The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-05-27
Early Polk County
History Which
Is OF Interest

ier-Informant gives some interesting
early history of Polk county and
Florida which we feel sure will be of
interest to our readers. That paper
says:
With this issue, the Courier-ln-
formant starts on its thirty-fifth |
year. Many are the changes that
have been wrought in Barlow and
Polk county during the past thirty
four years and it will prove inter-
esting to many readers to know
something of the news covered in
that first issue of Bartow's first
newspaper.
The first paper published in Bar
tow was known as the Barlow In
formant. Some years later another
paper known as the Courier was es-
tablished and these were afterward
merged, the names of the two retain
ed, hence The ourierInformant.
The man who established the lnfor-
mant was D w. d. Boully, who came
here from Blount county, Alabama,
where he had been publishing the
Blount County Herald. He has this
to say in selecting the name of In
formant" for the paper.
I'm casting around for name for
our paper, we fell upon the one Sc
lected. Our object was to find one
appropriate, and yet used by no 9TH
err paper. In this we have succeeded
to our fullest satisfaction. Never
have we known the name used be-
fore nor do we think that one can
be found more suitable-for what is
newspaper but a public inform
ant"
w. D. Bloxham was governor OF
the state at that time and the
county officers as follows: B. F.
, Blount, county judge; S. l. Pearce
. clerk of circuit court; c. c. Ores
, ham, sheriff; G. F. Smith, tax as.
, SCISSOR; ]. D. Tillis, tax collector; F.
If. Beville, county treasurer; board
I of county commissioners composed
\ of J. N. Hooker and BENZ. Guy, For
n Meade; ]. B. Crum and John Harris
Barlow; w. D. Proctor, Keysville
q The postoffice was in charge o
i. Mrs. N. C. Gresham. Capt. Davi'
Hughes was the proprietor of gen
# eral store and gave the market pric
d on merchandise at that time as, ba
e con II cents per pound, lard !
Il cents, flour 6 Ia, rice 10 cents, grit
> cents, sugar ~ 1-2 cents, coffe
,e 20 cents. Dry goods, prints (Merr
: mae and Sprague) 8 cents, brow
10 domestic IL - cents. Some of tn
N other advertisers were William 7
Q Hood of Murphree's Valley, Ala
20 Patrick Henry & Co., of Sunni
70 Ala, S. NJ. Sparkman, attorney
law, Tampa.
H. L. Randall of Bushnell, ILL.,,
- interested in Florida and has wri
ten a letter to the editor asking i
!, formation as to the cost of transpo
, tation from Orlando to Barlow al
- from Tampa to Barlow, and also i
quires as to the prospect OF gettil
railroad into the town, the pri
9, of land, both town and county pro
l' erty The editor replies:
Nc 1T will cost 81 to get from {
lando in the mail buggy. You
~ come from Tampa to Barlow by p
- vate conveyance for $1,000 or
wagon (you furnishing the ration
:. for $2.00.
:" "a survey is now being made
, -, the Tampa, Peace Creek and
AZ Johns river railroad, and the Sot
Florida railroad is advancing SLOW
-. but surely in this direction. Y
~ can buy land three miles from to
at from 1925 to IS per acre"
.eu A short account of the complet
of the railroad from Waldo to Ocs
W. taken from the Ocala Banner appe
:, in this issue.
O. There is another article head
death of the Bar-room," in VIII
Aee an account is given Of the sale
property, formerly used as
~ room is made by H. d. Ballard
F. F. Beville.