MUNN PARK HISTORIC DISTRICT TOUR

The City of Lakeland Historic Preservation ordinance and the subsequent designation of the Munn Park Historic District indicate the importance of historic preservation to Lakeland. The City created a historic preservation board to identify and recommend designation of local historic landmarks and to review construction and alterations within the district following the guidelines for building exteriors, such as site planning, building scale and façade design. Structures were selected based on age (minimum 50 years), historic and architectural significance (landmark buildings, rich styling), special qualities of workmanship or detail, reuse potential, and value in terms of contributed scale and mass to the overall fabric of the area.

The early buildings in downtown Lakeland are characterized by three period groups:

The Pioneer (1875-1910)

Lakeland’s earliest commercial business district was established along Pine Street and North Kentucky Avenue by the time the city was incorporated in 1885. Because of numerous fires, the original wooden structures were replaced by brick or stone block bearing-wall systems on concrete slabs, constructed in continuous blocks sharing sidewall areas and uniformly addressing the street. Floors are pine, interior walls are wood stud frame finished with plaster over furring strips, and ceiling tiles are often made of pressed metal. Roofs are flat, parapet type, timber framed and decked with asphalt composition over wood boarding. Outside detailing is limited to functional vernacular style.

Munn Park, located in the center of the business section was given to the city of Lakeland by the town’s founder, Abraham Godwin Munn, in 1884 and was known as the Town Square or The Park until it was officially named for Munn in April 1908. In 1910, the Lakeland chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy erected a monument – a nameless soldier standing atop a marble column – to commemorate the Southern soldiers of the Civil War.    

Early buildings north of the park are:

1. The Bowyer Building, 201-205 North Kentucky Ave. (NE corner of Pine St.)  Built in 1902, the first floor has served retail purposes and the second floor was a hotel. It is the oldest commercial, brick building in Lakeland.
   
2. The Royal Café, 207-211 North Kentucky Ave. is constructed of rusticated block with brick on the street front. A restaurant was on the first floor and a hotel on the second.
   
   
3. The Studebaker Building, 211/ 215 East Bay Street, originally housed an automobile sales and repair business on the ground floor and the Crescent Club on the second floor.
   
   
4. Kinsinger and Strand Theatre Building, 234-240 North Kentucky Ave., built in 1924 to replace wooden buildings, has a brick exterior.
   
   
5. The Clonts Building, 228 E. Pine St. and N. Kentucky Ave.  (NW corner), built in 1903, of brick is distinguished by a three story turret. 
   
   
6. Raymondo Building, 115 North Kentucky Ave, built in 1904 by Salvedo Raymondo was the largest building in Lakeland at that time, covering almost a city block. It housed eight stores and 48 offices.  Only a small building remains which is the current home of Arts on the Park.  The building to the north was formerly Montgomery Wards and to the south is the Kress Building.
   
   
7. The Bryant Block, 105 North Kentucky (NE corner of Main St.),  was completed in 1905.  It formerly housed McCrory's and W. T. Grant stores and the corner suite was Jewitt Drug Store for over fifty years.
   
   
8. The Munn Annex, 110 South Kentucky, was originally constructed in 1907 as an annex to the Munn Building, which was located on the S. E. corner of Main St. and Kentucky Ave. It is Italianate in style with arched upper story windows.

The Town Square (1910-1920)

Commercial buildings surrounding Munn Park represent a transition between the functional, vernacular types and the elaborate structures yet to be developed. Eclectic styles include neo-classic, Spanish, Moroccan, Italianate, Georgian and medieval, but they are harmonious in scale and mass. Freestanding structures gave importance to the buildings.

9. Skipper/ Elliston Buildings, 215-219 East Main Street, 1912. The first floor of the three story building was once used as a post office with Joseph Lee Skipper, postmaster. It was later the site of the Famous Dept. Store (213-215).
   
