Lake Lulu. In 2011, after six years of assembly and political infighting, Winter Haven opened a canal lock fitness connecting the two chains. Most of the lakes in Winter Haven formed in a similar fashion to sinkholes, through dissolving of the limestone ground.
These types of lakes are called "solution lakes". The lakes in Winter Haven teem with life, including alligators, bald eagles, great blue herons, and more.
The Winter Haven lakes are a world-renowned spot for bass fishing. Winter Haven is positioned in the humid subtropical zone (Koppen climate classification: Cfa). The town/city gets its name from its comparative lack of colder weather.
Climate data for Winter Haven, Florida As of the 2010 census, Winter Haven was 55.6% white, 28.2% black, 12.5% Hispanic, 2.5% Asian.
Three-time Olympic gold medal swimmer, Rowdy Gaines, and Olympic gold medal sprinter, Kenneth Brokenburr both interval up in Winter Haven.
Four-time NBA all-star and Olympic gold medalist guard, Otis Birdsong, also interval up in Winter Haven. Welterweight boxing champion, Andre Berto, is another famous athlete who interval up in Winter Haven.
Winter Haven has many prosperous sports programs, both recreational and competing, serving the youth in the community.
Winter Haven High School has won a several state and precinct championships in various sports, including Girls Varsity Basketball State Championship in 2005, 2007, and 2016.
With so many lakes, Winter Haven is a locale for fresh water fishing.
The two sports for which Winter Haven is best known are water skiing and baseball.
Winter Haven has played a primary part in the evolution and expansion of water skiing as a sport.
Used water skiing as a way to promote his Cypress Gardens infamous park starting in the 1930s, and water ski shows soon became a staple of entertainment at the park.
He was also the first person to complete a jump on water skis, jumping over a wooden ramp in 1928, for a distance of 25 feet. He pioneered a number of other water skiing tricks, including the water ski human pyramid, as part of an accomplishment to precarious his shows at Cypress Gardens.
Winter Haven is connected to 10 members of the Water Ski Hall of Fame, more than any other town/city in the world.
"Banana George" Blair, who still holds a several water ski world records, was first introduced to the sport while visiting Winter Haven in the 1950s.
Winter Haven has many lakes, including its famous chain of lakes, that are perfect for water skiing.
Today, a several prosperous ski schools, for both water skiing and barefoot skiing, make their home there.
Winter Haven was a Major League Baseball Spring Training baseball site for many years, first at Denison Stadium and later at the Chain of Lakes Ballpark.
Many of the greatest baseball players in history played in Florida's Spring Training Grapefruit League, and passed through Winter Haven to play games, including Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig, Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente, Johnny Bench, and Hank Aaron.
In 1928, the Philadelphia Phillies were the first Major League Baseball team to call Winter Haven their spring-home. The Phillies assembled Denison Stadium, which featured a large, veiled wooden grandstand. The Phillies played spring training games there until 1938.
In 1966, the Boston Red Sox and spring training baseball returned to Winter Haven.
The Red Sox played in the newly assembled Chain of Lakes Ballpark, a state of the art facility at that time. For 26 years, the Red Sox called Winter Haven their spring-home.
When the Red Sox left in 1992 to move to Fort Myers, Florida, the town/city of Winter Haven was looking to attract another Major League Baseball team.
The Indians were in search of a new spring home, and they were a perfect match for Winter Haven. The Indians played 16 seasons at the Chain of Lakes Ballpark, leaving in 2008.
In 2008, after floundered negotiations with the town/city to renovate Chain of Lakes Ballpark, the Indians moved into a brand new stadium in Goodyear, Arizona. The Chain of Lakes Ballpark today hosts Russ Matt collegiate baseball tournament.
Public schools in Winter Haven are directed by Polk County Public Schools.
Winter Haven Senior High School Winter Haven Christian School Winter Haven is part of the Tampa/St.
The small-town journal in Winter Haven is the News Chief Major routes through, to, and from Winter Haven include: US 17 - A primary north/south route through Winter Haven, this highway leads northward to Lake Alfred where it joins US 92, and southward to Bartow.
US 27 - This divided highway east of Winter Haven will be a key access road for Legoland Florida in its intersection with Interstate 4 to the north.
State Road 540 - This key road runs through southern Winter Haven as Cypress Gardens Boulevard, dominant westward to Lakeland and the Polk Parkway, by Legoland Florida just east of town, and on eastward to US 27.
State Road 542 - It cuts through the heart of Winter Haven's downtown as Central Avenue, and leads eastward directly to Dundee at US 27.
State Road 544 - From northern Winter Haven, SR 544 joins westward to Auburndale, hence its name, Havendale Boulevard, and leads a scenic route eastward toward Haines City.
The streets of downtown Winter Haven are arranged in a grid plan.
Winter Haven has an Amtrak train station.
Local commuter bus service is provided by Winter Haven Area Transit and the Citrus Connection. Winter Haven's Gilbert Airport and the adjoining Jack Browns Seaplane Base are positioned 3 miles (4.8 km) northwest of the central company district.
Winter Haven Hospital Winter Haven Women's Center List of citizens from Winter Haven, Florida "City of Winter Haven, Florida".
City of Winter Haven, Florida.
"Guide to Polk, Winter Haven".
"The Naming of Lakes in Polk County",Joe Spann, Polk County Historical Library, Bartow, 2007, https://polk.wateratlas.usf.edu/upload/documents/Naming%20of%20 - Polk%20 - Lakes.pdf The Naming of Lakes in Polk County, "Lake Hamilton", Joe Spann, Polk County Historical Library, Bartow, 2007, https://polk.wateratlas.usf.edu/upload/documents/Naming%20of%20 - Polk%20 - Lakes.pdf "Winter Haven established by citrus".
"History-Winter Haven Co - C".
Winter Haven Chamber of Commerce.
"Winter Haven Hospital".
"Winter Haven Chain of Lakes Bass Fishing Guides".
"Winter Haven - The Chain of Lakes City - Access Facilities" (PDF).
"Chain of Lakes Locks System Finally Ready for Use".
"Weather Channel | Winter Haven, FL".
"Monthly Averages for Winter Haven, FL".
"Remembering Winter Haven's spring-training heritage".
City of Winter Haven Official Site Portal style website, Government, Business, Library, Recreation and more Winter Haven News Chief improve news The Lakeland Ledger journal serving Winter Haven and all of Polk County City-Data.com Comprehensive Statistical Data and more about Winter Haven
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Cities in Polk County, Florida - Winter Haven, Florida - Populated places established in 1884 - 1884 establishments in Florida
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