863 Area Code 🌍☎️

Lakeland is a city in Polk County, Florida, located along I-4 east of Tampa and southwest of Orlando, with a 2020 population of 112,641 making it the most populous city in the county and principal city of the Lakeland-Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is situated among several lakes including Lake Morton and is nicknamed "Swan City" due to its population of swans descended from two mute swans given by Queen Elizabeth II in 1957. European-American settlers from Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and South Carolina arrived in the 1870s, and the city was founded by Abraham Munn of Louisville, Kentucky, who purchased 80 acres and platted the town in 1884 following the arrival of rail service in 1883. Lakeland became a major hub during the Spanish-American War in 1898, housing over 9,000 troops including the 10th Cavalry Regiment (Buffalo Soldiers) on the banks of Lake Wire. Today, the city is home to colleges and universities, Lakeland Linder International Airport, the corporate headquarters of supermarket chain Publix, and the 1,267-acre Circle B Bar Reserve. Winter Haven is a city in Polk County, Florida, located approximately 51 miles east of Tampa and 47 miles southwest of Orlando, with a population of 49,219 at the 2020 census, making it the second most populous city in Polk County. The area was first surveyed by Henry Washington in 1843 and mapped extensively by Dr. John Westcott in 1849, with the city officially incorporated as a town on June 22, 1911, and reincorporated as a city on November 27, 1923. The railroad's arrival in 1883, built by Henry Haines for Henry Plant's Plant System, catalyzed the area's growth and led to the initial development of the platted settlement known as Harris Corners, which was renamed Winter Haven for its pleasant climate. Winter Haven became a center of retail innovation when George W. Jenkins opened the first Publix supermarket there in 1930, followed by the first stand-alone Publix store in 1935, establishing the company that would become a major regional chain. The city is home to over 50 historic single-family homes in the colonial revival style, primarily concentrated in the Interlaken neighborhood and four designated historic districts, with Winter Haven Hospital, founded in 1926, serving as a key landmark. Avon Park is the oldest city in Highlands County, Florida, located in the Sebring Metropolitan Statistical Area, with a 2020 census population of 9,658. Named after Stratford-upon-Avon, England by Connecticut native Oliver Martin Crosby and English settlers who arrived starting in 1884, the city is historically significant as the spring training ground of the St. Louis Cardinals from 1927 to 1929, where Babe Ruth hit a home run and received a commemorative 52-inch bat in 1928, leading to the renaming of Ruth Street. In 1949, Avon Park elected 21-year-old Wiley Sauls Jr. as the youngest mayor in United States history at that time, a watershed moment for Black voter participation that became the subject of the landmark voting rights case Gough v. State following disputed 1951 municipal elections.