   
10. Kentucky Building, 207 East Main Street, built in 1903, housed the agents of Abraham Munn, founder of Lakeland, and the first Peninsular Telephone Co. It was the first masonry building south of the railroad, and its façade is Italianate.
    
    
11. Old City Hall, 100 East Main St. (at Florida Ave.), c 1913, housed city offices, the fire department and jail from 1913 – 1926. It is Italian Villa Style, with ornamental brackets, and brick and stone detail. The tower was removed from the southeast corner, but rebuilt during restoration in 1987.
    
    
12. Federal Building, 124 South Tennessee Ave. (NE corner of Lemon St), built circa 1917. This was Lakeland’s first separate post office building. It has Roman architectural elements.

The Florida Boom (1920-1930)

This period is significant for architectural heritage and Lakeland’s downtown growth. The Spanish revival and Italianate styles create a pleasant and unified architectural environment on 11 of the remaining 16 buildings developed in this period.

13. Vanity Fair Arcade, 114 South Tennessee Ave., c 1924. This 1920’s boom building was a true arcade with entrances from both the alley and the street. Its central corridor was lined with retail shops. It was altered in the Art Deco style during the 1940’s.
    
    
14. The Polk Theatre, 127 South Florida Ave., c 1927, was Lakeland’s largest and most elaborate theater designed for stage shows. The exterior style is Italian Renaissance, and the interior is designed like a Mediterranean village with twinkling stars adorning the ceiling.
    
    
15. The Oates Building, 230 South Florida Ave. (NE corner of Orange St.), built 1925, original home of the Oates-Corley Furniture store. It has a painted textured stucco exterior wall finish and a flat parapet type roof. Inside is a large first floor area with a staircase leading up to a mezzanine.
    
    
16. The Marble Arcade Building, 129 South Kentucky Ave., (NW corner of Lemon St.), built in 1928. This was Lakeland’s first high-rise office building with a 10 story rectangular tower.
    
    
17. The Kress Building, 109 North Kentucky Ave.,  c1929. One of a series of S. H. Kress & Co. stores, it is an elaborate Renaissance Revival style building.
    
    
18. Hotel Lakeland Terrace, 329 Main St. (SW corner of Massachusetts Ave.), opened in 1924. Combining Mediterranean influences with more classical design elements, painted stucco exterior, elaborate Italianate entrance detailing, and ornate lobby with mezzanine, it is the best local example of the Florida Boom and its unbridled optimism.
    
    
19. The New Florida Hotel, 128 South Massachusetts Ave. (NE corner at Main St.) built from 1926 -1935. This was begun at the height of the Florida Boom period, but work was interrupted when the Boom went bust. The nine-story building is Spanish revival style with textured stucco walls. Notable are the bell tower, medallions, balconettes, and mission tile mansard roof.
    
    
20. All Saints Episcopal Church, 202 South Massachusetts Ave, 1923. Spanish Mission style. This parish originated in nearby Acton in 1883 and moved to this location in 1892.
    
    
21. City Hall Building, 228 South Massachusetts Ave., 1927. Mediterranean Revival stucco exterior is detailed with a cornice fresco, bracketed eaves, ornate pilastered pediment and the tower.
    
    
22. Lake Mirror Promenade, built in 1928, was designed by the noted landscape architect Charles Welford Leavitt. An ornate balustrade with classical ornamentation surrounds the lake. Part of the Civic Center plan, which included a gazebo-like band shell in a park, it is being returned to its original plan.
    
    
23. The Park Trammell Building, 35 Lake Morton Drive at Massachusetts Ave., part of the Lake Morton Historic District, was built in 1927 to house the public library. It was later named for Park Trammell, who was mayor of Lakeland from 1899-1903, Florida State Representative, Senator, then the 21^st Governor in 1913. In 1916 he was elected to the United States Senate where he served until his death in 1936. The building, now the home of the Lakeland Chamber of Commerce, is Mediterranean Revival style with painted stucco walls, tile floors, red clay barrel tile roof, and Spanish style ornamental iron railing and light fixtures.

Return to Special Collections Home Page