Bartow, Florida

== History == A Spanish map of the Florida peninsula drawn in 1527 shows a native settlement called Rio de la Paz near present-day Bartow.

By the end of the Second Seminole War in 1842, both Minatti and Talakchopko had been destroyed by US forces.

Founded in 1851 as Fort Blount, the city was renamed in honor of Francis S.

About a month after the secession of Florida in 1861, the state established Polk County from the eastern portion of Hillsborough County.

After Summerlin purchased the Blount property in 1862, he donated a large parcel of land to build a county courthouse, two churches and a school.

The first Polk County Courthouse was built in 1867, which firmly established the city as county seat.

Although Florida formally rejoined the union in 1868, the Reconstruction era did not end in Florida until 1877.

The 1880s and 1890s were a period of growth for the city of Bartow; from 1880 to 1900, the city would grow from 386 residents to 1,983.

Phosphate mining has been a major player in Bartow's economy since the discovery of phosphate rock in 1881.

On July 1, 1882, the town was incorporated as a city.

In 1885, the Florida Southern Railroad, a north–south route from North Florida to Southwest Florida opened in Bartow.

In 1887, Summerlin Institute, the first brick schoolhouse south of Jacksonville, was built.

What eventually become the large Burdines and Sons department store chain was founded in Bartow in 1896 as Payne and Burdines.

The city of Bartow also operates the Bartow Public library, which was founded in 1897 and has reciprocal borrowing agreements with other public libraries in Polk County.

Although Bartow had been the largest city in Polk county in 1900, by the 1910 U.S.

Other historic landmarks include the Old Polk County Courthouse built in 1909 and Bartow High School, formerly Summerlin Institute, the oldest high school in the county.

After obtaining a Carnegie Grant the public library was opened on February 8, 1915.

In 1923 Union Academy, became the first African-American high school in Polk County.

The large international law firm of Holland & Knight was founded in Bartow in 1929.

It is a semi-weekly paper which began publication in 1931.

In 1941, the city built an airport northeast of town.

Many of these are large events which draw people from other communities to the city such as the Cricket Club Halloween Parade and Carnival held each year since 1942 or the annua...

The airport was returned to the city in 1967 and renamed as Bartow Municipal Airport.

Court-ordered integration began in Bartow during the fall of 1969, and the former black high school Union Academy became a middle school.

In 1971, Summerlin Institute officially became Bartow High School, a name it had been known as informally at least since the early 1900s.

Some were born in Polk General Hospital, a public hospital in Bartow which closed in 1995, but most were generally associated with other cities in Polk County.

Even hail is not out of the question; one storm in March 1996 caused a one-foot accumulation of hail in areas of Bartow.

Since 1997 the new bumper crop in the area is blueberry.

It moved to the current location in 1998.

In 1999, Connecticut financier Stanford Phelps purchased the former Clear Springs phosphate lands east and south of city limits; he announced plans for an 18,000-acre developmen...

According to data published by the Glenmary Research Center in 2000, the denomination which has the largest number of adherents in Bartow is the Southern Baptist Convention with...

On average, a tropical system brings hurricane-force winds to the Polk County area less than once every ten years, although the 2004 hurricane season in which three hurricanes h...

In 2008 Republican presidential candidate John McCain's lead over Democrat Barack Obama (53.6% to 46.5) in the city was larger than that of both the county and state.

After nearly a decade of delays, the plan received final approval in 2009.

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 17,298 people, 5,909 households, and 4,097 families residing in the city.

As part of this development, a new Polk State College campus called The PSC Advanced Technology Center at Clear Springs is projected to open by 2012.

17 was completed in 2013.

According to the Central Florida Regional Planning Council, Bartow's population is projected to grow to over 25,000 people by 2015.

== Demographics == As of the 2020 United States census, there were 19,309 people, 6,546 households, and 4,378 families residing in the city.

It is part of the Lakeland−Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had an estimated population of 787,404, as of July 1, 2022.

With the annexation of 18,000 acres (73 km2) of former phosphate mining land owned by the Clear Springs Land Company, Bartow's population is projected to increase to over 25,000...