August 1, 1923 Highlander Tells Tale of City History

 
Series: This Week in History | Story 5

Last updated 8/17/2023 at 8:56pm

Courtesy Lake Wales Public Library Archives

Capt. T.W. Webb of the Okeechobee steamer Electra tied up his boat and returned to his home on Lake Pierce because he anticipates another flood hitting the ring of towns surrounding lake Okeechobee. Meanwhile, Crooked Lake citizens are awaiting a ruling in their lawsuit against J.W. Carson of Frostproof, who has dug a canal and is attempting to drain waters off the big lake to increase his real estate holdings.

The Lake Wales Highlander of 100 years ago reveals much about the history of our community.

Each week the Lake Wales News will publish a front-page image of the former Lake Wales Highlander from 100 years earlier, tracking the growth of the community a century ago, when Florida was in the midst of a great land price boom and rapid population growth.

The images are retrieved from the digital archives of the Lake Wales Public Library.

The Lake Wales Highlander eventually became The Daily Highlander, and under several different names was published six times a week on Sunday mornings and Monday through Friday afternoons until 1995.

The original Lake Wales News was a weekly broadsheet newspaper that also served the community for many decades, later changing to a tabloid format before closing six years ago.

Lake Wales was among only a handful of small communities that supported two local newspapers, a mark of the level of literacy and community interest here.

 

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