Crime Scene & Biohazard Cleanup Near Downtown Bartow Bartow, FL

Bartow is the county seat of Polk County, and its official motto is 'Polk County's Capital City'.

Bartow was founded in 1851 as Fort Blount by settler Readding Blount, near the headwaters of the Peace River.

After the Civil War, the town was renamed for Francis S. Bartow, the first Confederate brigade commander to die in combat during the war.

The first Polk County Courthouse was built in Bartow in 1867, firmly establishing it as the county seat, and Bartow was incorporated as a city on July 1, 1882.

Cattle baron Jacob Summerlin donated land for Bartow's courthouse, two churches and a school, and is remembered as the city's founding father.

The Summerlin Institute, built in 1887 as the first brick schoolhouse south of Jacksonville, opened its doors in 1889 and survives today as Bartow High School.

The Old Polk County Courthouse, built in 1908-09, now houses the Polk County Historical Museum and Genealogical Library, and three districts in Bartow are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Bartow's Wonder House is a four-story stone-and-concrete mansion with walls 18 inches thick and decorative tile mosaics imported from seven countries.

The Wonder House was begun in the 1920s by Pittsburgh contractor Conrad Schuck, who had been told he had only a year to live - building the house became his therapy, and he lived 40 more years.

Bartow is the hometown of Pro Bowl linebacker Ray Lewis.