Bok Tower Gardens
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Bok Mountain Lake Sanctuary and Singing Tower
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Bok Tower (Singing Tower)
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| Location | 1151 Tower Boulevard, Lake Wales, Florida United States |
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| Coordinates | 27°56′07.2″N 81°34′39″W / 27.935333°N 81.57750°WCoordinates: 27°56′07.2″N 81°34′39″W / 27.935333°N 81.57750°W |
| Built | 1927-1929 by Mary Louise Curtis and Edward W. Bok |
| Architect |
Milton B. Medary (tower) Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. (gardens) |
| Architectural style | Gothic Revival |
| NRHP Reference # | 72000350 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | August 21, 1972 |
| Designated NHL | April 19, 1993 |
Bok Tower Gardens (also known as Bok Mountain Lake Sanctuary and Singing Tower) is a National Historic Landmark, contemplative garden, and bird sanctuary located north of Lake Wales, Florida, United States. It consists of a 250-acre (100 ha) garden, the 205-foot (62 m) tall Singing Tower with its carillon bells, Pine Ridge Trail, Pinewood Estate, and a visitor center. The tower is built upon Iron Mountain, one of the highest points of peninsular Florida, estimated to be 295 feet (90 m) above sea level. It is a National Historic Landmark that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Bok Tower Gardens is open daily, and an admission fee is charged.
The gardens began in 1921 when a Dutch immigrant, Edward W. Bok, editor of the popular women's magazine Ladies Home Journal and his wife, Mary Louise Curtis Bok, who would found the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia in 1924, were spending the winter beside Florida's Lake Wales Ridge and decided to create a bird sanctuary on its highest hill (298 feet above sea level, 91 meters).
Bok commissioned noted landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. to transform what then was an arid sandhill into "a spot of beauty second to none in the country". The first year was spent digging trenches and laying pipes for irrigation, after which soil was brought to the site by thousands of truck loads and plantings began. The Olmsted plan included the planting of 1,000 large live oaks, 10,000 azaleas, 100 sabal palms, 300 magnolias, and 500 gordonias, as well as hundreds of fruit shrubs such as blueberry and holly.
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