This Week in History: Lake Wales Highlander, March 6, 1924

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

In 1924 a new Ford truck would cost you $490, a considerable sum at the time.

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 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.

If you would like to browse through the digital newspapers at the Lake Wales Library, just click this link.