Bok Tower Gardens facts for kids
|
Bok Mountain Lake Sanctuary and Singing Tower
|
|
North facade of Singing Tower
|
|
| Location | Iron Mountain |
|---|---|
| Nearest city | Lake Wales, Florida, United States |
| Built | 1924–1928 (gardens) 1927–1929 (tower) |
| Architect | Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. (gardens) Milton B. Medary (tower) |
| Architectural style | Gothic Revival, with Art Deco detailing |
| NRHP reference No. | 72000350 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
|
| Added to NRHP | 21 August 1972 |
| Designated NHL | April 19, 1993 |
Bok Tower Gardens is a beautiful 250-acre (100 ha) garden and bird sanctuary. It sits on top of Iron Mountain, near Lake Wales, Florida, in the United States. Edward Bok created this special place in the 1920s. It was once called the Bok Mountain Lake Sanctuary and Singing Tower. Today, visitors can enjoy the famous Singing Tower, its 60-bell carillon, the Bok Exedra, the historic Pinewood Estate, the Pine Ridge Trail, and the Visitor Center.
Bok Tower Gardens is a very important place, known as a National Historic Landmark. The 205-foot (62 m) Singing Tower is built on one of Florida's highest spots, about 295 feet (90 m) above sea level. It is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The gardens and tower are important because of their connection to Edward W. Bok and his team of designers. The Pinewood Estate next door is also a historic site.
Bok Tower Gardens is open every day, and you need a ticket to enter.
Contents
Exploring the Gardens
Edward William Bok, who was the editor of The Ladies Home Journal magazine, and his wife, Mary Louise Curtis Bok, spent a winter in Florida in 1921. They had just retired. The Boks loved the beautiful area near Lake Wales Ridge. They decided to create a 25-acre (10 ha) bird sanctuary on the highest hill of the ridge. This was to protect the land from being built on. They asked Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., a famous landscape architect, to turn the dry, sandy hill into "a spot of beauty second to none."
In the first year, workers dug trenches and laid pipes for watering the plants. Then, thousands of truckloads of soil were brought in, and the planting began. Olmsted's plan included planting 1,000 large live oak trees, 10,000 azaleas, 100 sabal palms, 300 magnolias, and 500 gordonias. They also planted hundreds of fruit shrubs like blueberry and holly. There were attempts to bring flamingos to the sanctuary several times. This is why old pictures of the tower show flamingos in the reflection pool instead of swans. Some flamingos did not survive the cooler winters in central Florida, and others were killed by animals. Nightingales brought from England also did not do well because of the cold.
Today, the gardens are ten times bigger than they were originally. They have many acres of ferns, palms, oaks, pines, and wetland plants. You can also find camellias, tree ferns, creeping fig, yaupon and dahoon holly, Asiatic jasmine, Justicia, crinum and spider lily, monstera, wax myrtle, date and sabal palm, papyrus, philodendron, blue plumbago, and horsetail rush. The gardens are a safe place for over a hundred types of birds. You might also see wild turkeys and groups of sandhill cranes walking around the grounds.
-
"Where Edward Bok is happiest: in his garden."
-
Reflecting pool
-
Azaleas in bloom
-
Atop the ridge
-
Orange groves below the ridge
-
Wetlands boardwalk
-
Rain shelter
-
Window by the Pond
-
Peace Lantern
-
National Historic Landmark plaque
.jpg)
The Singing Tower
In 1925, Edward Bok decided to replace the bird sanctuary's water tower with a beautiful stone tower that would hold both water and bells. He hired architect Milton B. Medary to design "the most beautiful tower in the world." The 60-bell carillon is only at the very top of the Singing Tower. The rest of the tower once held large water tanks to water the gardens. Edward Bok's own study was at the bottom. A 15-foot (4.6 m)-wide moat surrounds the tower's base, and it is now a koi pond.
