Located on the south side of Lake Hollingsworth Drive, across from Florida Southern College, this marker serves as a memorial as well as explaining the history of the naming of the park by the city.
A November, 2010, news release from Florida Southern College gives the story of the dedication:
"On Monday, Nov. 15, Florida Southern and the City of Lakeland Beautification Board will dedicate The Thomas Mack Park, named for a beloved and longtime professor of citrus at the College. The dedication ceremony begins at 4 p.m. on the shore of Lake Hollingsworth between Johnson and Melton Avenues. The public is invited.
Mack taught at Florida Southern from 1951 to 1998, and he also served as the City of Lakeland's landscape architect from 1960 to 1970. He published hundreds of articles and two books on the citrus industry. He also was a passionate collector of photography, books, historical records, crate labels, and films about citrus. In 1997, he was inducted into the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame for his many contributions to the industry.
In 2001, a Florida House of Representatives resolution declared that his collection of citrus ephemera would become the state's official archives of the citrus industry. Today, the Florida Citrus Archives are housed in FSC's Sarah D. and L. Kirk McKay, Jr., Archives Center.
Mack died in 2004 at the age of 90."
source: (
visit link)
The text of the marker reads:
Thomas B. Mack Park
Thomas B. Mack was an author, educator and collector in the fields of horticulture, citrus and garden design. In 1951 he began a long horticultural teaching career at Florida Southern College specializing in citrus. In 1997 he was inducted into the Florida Citrus Hall of Fame for his many contributions to the citrus industry. He established the Citrus Institute of Florida Southern College and created the Thomas B. Mack Citrus Archives housed at FSC where he served as director until 1981. Mr. Mack was a dedicated community volunteer serving the Lakeland Beautification Board of the Parks and Recreation Department in the City of Lakeland. His contribution to Lakeland, Polk County and the State of Florida is recognized and honored through the dedication of Thomas B. Mack Park.
Thomas B. Mack
1914-2004
City of Lakeland