Editing Mulberry, Florida (section)

==History==

The first white settlers appeared in the Mulberry area in the 1840s.<ref name="History of Mulberry">{{cite web
| url = http://www.mulberrychamber.org/History_Of_Mulberry.cfm
| title = History of Mulberry
| access-date = November 20, 2013
| publisher = Mulberry Chamber of commerce
}}</ref> The first industry in Mulberry was logging the longleaf yellow pine which dominated the area.<ref name="History of Mulberry"/>

The town had no official name, but the railroad which came through town stopped at a [[Morus (plant)|mulberry tree]] to let off passengers and drop off the mail.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1346&dat=19600814&id=W38wAAAAIBAJ&sjid=PPoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6912,1492998&hl=en | title=First Polk Settlers Had to Build Towns, Then Name Them | work=[[Lakeland Ledger]] | date=14 August 1960 | access-date=22 April 2015 | author=Whitehead, Bill | page=7-A}}</ref> The old mulberry tree became the [[de facto]] meeting place in town, and eventually gave the town its name. Several [[lynching]]s and [[hanging]]s took place from this mulberry tree.<ref name="History of Mulberry"/> In 1886, [[phosphate rock]] was discovered in the [[Peace River (Florida)|Peace River]], and the dominant logging industry gave way to mining operations. The phosphate industry gave the town stability, leading to Mulberry's incorporation in 1901. In 1910, Mulberry's [[Masonic lodge]] was established and remains operational today.

===Florida Pebble Strike===

By 1919, many miners had joined the [[International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers]]. In April of that year, the union called a strike asking for a minimum wage and an eight-hour work day, after which the mining companies brought in strikebreakers from [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]. Electricity was cut off from both Mulberry and [[Fort Meade, Florida|Fort Meade]]. On the evening of August 21, 1919, four mine guards for the Prairie Pebble Phosphate Company opened fire upon the town in an apparent attempt to break the strike, claiming that a man had shot at the power house in which they were sheltered. During the indiscriminate shooting, two adults were wounded and a two-year-old child was killed after being shot through the heart. Later that night, another black man was killed when the guards continued firing in Mulberry's black neighborhood. The sheriff's investigation found no evidence of a firearm in the accused man's possession nor at the location from which it was claimed he had fired. After quelling the rage of the townspeople, who wanted to attack the power house and mine guards, the sheriff arrested the four mine guards shortly after midnight.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00091504/00921/1x|title = The Kissimmee Valley gazette}}</ref><ref name="Voogd">{{cite book|last1=Voogd|first1=Jan|title=Race Riots and Resistance: The Red Summer of 1919|date=2008|isbn=9781433100673}}</ref>

===Lynchings===

The [[Ku Klux Klan]] maintained a presence in Mulberry, with the last public march occurring in 1979. At least six black people were [[Lynching in the United States|lynched]] in the early 1900s, as well as at least one white man.<ref name="Moore lynchings">{{cite news |last1=Moore |first1=Kimberly C |title=Lynchings, Klan activity part of Polk's history |url=https://www.theledger.com/news/20180505/lynchings-klan-activity-part-of-polks-history |access-date=21 September 2020 |publisher=Lakeland Ledger |date=May 5, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.africanamerica.org/topic/an-example-why-florida-is-looking-pretty-stupid|title = An example why Florida is looking pretty stupid}}</ref>