Discover Bartow

Bartow brings together historic buildings and museums with the Peace River Paddling Trail. If you’re planning a trip to Bartow, you might consider whether you’re especially interested in architecture, exhibits, or paddling. These themes offer different perspectives: from a single historic home to museum collections and the river landscape.

Historic Homes and an Entire District

The Bartow Downtown Commercial District comprises 27 buildings. All but five were built between 1887 and 1935, contributing to the district’s historic character. The construction dates span several decades and bring attention to an entire district rather than just one building.

One notable individual building is the Historic L.B. Brown House. Self-taught master carpenter Lawrence Bernard Brown designed and built it in 1892. The house is a National Historic Landmark. The district highlights its many buildings and their construction dates, while the L.B. Brown House focuses on a specific builder and a single structure.

The Wonder House offers another perspective on architectural history: historic tours explore the house’s history, its builder Conrad Schuck, and the inventions and technical devices integrated into the building. Advance online reservations are required for these tours. If you’re interested in technical ideas incorporated into a historic building, these tour topics are quite different from exploring a historic district or individual buildings.

Museums and Tours in Bartow

The former Polk County Courthouse, built in 1908, now serves as the Polk County History Center and houses a history museum and a library. The center has 11 permanent exhibits and 4 rotating exhibits. Visits are by appointment only. The museum’s architecture tour takes place on the third Saturday of each month; check the date before your visit.

The Bartow Air Base Historical Museum presents a different historical collection. It owns and displays copies of many yearbooks from the 70 pilot-training classes held between 1952 and 1961, as well as several issues of the monthly base newspaper, The Eaglet. The collection also includes recovered artifacts from P-51 aircraft that crashed into Lake Hancock, along with pilot uniforms. Yearbooks and newspapers sit alongside aircraft artifacts and uniforms; together, they represent different aspects of the air base’s history.

River Landscape and Paddling Trail

The Peace River Paddling Trail passes through cypress swamps, shaded hammocks, and hardwood forests. There is a trail access point at the SR-60 bridge on the outskirts of Bartow. Unlike the historic buildings and museums, the focus here is on the landscape along the water route. Water levels and route conditions vary, so check conditions before your trip.

You can distinguish between these themes based on your planned focus: Bartow’s architecture and museums offer insights into building and local history, while the Paddling Trail takes you through a river landscape. Practical details also matter when planning: advance online reservations are required for historic tours at the Wonder House. Visits to the Polk County History Center are by appointment only, and you should check the date of the monthly architecture tour. This will help you plan your trip around the themes and conditions that matter to you.

Discover more destinations: Cypress Gardens, Fort Meade, Lake Wales, Haines City, Lakeland, Mulberry, Auburndale, Davenport

For the broader travel overview: Polk.