Bok Tower Gardens

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Bok Mountain Lake Sanctuary and Singing Tower
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Bok Tower, March 2008
Location:	Lake Wales, Florida USA
Coordinates:	27°56′06″N 81°34′37″W / 27.935°N 81.57694°W / 27.935; -81.57694Coordinates: 27°56′06″N 81°34′37″W / 27.935°N 81.57694°W / 27.935; -81.57694
Built/Founded:	1927-1929 by Mary Louise Curtis and Edward W. Bok
Architect:	Milton B. Medary[1] (tower) Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. (gardens)
Architectural style(s):	Late Gothic Revival[1]
Governing body:	Private
Added to NRHP:	August 21, 1972[1]
Designated NHL:	April 19, 1993[2][3]
NRHP Reference#:	72000350

Bok Tower Gardens (250 acres, 1 square kilometer) is the popular name for a site containing botanical gardens, a carillon tower, and several other facilities located on the grounds of the Historic Bok Sanctuary at 1151 Tower Boulevard, north of Lake Wales, Florida, United States. It is a National Historic Landmark that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Historic Bok Sanctuary is open daily and an admission fee is charged. It comprises the gardens, the Singing Tower with its carillon bells, Pine Ridge Trail, Pinewood Estate, and a visitor center. The tower sits on Iron Mountain, one of the highest points of peninsular Florida, estimated to be 295 feet (90 m) above sea level.^[4]

[edit] History

The gardens began in 1921 when 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 sand hill 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 including blueberry and holly.

Attempts were made to introduce flamingos to the sanctuary several times, which is why early renderings of the tower show flamingos at the reflection pool rather than swans. These early efforts were unsuccessful, however, as the flamingos were not native to central Florida and could not survive the winters that were cooler than those of southern Florida where they may be found.

Under construction for over five years, Bok Tower Gardens was dedicated by President Calvin Coolidge on February 1, 1929.^[5] Edward Bok died in 1930, and was interred at the base of the tower.^[6]

[edit] Gardens

Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. designed the meandering gardens of Bok Tower Gardens to feature acres of ferns, palms, oaks, pines, and wetland plants. The plantings also include bunya-bunya trees, camellias, tree ferns, creeping fig, yaupon and dahoon holly, Asiatic jasmine, justicia, crinum and spider lily, monstera, wax myrtle, date and sabal palm, papyrus, philodendron, blue plumbago, and horsetail rush (Juncaceae). The site is a refuge for more than a hundred bird species, the most prominently featured of which is the group of swans, who tend to stay near the reflection pool.

Although the gardens provide an assortment of native wildlife including birds, reptiles, and butterflies, the gardens also are well known for a large population of squirrels that exhibit no fear of humans and often can be hand-fed.

[edit] Singing Tower

The ornate golden door leading into Bok Tower and details of its stonework

The Singing Tower is the centerpiece of the gardens. The tower was built at the highest elevation of the site, south of a reflection pool that allows the water to reflect its full image. A 60-bell carillon set within the 205-foot (62 m) tall, Late Gothic Revival tower that was designed by architect Milton B. Medary. Construction on the tower began in 1927 and was completed for the dedication of the gardens in 1929, when it was dedicated by President Calvin Coolidge. The tower is 51 feet (16 m) square at its base, changing form at 150 feet (46 m) high to an octagon with 37 feet (11 m) sides that include sculptures designed by Lee Lawrie. The tower is surrounded by a 15-foot (4.6 m) moat that serves as a Koi pond. It is built of pink Etowah marble and gray Creole marble, mined in Tate, Georgia, and Florida native coquina stone, from Daytona Beach, Florida.

Although the tower's interior is not open to the public, it contains the Anton Brees Carillon Library, said to be the largest carillon library in the world.

Inside the bell chamber is a playing room that houses a clavier, or keyboard, that is used for playing the carillon bells. Recitals are given daily from the 60-bell carillon set.

[edit] Pine Ridge Trail

The Pine Ridge Nature Preserve and Trail is an ecosystem typified by an over-story of Longleaf Pine and a dense groundcover of perennial grasses that includes a nature trail that extends for three-quarters of a mile, a bog garden, an open glade, and a sand hill forest community.

[edit] Pinewood Estate

8 acres (32,000 m²) of the Gardens include the Pinewood Estate, which features a twenty-room Mediterranean Revival mansion. This mansion was built between 1930-1932 by C. Austin Buck, vice-president of Bethlehem Steel Co. in Pennsylvania, as a winter residence. Its original name was "El Retiro", and it has been restored to its 1930s appearance. The sanctuary features several events at this mansion during the year. Guided tours of the 20 room Mediterranean-style mansion are given daily.

[edit] Events

Throughout the year, there are numerous events designed to draw visitors to the Gardens. These events include various concerts featuring folk music, jazz, orchestras, and the carillon bells of the Tower. The most popular is the semi-annual Concert Under the Stars, given in the evening once in the Fall and once in the Spring. The event draws hundreds of visitors to the large field in front of the Tower for an outdoor picnic; and features music from both the symphony orchestra and carillon bells.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] See also

• List of botanical gardens in the United States

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Bok Tower Gardens
• Polk County listings at Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs
• Overview of Bok Tower Gardens
• National Park Service National Historic Landmark

[edit] Gallery

rear side of tower

close-up of glazed ceramic mosaics

view of distant orange groves from atop site of Bok Tower (Iron Mountain summit)

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