Escapees November-December 2023

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A Town of Many Murals Lake Placid, Florida Lake Placid Chamber of Commerce, 18 N Oak Ave, Lake Placid, FL 33852, 863-465-4331, www.lp fl a.com

Citrus, caladium and cattle industries are the main income for the area. Many of the murals relate to these industries. Lake Placid is the “Caladium Capitol of the World” because it grows around 90 percent of the world’s caladiums and draws thousands of visitors with its annual caladium festival. One of the earlier murals had to do with the cattle industry but they ran out of money before it was done. To raise more money, they offered to “sell” a mural cow to farmers and in turn, the farmer got to have his brand painted on the cow. Dr. Melvil Dewey, who created the Dewey Decimal System, arrived in the area in 1927 and found it to be similar to his home in Lake Placid, New York. He built a resort and got the train company to build a train depot for his rich friends to use when they came to his resort. Visitors included Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harry S. Firestone, Babe Ruth and Al Capone. Dr. Dewey got the state legislature to change the name from Lake Stearns to Lake Placid. He had visions of something like the Lake Placid Club in the Adirondack Mountains which he had formed in 1893. But, due to the Great Depression, the spontaneous growth he expected never occurred. However, because of the 29 lakes in the area, the town didgrow. In 1982, when the full- fl edged hospital was built in Lake Placid, Toby (Keith Stokes), who had been a clown in the Shrine Circus, began “Clown Medicine” in this hospital. His reputation grew and soon hospitals all

Lake Placid, Florida has received a few accolades over the years. In 1995 and 1996 it was recognized as “Florida’s Outstanding Rural Community.” In 2013, it was voted Reader’s Digest’s “America’s Most Interesting Town.” L ake Placid is probably best known for its many murals. The fi rst one was painted in 1993. Now there are 50. Painters must submit a smaller version of their painting before they can start painting the mural on the chosen wall. Each of these smaller paintings is in the Chamber of Commerce/ Welcome Center Mural Art Gallery. There is also a 10-minute video describing the mural project. A $4 book is sold which helps fund the mural project. In the book is a map of the murals and descriptions of each mural and its historical signi fi cance to Lake Placid. You will also learn the names of the people in the mural and what they did and you will learn about the locally grown products. Some murals relate to the early history of the area before explorers came to Florida. The book also tells you what to look for in the murals that have “hidden” pictures painted in them. We enjoyed the artwork more than most other towns with murals because of the historical focus present in each one. We walked the entire town to see all 50.

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ESCAPEES Magazine November/December 2023