GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN: BUILDINGS FROM LAKELAND'S PAST
| | The Kibler/Thelma Hotel, c. 1918 |
| | Back | | The Kibler Hotel was built in 1913 at the corner of Kentucky Avenue and Lemon Street at a cost of $125,000 by the Kibler brothers, Adolphus and David. In 1919, they sold it for $200,000 to local businessman Henry B. Carter, who promptly renamed it the Thelma, after his daughter. Over the years it played host to such renowned guests as Thomas Edison and Theodore Roosevelt. Unable to compete with newer suburban motels and hotels, the Thelma closed its doors for the last time in April 1962. It was torn down a month later. |
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