BABSON PARK FLBabson Park FL is located on State Road 17 in rural Polk County, Florida. A bit more than 1,000 people live in the town village nestled on the eastern shore of Crooked Lake among the rolling hills and orange groves. The town is named for Roger Babson, who was the founder of Babson College in Massachusetts. Babson was a well known businessman and a financial expert. He received a degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1898, and got his LLD from the University of Florida in 1927. That same year, Grace Knight Babson and Roger W. Babson founded Webber University. Webber was originally established as a women's college, with the exclusive purpose of teaching women about business. It was the first school chartered under the educational and charitable laws of the State of Florida as a non-profit organization. Male students were first allowed in 1971, and Webber is now a fully accredited coed university of about 400 full time students. Babson was the Prohibition Party's candidate for President of the United States in 1940, but he was beat by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Wendell Wilkie and Norman Thomas. At least he gave it a try. Roger Babson lived a long productive life and died in nearby Lake Wales, Florida in 1967 at the age of 91.
Many celebrities of the old days stayed at the lodge including Babe Ruth and William Jennings Bryan. Hillcrest Heights has a population of less than 300 as of 2012.
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