Florida’s Towering Tourist Attractions

By Michael Warren

Paris, Pisa . . . and Polk County. No visit would be complete without visiting their famous tourist towers. And Florida has not one but three historic towers that draw visitors near and far to experience a bird’s-eye view of the sunshine state.

Perched on hilltops along the Lake Wales Ridge (an ancient sand dune that runs up the spine of Florida) these quirky roadside attractions celebrate peace, prosperity and citrus. In their heyday, they saw hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. Today they’re monuments to Florida’s colorful tourism history.

Citrus Tower – Clermont

Citrus Tower, Clermont Florida — Florida’s northernmost tower rises more than 500 feet above sea level, offering an unobstructed view 35 miles in each direction. (At 226 feet tall, it bests the Leaning tower of Pisa by 40 feet.) From the observation deck, you can see Disney World in the distance as well as the skyline of Orlando. Completed in 1956, the tower celebrated the Florida citrus industry, and gave visitors a view of thousands of acres of citrus groves.

While the glory days are past for the Citrus Tower, you can still ride an elevator to the top and check out the magnificent view, which include up to eight counties. The orange groves have mostly been converted to shopping centers and residential development.

Citrus Tower — The Citrus Tower was once one of Orlando’s most famous attractions. Because of its strategic location on U.S. 27 about midway between Silver Springs and Cypress Gardens, it was a roadside attraction that became the literal high point in any Florida vacation. It remains the highest observation deck in the state. (Photo: 352Drone.com)

When Florida Turnpike began offering a faster route south in the early 1960s — followed closely by the opening of Disney World in 1971 — the Citrus tower lost much of its stature.

Bok Tower – Lake Wales

Perched atop the summit of Iron Mountain, Bok Tower is the capstone on one of Florida’s tallest ‘mountains.’ Bok Tower and its famous gardens were the vision of Ladies Home Journal Editor Edward Bok and his wife, Mary Louise. The tower was designed by famed landscape architect Frederick Olmsted and dedicated as a gift ‘to the American people’ by Calvin Coolidge in 1929.

Bok Tower continues to be a popular attraction because of its rich history, compelling architecture and beautiful gardens. The ‘singing tower’ is a 205-foot, 60-bell carillion, and recitals of classical music are still performed daily.

Bok Tower Gardens, Lake Wales — Rising above acres of orange groves, Bok Tower gives visitors an experience of Florida that is something similar to what tourists enjoyed in the days before Disney. (Photo: 352Drone.com)

Bok Tower Gardens — The 50-acre garden is a bustle of activity on pleasant weekends, offering walking tours, a museum, cafe and numerous enchanting nooks. Plan at least a couple of hours to wander among the manicured gardens, ponds and outstanding views of the surrounding countryside.

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Lake Placid Tower

Florida’s southernmost tourist tower, located along Highway 27 in Lake Placid, is also its most forelorn. When it opened in 1961 it was reputed to be the tallest concrete block structure in the world at about 240 feet tall.

The Lake Placid Tower was dedicated to the hope of world peace and has also been known as the Peace Tower and Happiness Tower. One of its claims to fame was having the highest pay phone in the state of Florida.

Lake Placid Tower — It’s a hundred-mile drive south on Highway 27 from Clermont’s Citrus Tower to the Lake Placid Tower. But the tower has been closed for years and the associated shopping center is a melancholy reminder of happier times for Florida’s ‘Tower of Peace and Happiness.’

Postcards Collection

If You Go:

Photos by Michael Warren / iStock / Getty Images. Historic photos from FloridaMemory.com

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