Editing Frostproof, Florida (section)

==History==

The settlement in the area now known as Frostproof was established in 1850. This settlement, like many in central Florida at the time, was set up as a fort and was called '''Fort Clinch'''. The fort was named after the local [[Lake Clinch]] which was, in turn, named after the [[Seminole War]] commander [[Duncan Lamont Clinch]].<ref name="History of Frostproof">{{cite web|url=http://www.polkcountyhistory.org/pdf/dec03.pdf|page=6|title=History of Frostproof|date=December 2003|access-date=September 26, 2010|publisher=Polk County Historical Association|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727182445/http://www.polkcountyhistory.org/pdf/dec03.pdf|archive-date=July 27, 2011}}</ref>

This settlement was abandoned only months later. By the 1880s, Frostproof began to see its first permanent settlers as homesteaders were attracted to the abundant hunting in the area which included much deer and turkey, as well as ample fishing.<ref name="CES">{{cite web|url=http://www.polkcountyhistory.org/pdf/dec03.pdf|page=1|title=CES|date=December 2003|access-date=September 25, 2010|publisher=Polk County Historical Association|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727182445/http://www.polkcountyhistory.org/pdf/dec03.pdf|archive-date=July 27, 2011}}</ref>

The name was a marketing ploy to convince potential landowners that the town has never had, and never would have, a frost that could destroy the large citrus-driven economy. However, only a couple of years later, a frost during the [[Great Freeze]] of 1895 killed most of the citrus in Frostproof. Prior to being named Frostproof, the town was named Keystone City.<ref name="CES"/> However, after being confused regularly with [[Keystone Heights]], a city in North Florida, Frostproof was coined.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Nicholas |first1=Elizabeth |title=How Did the Town of Frostproof, Florida, Get Its Name? |url=https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/florida/articles/how-did-the-town-of-frostproof-florida-get-its-name/ |website=Culture Trip |date=October 2017 |access-date=28 June 2022}}</ref>

W. H. Overocker applied for the first post office here in 1892, with a name of '''Keystone City'''. Postal authorities disallowed it because there was already a [[Keystone Heights]] in Florida. Joseph Washington Carson suggested Frostproof as a substitute, but Overocker instead chose '''Lakemont'''. Carson's choice of Frostproof was based on the town's relatively minor damage from the freeze in December 1894, which ruined much of the state's citrus crop.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}

Carson volunteered to deliver the application to the post office in [[Fort Meade, Florida|Fort Meade]] and on the way changed the name from Lakemont to Frostproof, which was approved. Overocker, to his surprise, was appointed the postmaster of Frostproof. The early post office was located on the corner of Wall Street and Carson Avenue.<ref>{{cite web|author=frostproof.net|url=http://www.frostproof.net/history.htm|title=Frostproof, Florida History|publisher=Frostproof.net|access-date=September 5, 2016}}</ref>

After many delays, Frostproof first received rail service in 1912.<ref name="Frostproof Rail Station">{{cite web|url=http://www.polkcountyhistory.org/pdf/mar78.pdf|page=7|title=Frostproof Rail Station|date=March 1978|access-date=September 25, 2010|publisher=Polk County Historical Association|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727182252/http://www.polkcountyhistory.org/pdf/mar78.pdf|archive-date=July 27, 2011}}</ref>  Frostproof's Historic Train Depot no longer has passenger trains or freight arriving or departing; however, it is open for tours.

The Historic Downtown District runs East and West between Lake Clinch and Lake Reedy on Wall Street.