Lakeland History Room

Hours: 

Mon - Thurs. - 9 am - 7 pm
Fri - Sat: 9 am - 5 pm
Sun: 1:30 pm - 5 pm

Lakeland History Room Service Desk: 863.834.4284

Lakeland History Room Librarian Supervisor: LuAnn Mims
Ph: 863.834.4269
Email: luann.mims@lakelandgov.net

Image from the Greetings from Lakeland postcard collection

• Using the Lakeland History Room

  Services: 

  • Research assistance with local history 
  • House/property records research 
  • Family Genealogy, Newspapers and Obituaries — please contact LuAnn Mims at 863.834.4269 or email LuAnn.Mims@lakelandgov.net
  • DIY Digitize Lab — guided assistance by appointment only to reformat analog materials to digital formats (excluding film). Please contact Rebecca Whalon to schedule an appointment in the DIY workspace at 863.834.4212 or email Rebecca.Whalon@lakelandgov.net

   

• Digital Collections

  The Lakeland History Room collection features a variety of materials—documents, photographs, maps, building plans, audio/visual media, and scrapbooks with specialty items like citrus crate labels, artwork, yearbooks, posters, and postcards. There are also 8000+ images viewable online via our Digital Collection on CONTENTdm.

  Click on the icons below to explore digital collections, photo albums, and story maps of Lakeland history:

                      

                        

   

• In-Person Classes and Self-Paced Learning

  In-Person Classes 

  Genealogy:

  • Generators – meets the first Monday of each month @6pm- is an ad hoc group that discusses genealogical topics of interest
  • Beginning Genealogy – offered twice a year – basic introduction to researching your family history
  • Get Started with Ancestry.com – offered twice a year – guided tour through the premier genealogical database
  • Focus on Family Search – offered twice a year – step by step look at this FREE family history resources

  Archival:

  • Photograph Preservation instruction offered in person twice a year to introduce reformatting from analog to digital concepts

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  Self-Paced Learning: Organizing and Preserving Your Materials

  Trying to get your personal memorabilia better organized?  Start with the Personal Archiving at Home video series. These short videos give detailed instruction on how to take care of your treasured memorabilia – photographs, slides, negatives, papers, audio and video tapes and more. Topics include preservation, storage, digitization, standard formatting, organization tips and adding to your family archives.

  Part I: Historic Preservation
  Part II: Organization & Maintenance
  Part III: Digitization

   

• Lakeland History and Culture Center Lecture Series

  Grown in Florida: A Reexamination of the History of the Farmworkers' Movement
  with Dr. Charlie Fanning
  Lakeland Public Library Meeting Room 
  Thursday, September 24th at 5:30 PM 

  Join us in the Meeting Room at the Lakeland Public Library on Thursday, September 24th at 5:30 PM as Dr. Charlie Fanning presents about the history of Florida's farmworkers in "Grown in Florida: A Reexamination of the History of the Farmworkers' Movement."

  Learn more about how farmworkers’ organizing in Florida, from the Great Depression to today, reshaped both working conditions in the state’s agricultural complex and national movements for economic and social justice with the author of the upcoming book, Empire of the Everglades, which examines the development of industrial agriculture and farmworkers' movements in south Florida over the course of the 20th century. In this lecture, particular attention will be paid to the place of Polk County and citrus in this history.

  No registration required.

  Find out more information about "Grown in Florida: A Reexamination of the History of the Farmworkers' Movement".  

   

• History Tours

  Lakeland History Room Staff host historical walking tours for the public featuring Lakeland history, as well as providing curated exhibit tours of the Lakeland History and Culture Center.

