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The Lakeland History and Culture Center debuted its new exhibit, “From the Groves, Lakeland’s Citrus Story,” which is focused on everything citrus.
The exhibit opened Jan. 31, 2025, and will be on display for the next two years.
This is the second exhibit the Lakeland History and Culture Center has hosted since opening in September 2022. The center is an exhibit gallery and an adjoining history and research room located inside the Lake Morton branch of the Lakeland Public Library.
Inside the exhibit: When you walk into the room, the aroma of orange blossoms greets you. Inside, there’s about a dozen displays describing how Lakeland played a major role in the citrus industry over the last century. The displays touch on everything from maps illustrating where the groves were located, to artifacts from former Florida Citrus Queens, to the methods used to package and process the oranges, tangerines and grapefruits. One section details how Lakeland was once known and marketed as the “World Citrus Center.” You can even walk away with some citrus recipes, like Florida glazed chicken.
Innovative approach: Unlike many museum displays that have artifacts stashed behind a glass cage, there are many opportunities to interact with this exhibit. In one section, it allows visitors to listen to a voiceover account of a man describing what it was like to pick oranges.
The Florida Citrus Queen dresses and the gifts the queens received abroad,are on display, allowing people to touch and feel them. Visitors can also pick up the crates the oranges were collected in, and listen to first-hand accounts of people involved in various roles in the industry.
People can also utilize sticky notes to post on a wall a sentence or two about their memories related to Florida citrus. Many stated the exhibit reminded them of their grandfather.
The surprise: You might be surprised to learn the citrus industry led to local companies making tanks for the United States military in Lakeland during World War II.
You’ll also learn that hundreds of women played an integral role in working in the packing houses. There’s photos on the wall, and videos, that show women spending the day bagging oranges or photographed outside the Lakeland Highlands Canning Co., Inc.
Women also played a role in the marketing of citrus, through the Florida Citrus Queen pageant, which is held in Lakeland. Did you know the Florida Citrus Queen, which is now called Miss Florida Citrus, competes in the Miss America pageant? You can learn about how she travels the world to promote Florida citrus products.
“We have a long, long history with citrus here. It hasn’t gone away. It’s still here,” Special Collections Librarian Supervisor LuAnn Mims said.
If you go: The Lakeland History and Culture Center is located at the Lakeland Public Library, 100 Lake Morton Drive, Lakeland. Free to access, it’s open Monday to Thursday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.
To set up curated tours, call LuAnn Mims at 863-834-4269.
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