POLK COUNTY, Fla. — Walking up the historical stairs at the Polk County Historical Museum is the curator of exhibitions, Bartholomew Delcamp.

While that might be his official title with the museum, he has an unofficial job he’s even more passionate about and it involves showing people around and sharing the history of something he loves — architecture.

“Because we worked hard to preserve the architecture of this building, we thought it would be a cool idea to have E.C. Hosford give a tour of his own design,” Delcamp said. 

Delcamp actually gives the tour as the original architect, E.C. Hosford, who designed this prominent building in Bartow that used to serve as the area’s courthouse, but you can still see all of it and what it used to be like thanks to Delcamp’s knowledge and love of design. 

“This building was designed in 1908 somewhat at the end of the neo-classical style that was very popular at the turn of the century. They spent a lot of money to make this place look amazing because this represented the county’s seat of power and they wanted to impress,” he said. 

Delcamp first found a love of architecture when he was a child growing up and playing with LEGO. He even double majored in college in both history and architecture. 

“Unfortunately, architecture requires too much for my taste, so I focused on the history side of my degree and I have worked at other museums. One was a lighthouse in North Carolina, another was in Lake Wales, and even a homestead in Colorado,” he said. 

With his extensive background, he’ll take you through the design of the building but also the history, where each room is dedicated to a different portion of Polk County’s history. 

“A lot of times the most important artifact you have is the building itself and it’s such a wonderful opportunity to share these stories with people and how it connects to history,” Delcamp said. 

It’s an exploration through the decades and small towns that make up Polk County and there’s no better guide or architecture expert than Bart to take you on the journey. 

The Polk County Historical Museum is closed on Sundays, but open the rest of the week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.