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Front of Winter Haven Library with fountain and Richard's Coffee
Services

Historical Resources

Ancestry.com

Genealogy research with over 16 billion records. This database can only be used for FREE inside libraries within Polk County.

Ancestry.com

City Directories

The Library has some City Directories dating back to 1941. City Directories are similar to telephone books in that you can search by name. However, these directories also allow you to search by street address.

City Directories List

High School Yearbooks

Many yearbooks from the Winter Haven High School and Lake Region High School have been digitized and are available online.

High School Yearbooks Digitized

Some yearbooks from schools in Winter Haven are located inside the Library.
R 373.975957

Yearbooks inside the Library

History of Winter Haven Florida
by Josephine Burr

The History of Winter Haven is one of the most sought after books in Winter Haven. Written in 1974, Josephine Burr documented historical places, people and events in Winter Haven. It not only makes for great reading, but you’ll probably recognize some of the long standing names in our community.

Be patient as this PDF takes a while to download. Once downloaded, you can search by hitting Ctrl F and entering a keyword, or download the index as well. It is also available for checkout on Libby/Overdrive.

History of Winter Haven Florida

Library’s Digital Collection

This digitized collection includes Winter Haven pictures and older newspaper clippings.

Library’s Digital Collection

Winter Haven Herald Obituaries

This list of provides names, death dates, obituary dates and page numbers for Winter Haven Herald obituaries from 1935 – 1977. Newspapers are available on microfilm in the Library for viewing and printing.

Winter Haven Herald Obituaries

Microfilm

The Winter Haven Public Library, Polk County Historical and Genealogical Library and the Lakeland Public Library all have microfilm machines and a collection of microfilm holdings.

Microfilm List

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