Lake Wales Highlander of July 4, 1923

Starting this week the Lake Wales News will begin publishing historic reproductions of the Lake Wales Highlander newspapers from 100 years ago. The images, retrieved from the digital archives of the Lake Wales Public Library, will portray the front page of each week's newspaper.

The Lake Wales Highlander was a weekly publication that tracked the growth and progress of the fledgling community, which had only recently exceeded a population of 500. At that time it was poised for incredible growth during the Roaring 20's, with the ongoing development of the boom-time downtown. The construction of the Walesbilt Hotel and Edward Bok's Singing Tower were unimagined. Recently-built structures included the 1919 Bullard Building on Stuart and Jimmy Rhodes' Alcoma Arcade.

The Hesperides Road toward the east coast of Florida, today's State Route 60, was under construction with a bridge to cross the Kissimmee River.

The News will seek to publish a new feature front page each week so that our readers can follow the history and growth of the city.