by Lynn M. Homan (Author), Thomas Reilly (Author), Thomas Reilly (Joint Author)
Munnville, Rome City, and Redbug were just a few of the suggested names for the small Central Florida community that would come to be known as Lakeland. Not long after its founding, other descriptive monikers-"Lovely City of Lakes" and "Highest, Healthiest, Busiest"-would be applied. Recently ranked as the tenth "Best Place to Live" of medium-sized cities in the South, Lakeland today offers an entrancing combination of contrasting elements that all work well together. Fields of strawberries and rolling hills covered with citrus groves surround a growing city comprised of a mixture of structures, both new and old, modern and beautifully preserved. Commercial entities join with cultural organizations in mutually beneficial relationships to produce a quality of life that many other cities only hope to attain. Lakeland may well be as it was advertised in 1905-"Florida's Best Town."