Bartow’s history is reflected in individual houses, a historic commercial district, and various collections. The Peace River Paddling Trail provides a scenic contrast. Different visiting conditions are also important when planning your trip: historical tours of the Wonder House require an advance online reservation; visits to the Polk County History Center are by appointment only.
Historic Buildings in Bartow
The Bartow Downtown Commercial District comprises 27 buildings. All but five were built between 1887 and 1935; together, they contribute to the district’s historic character. The ensemble offers an overview of buildings from several decades. The L.B. Brown House, by contrast, tells the story of a single home’s construction: self-taught master carpenter Lawrence Bernard Brown designed and built it in 1892. The Historic L.B. Brown House is a National Historic Landmark.
These two places offer different ways to view Bartow’s architectural history: the commercial district with its 27 buildings on one hand, and a house directly associated with Brown through its design and construction on the other. This makes it possible to distinguish the history of an individual building from the historical development of an entire district, without combining the two into a single attraction.
Museums, Tours, and Collections
The former 1908 Polk County Courthouse now serves as the Polk County History Center and houses a history museum and a library. The Center includes 11 permanent exhibits and 4 rotating exhibits. Visits are by appointment only. The Center also offers an architectural tour of the museum on the third Saturday of every month. Check the date in advance if you would like to plan for this tour.
The historical tours of the Wonder House focus on a single home, its builder Conrad Schuck, and the inventions and technical devices incorporated into the building. An advance online reservation is required for the tour. Unlike the architectural tour at the History Center, the Wonder House tour focuses not only on the home’s history but also on the technology inside the building.
The Bartow Air Base Historical Museum adds the history of pilot training and the air base to these topics. The museum owns and displays copies of many yearbooks from the 70 pilot training classes held between 1952 and 1961, as well as several issues of the monthly base newspaper The Eaglet. The collection also includes recovered artifacts from P-51 aircraft that crashed into Lake Hancock, and pilot uniforms. The yearbooks, newspaper issues, aircraft artifacts, and uniforms each offer a different perspective on the collection.
The Peace River Paddling Trail
The Peace River Paddling Trail offers a different perspective on the surrounding area. It runs through cypress swamps, shady hammock forests, and hardwood forests. There is trail access at the SR-60 bridge on the outskirts of Bartow. The scenery and historical collections offer different focal points for your trip: nature along a paddling route on one hand, and architectural and regional history in buildings and museums on the other. Water levels and route conditions can vary; check both before paddling.
Hotels and Trip Planning
Also check the date of the architectural tour if it is part of your travel plans. This can help you coordinate your search for overnight accommodation with the visits and activities that interest you most.
Discover more destinations: Davenport, Fort Meade, Auburndale, Mulberry, Lake Wales, Winter Haven, Polk City, Haines City.
Go to the main travel overview: Polk.