The tower was built in the Gothic Revival style, which looks like old European churches. It stands on the highest part of the site, south of a reflecting pool that shows its full image. The tower is 51 feet (16 m) square at its base. At 150 feet (46 m) high, it changes shape to an octagon, with each of its eight sides being 37 feet (11 m) wide. It is made of pink Etowah marble and gray Creole marble from Georgia, and coquina stone from St. Augustine, Florida.
Medary brought together a team of the best artists. The Art Deco sculptures were designed by Lee Lawrie, showing Florida plants and animals. Metalworker Samuel Yellin created the iron staircase inside, the iron gates for the two bridges over the moat, and the Great Brass Door. This door has 30 scenes from the Book of Genesis. J. H. Dulles Allen designed the ceramic mosaics, including eight 35-foot (11 m)-tall grilles at the top of the tower. Construction started in 1927 and finished two years later. On February 1, 1929, President Calvin Coolidge officially opened the tower.
The American Institute of Architects gave Medary their 1929 Gold Medal for his work on the Mountain Lake Sanctuary and Singing Tower. Medary passed away six months after the tower was opened.
Edward W. Bok wrote a short book about building the tower called America's Taj Mahal (1929). Bok died on January 9, 1930, and was buried in front of the tower's Great Brass Door.
The Carillon and Inside the Tower
The tower's 60-bell carillon was made by John Taylor & Co in England. The bells are on the eighth floor of the tower. Just below them is a room with the clavier, or keyboard, that controls the bells. The bells themselves do not move; only their clappers swing to make sound. The sixth floor is a studio for the carillonneur, the person who plays the carillon. Concerts are played every day.
The inside of the tower is usually not open to the public. The first floor was Edward W. Bok's study, and it is now called the Founder's Room. The second floor holds the Chao Research Center Archives, which are old records about the tower. The third floor used to have water tanks, and the fourth floor is a work room. The fifth floor has the Anton Brees Carillon Library, which is said to be the biggest library of carillon music in the world.
-
Edward W. Bok's study, now called the Founder's Room
-
East bridge over moat, by Samuel Yellin
-
The Great Brass Door, by Samuel Yellin
-
Heron Frieze and Waterer Window Grille by Lee Lawrie
-
Sundial by Medary & Lawrie
-
Glazed ceramic mosaics by J. H. Dulles Allen. Lawrie's eagles stand perched atop the piers.
-
Reflecting pool
-
South facade
-
From the orange groves below the ridge
-
Edward W. Bok's grave lies before Yellin's Great Brass Door.
-
The Singing Tower at Bok Tower Gardens
.jpg)
Bok Exedra
To thank Edward W. Bok for his amazing gift of the gardens and tower, some of his neighbors created a special curving bench called an exedra in 1930. This bench is made from the same pink and gray marble as the Singing Tower. It is located north of the tower. One of its bronze plaques says:
This Sanctuary of approximately fifty acres,
with its planting of native vegetation of Florida,
was the conception of Edward William Bok.
It was designed and executed
during 1924-1928 by Frederick Law Olmsted,
its purpose is to provide a retreat of
repose and natural beauty for the human –
a refuge for the bird – and a place for
the student of Southern plant and bird life.
In 2022, Bok Tower Gardens received a grant of $500,000 from the Save America's Treasures program. Part of this money was used to fix and take care of the Exedra's water fountain.
Pinewood Estate / El Retiro
The Pinewood Estate covers 8 acres (3.2 ha) of the gardens. It features a large, twenty-room mansion built in the Mediterranean Revival style. This mansion was built between 1930 and 1932 as a winter home for C. Austin Buck, who was a vice-president of the Bethlehem Steel Company. The mansion's old name was El Retiro, and it has been restored to look like it did in the 1930s. Today, it is officially called El Retiro. Bok Tower Gardens holds several events at the mansion throughout the year. The estate became a historic site in December 1985. You can take guided tours of the mansion every day.
