About Us:

John Bingham was an English adventurer whose travels throughout the South brought him to Central Florida in 1880. Within a year he had settled on the northwest shore of present day Eagle Lake, where he built a log cabin that he named "The Eagle's Nest." Today, his simple homestead is recreated in the building which houses the Eagle Lake Chamber of Commerce.

On Jan. 4, 1882, a widow from Alabama, Louisa S. McLeod, bought 101 acres of prime land and called it "The Terraces." The area was filled with tall pines, an ideal eagle's habitat, and was soon known as Eagle Lake.

From these humble beginnings, a town began to emerge from the wilderness, and soon experienced many changes that would shape it's identity. Large stands of trees were cut down and hauled to a new sawmill. A turpentine still and a brick yard were constructed, and citrus trees were planted.

In 1884, the South Florida Railroad Company bought land from Mrs. McLeod to run a spur line from the northwest. It was operating by 1885, and by 1889 a combination passenger and freight station had been built. The first passenger service began in 1902 with two trains daily in each direction, running between Bartow and Lake Alfred.

The City of Eagle Lake was incorporated in 1921 by a special act of the Florida Legislature. In the early days of the community, citrus was the major industry. The city had a citrus packing house and a canning house. The packing house and cannery were destroyed by fire in 1952 and were not replaced. 

Today, Eagle Lake is primarily a residential community with a great opportunity for additional growth and business development.