Lake Alfred is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. The population was approximately 5,015 at the 2010 Census. It is part of the Lakeland–Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The city was established soon after the South Florida Railroad reached the area in 1883. It had a number of early names, including Fargo, Chubb and Bartow Junction. The settlement was named Fargo by snowbirds escaping the cold of Fargo, North Dakota. They at first named the settlement after their hometown, but the United States Postal Service protested after a series of mix-ups with the town of Largo. The town then became Chubb and later Bartow Junction because it lay at the junction of a railroad leading south into the county seat Bartow. The name Lake Alfred was adopted in 1913 and was taken from the nearest large lake, named for Alfred Parslow, who came to Florida in 1877 and obtained a charter to build the Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West Railroad. In 1917, the State of Florida established the first off-campus center for the University of Florida in Lake Alfred, the Citrus Experiment Station to study ways of improving citrus growing. Today this location is known as the UF/IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center. Geography and climate Lake Alfred is located within the Central Florida Highlands area of the Atlantic coastal plain with a terrain consisting of flatland interspersed with gently rolling hills. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (42.84%) is water. Lake Alfred is located in the humid subtropical zone, as designated by the (Köppen climate classification: Cfa). Demographics As of the census of 2000, there were 3,890 people, 1,511 households, and 1,103 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 1,741 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 78.25% White, 17.25% African American, 0.23% Native American, 0.80% Asian, 1.72% from other races, and 1.75% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.89% of the population. There were 1,511 households, out of which 32.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.0% were married couples living together, 14.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.0% were non-families. 22.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.2% had someone