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Lakeland Souvenir Postcard
The City of Lakeland was
incorporated in 1977, and the only one of the
seven incorporated municipalities in Shelby
County to be founded from an amusement park
beginnings!! Unlike those other six communities,
there was no town square, general store, state
road, waterway, pioneer homesteads or a railroad
line from the nineteenth century to formulate or
grow around. Lakeland has always been known as a
farming community, with the municipal
infrastructure of roads, schools, parks, etc.
popping up in the 20th century to support the
neighborhoods stimulated by the convenience of
I-40. Beverle J. Rivera was the first Mayor of
Lakeland from 1977-1989.
In 1959, the Lakeland Development Corporation
was formed by Louis Garner, Founder and its
first President. Garner Lake is a man-made lake,
built in 1959 as the centerpiece of Lakeland
Amusement Park, which operated until 1976.
Garner Lake is the largest lake in Shelby County
at 240 acres. The lake is approximately one mile
long and 1/2 mile wide at the dam.
The shoreline is 8.44 miles and today has
numerous residences on its shores. Lakeland
Amusement Park opened in 1960 and featured a sky
ride over the lake, two railroad trains (one we
all remember as Huff-N- Puff), numerous kiddie
rides, games, amusements and a paddle wheeler
riverboat on the lake. It was one time touted as
the “Disneyland of the Mid-South” and closed in
1977.
  
Lakeland Dragstrip, later knows as Lakeland
International Dragway, opened on July 4, 1960.
The visionary for Lakeland Drag Strip was
Raymond Godman. The strip was featured in the
1971 cult film “Two Lane Blacktop”.
In 1972 Big Daddy Don Garlits set an AHRA
national E.T. record of 5.95 seconds. It was
closed in 1979 and demolished in 2009 to make
way for mixed-use industrial development, yet
remnants of the track remain. The Lake District,
which will take the place of the former Belz
Factory Outlet Mall at I-40 and Canada Road, is
an upscale 160+ mixed-use community surrounding
a 10-acre lake and waterways. Designed to be an
urban village, The Lake District will open soon
(thelakedistrict.us).
  
Lakeland (now between Highway 70 and Highway 64
in northeast Shelby County, and bisected by
I-40) has grown from 612 residents in 1980 to
over 12,400 residents in the 2010 census.
Stonebridge Country Club is a 6,768-yard,
tree-lined golf course opened in 1973. The
Lakeland School System (LSS) is one of the
highest performing school districts in Tennessee
with its students scoring in the top 2% of all
schools in the state. Lakeland Prep High School
is scheduled to open in August, 2020. A 3-year
project to completely redo the I-40 interchange
(Exit 20) is now complete. In 2017, the City of
Lakeland was designated as an Adventure Tourism
District by the Tennessee Department of Tourist
Development! Lakeland Amphitheatre,
International Harvester Park and Lakeland Senior
Center are vibrant centers of activity in the
community. Canada Road and Seed Tick Road are
important thoroughfares.
With contributions from Kim Odom, Lakeland
Senior Center.
For current information about Lakeland, please
visit the official website:
www.lakelandtn.gov
Or, contact:
Lakeland City Hall
5854 Airline Road
Arlington, TN 38002
901-867-2620
For more happenings in Lakeland, check out
Facebook or Twitter:
facebook.com/LakelandTN
twitter@cityoflakeland
Lakeland Currents delivers the latest new about
the City of Lakeland.
Go to: lakelandcurrents.com
For information and history about Lakeland
Amusement Park:
https://lakelandlake.com/lakeland-amusement-park/history-of-lakeland-amusement-park/
or
https://lakelandlake.com/lakeland-amusement-park/
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