Pine Ridge Trail
The Pine Ridge Nature Preserve and Trail is a special area with tall longleaf pine trees and sandy habitats. It has a nature trail that starts at the Window by the Pond and goes for three-quarters of a mile, ending at the Visitor Center. This trail is on one of the highest points in Florida, about 298 feet (91 m) above sea level. A long time ago, the Lake Wales Ridge was a chain of islands. The plants and animals found here are unique because they developed on these islands. This is why you can find some of the rarest plants and animals in this area. The Pine Ridge is home to several animals that are in danger, like the gopher tortoise, eastern indigo snake, gopher frogs, and the Florida mouse. Bok Tower Gardens works to protect this area by bringing back native plants, controlling plants that don't belong, and teaching people about nature.
Visitor Center
Bok Tower Gardens' Visitor Center was first built in 1997. In 2019, it had a big expansion that cost $1.8 million. The Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Exhibit Hall now has a new exhibit that shows the history of the gardens, the tower's design, and the local wildlife. The Visitor Center also has an information desk, a helpful movie about the gardens, a space for local art, and offices. There are also separate buildings connected to the Visitor Center by covered walkways. These buildings include the Tower & Garden Gift Shop and the Blue Palmetto Café.
-
Visitor Center
-
Exhibit
-
Edward W. Bok exhibit
-
Carillon keyboard exhibit
Library and Archives
The Singing Tower holds collections that tell the story of how the gardens and buildings grew, along with the Pinewood Estate. While these collections are not open to the public, some items are shown in the Visitor Center.
Anton Brees Carillon Library
The Anton Brees Carillon Library was started in 1968 after Anton Brees, the first carillonneur of the Singing Tower, passed away. The library is on the fifth floor of the tower. It has one of the largest collections of materials about carillons in the world.
The collection includes over 1,500 books, 200 music scores for keyboard instruments, 3,000 music scores for carillon, 1,600 audio and video recordings, and 15 international magazines about carillons. The library also has files on carillons from around the world, including newspaper clippings, information about carillon players, and concert programs. It also holds the original plans for the Singing Tower and gardens, and thousands of photos.
Chao Research Center Archives
The Chao Research Center Archives keeps the official papers of Bok Tower Gardens and other related collections. It is on the second floor of the Singing Tower. It was created in 2008 with a gift from the Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Foundation. The papers include drawings of the buildings and gardens, business documents, letters, and other important papers.
The Nellie Lee Bok Collection has her personal letters, photos, writings, and family items. The American Foundation Collection includes newspaper scrapbooks, meeting notes, and other materials. The Edward Bok Newspaper Scrapbook Collection has 42 scrapbooks filled with newspaper clippings about Bok's publications and good deeds.
You can visit the Chao Research Center Archives by making an appointment.
Pinewood Estate Collections
The Pinewood Estate Mansion has furniture, ceramics, and other items that were in the house before Bok Tower Gardens bought it in 1970. Other collections at Pinewood Estate include letters, promotional materials, and writings. Pinewood Estate/El Retiro is open to visitors for most of the year for a small fee.
Education Programs
The Education Department offers programs and field trips that match Florida's learning standards. The lessons teach about science, nature, art, culture, and history. A special guide helps students learn about Bok Tower Gardens before, during, and after their visit.
Events and Concerts
Throughout the year, many events are held to bring visitors to the gardens. These events change each year but have included concerts with jazz and orchestra music, and daily carillon bell concerts. The most popular events are the evening symphony concerts, held once in the fall and once in the spring. Thousands of visitors come to the large field in front of the Tower for an outdoor picnic and enjoy music from both the orchestra and the carillon.
See also
In Spanish: Jardines de la Torre Bok para niños
Images for kids
-
The dedication reads: THIS SINGING TOWER WITH ITS ADJACENT SANCTUARY WAS DEDICATED AND PRESENTED FOR VISITATION TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE BY CALVIN COOLIDGE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY THE FIRST NINETEEN HUNDRED AND TWENTY NINE
-
Bok Tower, as seen from across the Reflecting Pool. The tower is 205 feet tall and houses the 60-bell carillon within.
-
Bok Tower, or the Singing Tower, viewed from behind. Note the pink marble and coquina.
-
The south facade of the Singing Tower
-
El Retiro Courtyard
