Florida Historical Markers Programs - Marker: Highlands

Highlands

ARCHIBOLD BIOLOGICAL STATION AT RED HILL

Location:123 Main Dr. near Archibold Rd.
County: Highlands
City: Venus
Description: These buildings were designed and built during 1930-1935 by Alexander Blair for the Red Hill Estate of John A. Roebling II, son of Washington A. Roebling, who built the Brooklyn Bridge. The industrial vernacular buildings (structures meant to house industrial activities) were constructed of poured concrete to withstand hurricanes and the humid sub-tropical conditions. The largest building, with its distinctive saw-tooth roof, features an original seven-unit storehouse and attached two-story residence. Other buildings include the garage, generator building, and the deep-well pump house. In 1941, Roebling donated the buildings and surrounding estate to Richard Archbold (1907-1976), a famous aviator, explorer and patron of science. Here he founded Archbold Biological Station, a world-renowned facility dedicated to ecological research and conservation. The Roebling buildings were converted to laboratories and offices. The Station manages a 9,000-acre preserve of international conservation importance, and harboring the Florida scrub, a globally threatened ecosystem. Archbold Biological Station at Red Hill was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007, for its historical significance in architecture, science, and conservation.
Sponsors: The Archibold Biological Station and the Florida Department of State

HENDRICKS FIELD MEMORIAL PARK

Location:Sebring Regional Airport and Sebring International Raceway
County: Highlands
City: Sebring
Description: This original 72’ flagpole at the Sebring International Raceway marks the geographic center of Hendricks Field, a United States Army Air Force (USAAF) base that operated under the jurisdiction of the 76th Flying Training Wing from 1942-1945. Construction of the base began in July 1941, and it was named in honor of First Lieutenant Laird W. Hendricks in January 1942. Hendricks was a native Floridian and graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, who had been killed while training with the Royal Air Force in England before the United States entered World War II. The first B-17 Flying Fortress arrived at the base in January and Hendricks Field grew rapidly to accommodate the several thousand soldiers to be trained as combat crews, ground support personnel, and in other jobs essential to the war effort. Many Hendricks Field graduates paid the ultimate sacrifice in the European and Pacific fronts. The base was deactivated in January 1946, following the end of World War II. The airfield was turned over to the City of Sebring in May 1946, to become the Sebring Air Terminal. This site has been designated Hendricks Field Memorial Park to honor those who served here.
Sponsors: Sebring International Raceway, Sebring Regional Airport, City of Sebring, Hendricks Field Memorial Park

FORT BASINGER

Location:U.S. 98,west side of Kissimmee River Bridge.
County: Highlands
City: Fort Basinger
Description: Col. Zachary Taylor had Fort Basinger built in 1837, during the Seminole Wars, on the Kissimmee River 17 miles above its mouth. It was a small stockade which served as a temporary fort and supply station on the line of forts extending from Tampa to Lake Okeechobee. Named for Lt. William E. Basinger of the 2nd Artillery, who was killed in Dade's Massacre, the fort was abandoned at the end of the Indian wars.

THE LORIDA SCHOOL HOUSE

Location:1957 Blessings Avenue
County: Highlands
City: Lorida
Description: The first school house in the Lorida community, the Sunnyland School, was built on this site in 1925. A 1933 hurricane destroyed the school, and the Civilian Conservation Corps rebuilt it using the original plans and identical materials. The school reopened from April 1934 until early 1956 for grades one through eight, and later kindergarten. The Rev. Joseph Reish was the principal and his wife, Margaret, was a teacher. The school term was six months long with four teachers and about 80 students. During the Great Depression, an outdoor community canning kitchen was built behind the school house. This four-room vernacular school house was built of cedar and pine on a brick pier foundation. It exhibits a low-pitched hip roof with exposed clipped rafter ends, and was covered with diamond-shaped, tin shingles. The floors are varnished wood with a recessed front entrance. The building has remained essentially unchanged. The community restored the school house in 1976 as a project for the United States Bicentennial. Over the years, it served as a place for the community to gather for a variety of purposes and represents one of the few remaining rural school houses in Florida.