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Bok Tower Gardens
Lake Wales, Polk County
BUILT BY ONE PERSON
8STRANGENESS
OUT OF TEN
OUT OF TEN
WHAT IT IS
A 205-foot marble and coquina bell tower on Florida's highest ridge, containing 60 bells and the ashes of the man who built it.
Edward Bok, a Dutch immigrant who edited the Ladies' Home Journal, decided the sand hill where he watched sunsets should hold a garden and a singing tower. Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. designed the grounds; the tower went up in 1929 with a brass door of Genesis scenes and a moat full of koi. Nobody may enter it. Bok is buried at its base. It plays every day, to a garden, on a ridge, in the middle of the state.
HOW IT SCORES
Rarity9/10
Is there anywhere else like it?
Backstory10/10
How did this come to be?
Disrepair3/10
What is holding it together?
Commitment9/10
How far do they take the bit?
NEARBY
BEFORE YOU DRIVE
- ENTRY FEE
- $18
- HOURS
- Daily 8am–6pm, carillon at 1pm and 3pm
- BEST TIME
- A carillon recital. The reflecting pool is the spot.
- HOW LONG
- 2–3 hours
- PARKING
- Free lot
- PAYMENT
- Cards accepted
- ACCESS
- Paved paths, mostly accessible
COORDINATES
27.9364° N, 81.5772° W
1151 Tower Boulevard, Lake Wales. Ten minutes from Spook Hill.
OPEN IN MAPS →DETAILS COMPILED FROM PUBLISHED SOURCES. FEES CHANGE. CALL AHEAD.