Children across the state may be lining up to experience LegoLand, Central Florida’s latest mega-amusement park, but long-time Florida residents remember when the sprawling tourist attraction now located off of Interstate 75 was known by a different name: Cypress Gardens.
Billed as a tropical paradise nestled under a canopy of exotic foliage, Florida’s first theme park is the subject of author Lu Vickers’ award-winning new book, Cypress Gardens, America's Tropical Wonderland. Filled with archival photos, vintage postcards and family snapshots, Cypress Gardens wanders through the 60-year history of the park, opened in 1936 by “The Man Who Invented Florida,” Dick Pope.
Vickers will discuss her book and the history of Cypress Gardens during the Florida Conversations Lecture Series on Thurs., Jan. 26 at 6:30 p.m. at the Tampa Bay History Center.
Florida Conversations is co-sponsored by the USF Libraries Florida Studies Center and supported by WUSF Public Media and features authors and presenters covering a variety of Florida topics, from politics to fiction, history to environmental issues.
Public parking is available at the Tampa Bay Times Forum East Lot, the Channelside garage and other city-owned lots. For more information, contact the Tampa Bay Center at (813) 228-0097 or online at www.tampabayhistorycenter.org.
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