  • Stories and Stones – Saturdays (check dates/registration) monthly walk and talk biographical tours of Lakeland’s oldest cemeteries – Roselawn, Tigers Flowers and Lake View
  • Green Hat and White Gloves – Second Tuesdays monthly (check dates and registration) walking tour of Lake Mirror with “Serena Bailey” Lakeland’s first librarian (1929-1959)
  • From the Groves — Lakeland's Citrus Story – curated exhibit tour available by appointment

   

  For more information contact, LuAnn Mims: 863.834.4269, LuAnn.Mims@lakelandgov.net 

• Lakeland History & Culture Center

  Opened on September 8, 2022, the Lakeland History and Culture Center features a 1400 square foot exhibit space dedicated to telling the many stories of our community.

  The inaugural exhibit, Ties That Bind: 1880-1925, Lakeland's Formative Years, showcased the early days of Lakeland's founding and the role of the railroads in helping to develop the area.

  Explore the current exhibit, From the Groves — Lakeland’s Citrus Story, to discover how the citrus industry impacted Lakeland’s economy, why Lakeland was formerly called the “World Citrus Center,” the location of early groves, who helped to market the products, and what defines the local citrus industry today, as well as hear reflections through oral histories from people historically connected to citrus.

  This free, self-guided, interactive exhibit is open:

  Monday-Thursday  9am-7pm
  Friday-Saturday 9am-5pm
  Sunday 1:30pm-5pm

  For information about curated tours, call LuAnn Mims at 863.834.4269

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  Learn more about the Lakeland History & Culture Center.

Popular at the Lakeland History Room

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  Ancestry.com

  Start your family history search here at the library! Ancestry.com offers free access to all library patrons. (In library only)

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  Digital Photo Collection Feature: Sister Cities International

  Explore Lakeland’s History through Photos! 

  The Sister Cities concept was developed by President Eisenhower to increase international cooperation and understanding on a city-to-city level. At present [2026], Lakeland has partnered with five cities since becoming part of Sister Cities international:

  • Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada [1990]
  • Imabari, Japan [1995]
  • Balti, Moldova [1997]
  • Chongming, China [2007]
  • Portmore, Jamaica [2009]

   

  This cultural exchange is visualized from the images in this digital collection.

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  Signs of the Time

  Our story begins with you...what better way to tell the many stories of Lakeland and its history, than visually by showcasing highlights from our Digital Collection through Flickr.   

  Check out our featured album:

  Signs of the Time

  Billboards, marquees, and signs across Lakeland got your attention and also provided information.

  Enjoy this photographic stroll through our area's signage and advertising over the years, showcased from our Flickr digital collection.
  
  

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  Lakeland Stories Feature: Early Lakeland Hotels

  Discover more about Lakeland’s History through Stories! 

  Overlooking the reflective waters of Lake Mirror stands the Terrace Hotel, a significant contributor the Lakeland skyline. It was built during the boom-time economy and population growth in 1924. But some forty years earlier, in 1884, another structure stood here on Main Street and Massachusetts Avenue, called the Tremont House, which became the first hotel in Lakeland when it was incorporated in 1885. Its story begins in 1883, when Kentucky businessman and land speculator Abraham G. Munn purchased two-thousand acres of land in interior Florida. 

  
  Munn, along with business partners, Samuel Hartwell and Charles Hillman, organized the Lakeland Improvement Company. Their first project, build a hotel. Munn sent his sons Morris, a graduate of Stetson University, and Samuel, who had recently graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to survey the area with the prospect of the coming railroad and ultimately, land development. The Munn Survey of 1884 included streets, a downtown, the outline of a passenger depot, and a city park. But already shaded in on the corner of Main and Massachusetts, was the footprint of the Tremont House, which would become Lakeland’s first hotel, built by the Lakeland Improvement Company.

As a convenience and for informational purposes only, the City of Lakeland provides external hyperlinks on its website, directing website users towards certain outside sites; links to these websites do not constitute the City of Lakeland’s endorsement or approval of linked websites, or the information, products or services contained therein. All links the City of Lakeland Provides are consistent with the mission of its website. However, the City of Lakeland exercises no editorial control over the information website users may find on external websites. The City of Lakeland also cannot attest to the accuracy or appropriateness of information provided by external websites and organizations.