Lake Placid Tower — Attraction in Lake Placid

The tower used to be awesome. According to records, it opened in 1961 as a 240 foot tall observation tower. It was possible to get to the top and have unparalleled 40 mile panoramic views of Highlands County and Central Florida.

The dream of Earnest Oakley Hunt and Robert Gray, it is constructed of 100,000 concrete blocks which made it the tallest concrete block structure in the world at the time.

In the late 1960s, the tower’s name was changed to "The Happiness Tower" in order to lure people in, claiming visitors a state of bliss when looking out from the top of the tower. And at the same time, it was renamed the "Tower of Peace." The last owner to operate the tower as a tourist attraction owned it from 1992 until its closure in 2003.

It is absolutely not open to the public. It's mostly abandoned though it functions as a cell phone tower. I'd have paid $10 or so for the view from the...

I have lived in lake placid for most of my life and I was told I have been up there because I was 6 or 7 when it closed in 2003. I don't remember this experience so the tower has always had a curious aura to me. Also my pops very first job was cleaning graffiti and trash from this 250ft plus giant. It did have a restaurant at the 1st floor I remember. Just a quick fact the tower opened on January...

It's sad that the area is not maintained. This is a great piece of history for the area. But no one is doing anything to revitalize the area. You have many vacant store fronts. There is a run-down motel that is used for housing for the fruit pickers. It's a shame that the City officials have allowed this to become...