The day after my presentation to the Ball Ground Historical Society (March 28th) on Georgia Marble and the Golden Age of American Sculpture, Karen and I headed for Florida by way of Thomasville, Georgia During our stay-over in Thomasville, we had a wonderful outdoor supper with family at George and Louie’s seafood restaurant. Thomasville, with its unique shops and beautiful historic architecture, is tempting. Its the heart of the plantation country and its well-preserved historical homes and business district make it a weekender’s paradise. But we had decided to visit Lake Wales and the Bok Tower and Gardens in Central Florida. It was a long drive on often congested roads. Thousands were on the highways for “spring break.” We made a wrong turn that diverted us from the parkway, but we enjoyed the back roads though the horse country around Ocala. Just this once, there were no “hyper” kids in the backseat anticipating a Disney adventure.
We arrived in time to spend an entire afternoon rambling in the gardens and taking in Bok Tower. Dedicated by President Coolidge in a ceremony in February 1929, the tower is a National Historic Landmark. The site offers spectacular views of the surrounding lake country with its rolling hills and orange groves.
Construction of the 212-foot tower employed a small army of craftsmen, architects, artisans and artists. The tower is home to an enormous carillon -an instrument made up of sixty great bronze bells and an elaborate systems of controls from which wonderful music is played. I know nothing of carillons except that the music in such a setting enhanced the sense that one might be enjoying a preview of paradise.
Mr. Edward William Bok, who conceived of this tower and garden was a Dutch immigrant to America who rose to become a highly successful writer, publisher and editor of the Ladies Home Journal. The Journal was an enormously successful magazine with an appeal to the rising class of women artists, intellectuals and professionals. It was a progressive journal in the age of Progressivism -the years before and after the First World War. Bok contracted the best-known American landscape designer of the times, Frederick Law Olmstead, to design the garden, using primarily plants native to Florida. Water features and wetlands are incorporated into the setting. Not surprisingly, it is a National Historic site.
Bok irritated some architects by printing detailed plans for modern homes in the Ladies Home Journal , feeding the trend toward enveloping efficient small spaces in cottage styles from earlier periods. Virtually every town and city in the country has at least one street lined with English, Mediterranean or “Early American” storybook cottages, many inspired by examples from the Ladies Home Journal. It was an age of hype and of “mind over matter,” when every man -or woman- could enjoy success, given the proper attitude and initiative. His editorship of the Journal gave him an opportunity to engage and inspire women readers and writers concerning the great issues of the day, including exposing the dangers of patent medicines, child rearing and even political thought. He made millions -and left the world, as he put it. “a more beautiful place.”
beautifully rendered from a design by Lee Lawrie, one of the
preeminent artists of the Art Deco style, a style so often associated
with public architecture in the 1920’s and 1930’s. I could not
help but imaging what a wonderful monument such a design
would make in our own Georgia National Cemetery in Canton.
and Gardens. Photo by author.
style popularized in southern California and south Florida by the rich and famous and emulated nationwide in the flush years during and following World War I. Many Americans referred the design of
such homes and hotels as the “Hollywood Style” because it was associated with the films and stars of the new motion picture industry. Photo by the author.
What is the connection between Bok Tower and Tate, Georgia (where I live)? Tate is home to a great marble quarry. It is said to be the source of the hardest and most durable marble found in America. The Bok Tower was constructed of marble quarried here. The statue of our president in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., as well as many remarkable and historic building are also constructed of or ornamented with Georgia marble. So, on winter nights, when the leaves are off the trees and I can hear the muffled explosions used to break the huge blocks of marble from the quarry, I think of the great monuments, buildings and art works chisled from the marble found so near my home.
You outdid yourself Joe, this is a wonderful article and beautiful photos. I was a Florida resident for years and I am ashamed to say, I never heard of the Bok Gardens. Now, I want to visit!
Martha,
Thanks for reading. It was a magical place to visit. We purchased several plants from their nursery/gift shop to plant at home. Prices were great, staff was generous with their time. My articles on banking corruption in Georgia also involved Florida. My grandfather migrated to Tampa to work in a bank in Port Tampa in 1925, a bank that managed to survive the terrible collapse of 1926-but not for long as it turned out. Soon another collpse in 1929 would undermine the banking system again, crippling Florida’s -and Georgia’s- recovery efforts. Georgia’s fundamentalist and fatalistic predisposition has generally blamed these problems on the Boll Weevil, in my way of thinking a very mistaken point of view since the banking crisis in 1926 was the result of criminality Bok Tower was build in the worst of times, and was dedicated by (still) president, Calvin Coolidge in early 1929. This was before the inauguration and term of a new president (Hoover) began in March. Hoover missed the dedication but arrived in time to be blamed for the Great Depression.
Joe
Bok Tower – another bucket list item! Thanks for the interesting history.
The next time you are near Thomasville, do take the time to visit some of those unique shops. Dwight and I were there last fall for a DAR event, and I enjoyed a brief shopping excursion. What a lovely town!
Pam,
I am very familiar with Thomasville where I managed Pebble Hill Plantation for ten years. Margarette Williams, who founded the first state chapeter of the National Trust was working hard and succesfully to preserve her hometown of Thomasville with its wonderful downtown and residential historic districts, making Thomasville such a remarkable town today.
Joe
Fun side fact: During the Tom Baker years, there is a classic doctor who opponent named Bok, who is an ornate gargoyle statue like being that seems similar in overarching aspect to the same sort of art style as the tower. *x-files music*
Joseph,
Thanks for the comment. Tom Baker played “Dr. Who” in the very popular series as I recall.
JOe