Bartow, Florida, nicknamed the “City of Oaks and Azaleas,” is the county seat of Polk County, very near the geographical center of the Sunshine State. Bartow is named after Francis Bartow, the first confederate brigade commander to die in the Civil War. History lives on in Bartow, evident at the Polk County History Center, the L.B. Brown House and Museum, the Northeast Bartow Historical District, and the Bartow Air Base Museum. Local residents celebrate the distinctive Southern culture of Bartow and enjoy annual festivals, including the Bloomin’ Arts Festival in March and the L.B. Brown Festival in February. All of the attractions of Tampa and Orlando are within 50 miles of Bartow, and Legoland Florida lies only minutes away in Winter Haven. The subtropical climate of Bartow predictably delivers warm and humid summer days, dry and breezy winter weather, with abundant sunshine year round.
