In 1881 Hamilton Disston, scion to a wealthy Pennsylvania family, bought 4 million acres of land from the state of Florida for $1,000,000.00 (million dollars). While it is recorded as the largest single purchase from a government by a private individual, most of the acres were under water for at least party of the year.
Disston had a grand plan to drain parts of the Kissimmee River and the Everglades in order to dry out the land, attract settlers and increase farming by creating shipping channels to move product to market.
At the time there was little migration into the area. Disston set out to interest investors.

Avon Park
One of those investors was Oliver M. Cosby, a real estate promoter and developer from Danbury, Connecticut. In 1885 the railroad only reached as far south as Bartow in the middle of the state. Crosby rode the train there and then traveled in a two-horse rig to see what Disston wanted him to buy. Located on the Lake Wales Ridge, the land had a higher elevation. It was thickly wooded with pines and scattered with small, white, sand-bottomed lakes. Crosby liked what he saw, buying 20,000 acres for $150,000.00. He called his new project Lake Forest and advertised for settlers.
One of the very first to arrive was a woman who was born and raised in Stratford-on-Avon, England. For sentimental reasons she suggested changing the name to honor her birthplace and Shakespeare. Crosby agreed, and the name was changed to Avon Park. By 1890 the town had a population of 90. The streets were covered with pine straw and the sidewalks were made of wooden planks. Most of the buildings were wood frame structures. In the terrible freeze of 1895-96, the town lost half its population as families moved further south. Until 1902 it was almost deserted.
Then the pine forests brought Avon Park prosperity as the trees were harvested for turpentine and lumber. The town became famous for making the crates that vegetables were shipped in to market. The demand for pine derived products was so great that by 1920 the forests had basically been worked out. Dairies, citrus groves, and truck farms followed, as did a Coca-Cola bottling plant -- which closed in the 1960s -- and Air Force base, a prison and a state community college.

Sebring
In 1911, George E. Sebring, like Crosby, set out to create a town where one had never been before. Unlike Crosby, Sebring had prior experience, having founded Sebring, Ohio earlier. He had detailed plans that included the layout of streets and infrastructure and a timeline for when his real estate operation, which in the beginning ran everything, would be replaced by a city government. Sebring created a circular park and built the town around it, eventually including around Lake Jackson. A man of deep religious faith, Sebring donated land to religious groups so they could build churches or church-related buildings. Sebring's vision was to promote the town as a healthy place for the ill and elderly. In other words, winter residents were encouraged from the start.
The Atlantic Coastline Railroad arrived in the summer of 1912, the same year the town was officially founded. The 60-room Nan-Ces-O-Wee Hotel was built, as was The Salvation Army meeting house, both on Ridgewood Drive. By 1920 there were 13 hotels in town.
In 1921, with the creation of Highland County, a battle royal erupted between Avon Park and Sebring as to which should be chosen as the county seat. The town of Sebring wond the special election, which was infamous for all kinds of mischief, including dead men voting.

Lake Placid
Melvil Dewey is the third of the city founders, arriving in Florida in 1927. Famous for inventing the Dewey Decimal System as a way of organizing libraries, Dewey was originally from upstate New York and owned the Lake Placid Club in the Adirondack Mountains. His idea wasn't so much to found a city as to establish a southern version of his resort in Florida. He bought 3,000 acres, built hotels and a golf course near an already settled area called Lake Stearns. Dewey lobbied to have the name Lake Stearns changed to Lake Placid.
The stock marcket crash of 1929 put an end to Dewey's dreams of great growth. The town survived to become a vacation and retirement center. In addition, in the late 1930s Captain T.W. Webb introduced caladium growing to the area. Originating in Argentina, caladiums adapted well to rich soil around Lake Istokpoga. Today, 99 percent of all commercial caladiums are grown in Lake Placid.