LAKE WALES

city, Polk county, central Florida, U.S., 55 miles (89 km) east of Tampa. The site was surveyed in 1879 by Sidney Wailes, and the lake (originally called Watts) was renamed for him. The town was laid out in 1911, and in 1915 its name was changed to Wales by the post office. It developed as a centre for lumber milling and fruit processing, and later its setting amid myriad lakes made it a popular tourist spot. Mountain Lake Sanctuary was established on the slopes of nearby Iron Mountain (324 feet , the highest point in peninsular Florida) by Edward W. Bok, Pulitzer prizewinner (1920) and editor of the Ladies' Home Journal. The sanctuary, famed for its bird life, forms a peaceful setting for the Bok Singing Tower, 205 feet (62 m) high, with a carillon of 57 bells. The Audubon Center is 7 miles (11 km) south, and in Masterpiece Gardens, 8 miles northeast, is a unique mosaic of Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper, assembled in Germany (1930) from 300,000 pieces of coloured tile. Pop. (1992 est.) 10,080.