Dixie Walesbilt Hotel
Posted by: 
sfwife
N 27° 54.134 W 081° 35.381
17R E 441968 N 3086512
This is the tallest building in Lake Wales.
Waymark Code: WM2H80
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 11/03/2007
Views: 41
From the city website:
"Originally named the "Dixie Walesbilt," the building now known as the Grand Hotel, a ten-story "skyscraper," stands as enduring testimony to the spirited optimism of the Great Florida Boom Period.
One of a small remaining number of historic skyscrapers constructed in Florida during the 1920s, the hotel, which originally cost $500,000, was financed through the local sale of stock in the enterprise. Its doors opened to the public in 1927, shortly after the boom had begun to collapse.
The building is an excellent example of a "three-part block," composed of a base, shaft, and cap, all noticeably divided. The original examples of the three-part building appeared in the 1850s when technology and rising urban land values created a need for harmonious design in high-rise architecture. By 1900 the style had matured, and it remained popular through the 1920s.
The Dixie Walesbilt has experienced little alteration. It symbolizes the dreams of residents who thought the Boom would last forever and that Lake Wales would become the great metropolis of the Ridgeland."
Street address:
115 North First Street
Lake Wales, FL USA
33853
County / Borough / Parish: Polk
Year listed: 1990
Historic (Areas of) Significance: Event, Architecture/Engineering
Periods of significance: 1925-1949
Historic function: Commerce/Trade, Domestic
Current function: Commerce/Trade, Domestic
Privately owned?: yes
Primary Web Site: [Web Link]
Secondary Website 1: [Web Link]
Season start / Season finish: Not listed
Hours of operation: Not listed
Secondary Website 2: Not listed
National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed
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