Oliver Crosby, a Connecticut Yankee land developer, was the founding father of Avon Park, first called Lake Forest. He was so successful that in 1889, just three short years after he purchased the land, he built the Verona Hotel to accommodate prospective buyers.

The 35-room hotel became the center of life in this rapidly growing community. It burned down in 1927. The bandstand, now located on the Mile-Long Mall, was built in 1897 and stood in front of the hotel for many years, the site for many a concert.

This is the way Oliver's office in the Verona Hotel might have looked in 1893, the height of his success.