Avon Park is a city in Highlands County, Florida, in the south-central part of the state along US 27. With about 10,000 residents, it is the smaller of the county's two principal cities, a relaxed counterpart to Sebring roughly ten miles to the south. The city carries the nickname 'City of Charm,' a nod to its early-20th-century resort character and its landscaped, mile-long Main Street mall. The community traces its roots to Oliver Martin Crosby, a Connecticut native who settled here in 1884 to study the wildlife of the Everglades; the settlement that grew around him was briefly called Lake Forest. Railroads later shaped its development, and Avon Park became a winter destination known for its lakes and citrus groves, a legacy that survives at Maxwell Groves, a century-old packing house on the edge of town. Major-league baseball also left a mark: the St. Louis Cardinals held spring training in Avon Park in the late 1920s. Education anchors the local economy. South Florida State College, the city's academic hub, brings students and cultural programming through the Museum of Florida Art and Culture and the Alan Jay Wildstein Center for the Performing Arts. Public schools belong to the Highlands County School District, and the historic Hotel Jacaranda on Main Street remains a visible link to the city's heyday as a stopover for travelers and celebrities. Avon Park suits those who want small-town Florida living with lake access and a slower pace. Lakes ring the community, the downtown is compact and walkable, and Sebring's shops, medical facilities, and airport are a short drive south, while the Ridge's citrus and cattle country spreads out to the north and east.