Bok Tower Gardens began with Edward W. Bok's desire to create a public place of beauty and quiet in central Florida. Born in the Netherlands and raised in the United States, Bok became a successful editor and philanthropist before developing the project near Lake Wales. During the 1920s he acquired land on Iron Mountain, a sandy ridge overlooking citrus country. The site formed part of a region undergoing rapid agricultural development and winter tourism, but Bok envisioned a lasting landscape devoted to birds, plants, music, and public enjoyment.

Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. designed the gardens, working with the natural contours and existing vegetation rather than treating the hill as a flat architectural platform. Paths, plantings, open lawns, and framed views created varied experiences leading toward the tower. The design depended on horticultural labor and careful adaptation to Florida's soils and climate. Native vegetation and cultivated ornamental plants were combined within a landscape intended to feel restful and established. The result was a designed garden, not an untouched wilderness, even where its effects appeared informal and natural.

Architect Milton B. Medary designed the Singing Tower, which rises above the gardens as their visual and musical center. Stonework in marble and coquina, sculptural decoration, tile mosaics, and metalwork brought together several leading craftspeople. Lee Lawrie contributed sculpture, and Samuel Yellin created major metal elements. The tower houses a carillon, an instrument played through a keyboard that operates tuned bells. Its sound extends the architecture into the surrounding landscape, making listening and movement through the garden part of the same intended experience.

President Calvin Coolidge dedicated the sanctuary in 1929. Bok died the following year and was buried at the base of the tower, leaving the institution to continue through an organization established for its care. Musicians, gardeners, conservators, educators, and donors sustained the site across subsequent decades. Additional programs and collections expanded its role beyond a scenic destination. The nearby residence now called El Retiro added another historic landscape to the institution, while the original tower and garden continued to anchor its public identity.

Bok Tower Gardens received National Historic Landmark recognition in 1993 for its exceptional combination of landscape design and architecture. Conservation involves living plants, wildlife habitat, masonry, metalwork, the carillon, and the effects of storms and humidity. Horticultural change must respect historic design while responding to plant health and environmental conditions. The site's significance lies in its integration of public philanthropy, skilled craft, music, and landscape. A private patron's vision became a continuing cultural institution whose history is renewed through the daily work required to keep both the garden and its instrument alive.