--- title: "St. Cloud Lakefront Park Guide and Pizza Night" description: "Soldier City history, Lakefront Park on East Lake Toho, and when a New York-style pizza night fits into a St. Cloud family day out." url: https://thenewyorkpizzacompany.com/blog/st-cloud-lakefront-guide updated: 2026-11-09T17:05:55.072Z --- [The Daily Slice](https://thenewyorkpizzacompany.com/blog) Around Kissimmee # St. Cloud's Lakefront Guide, From Soldier City to Pizza Night St. Cloud marked America's 250th with fireworks over East Lake Toho. Here is our family guide to the lakefront, the Soldier City story, and pizza night. By The New York Pizza CompanyJul 4, 20266 min read ![Philly cheesesteak pizza](https://thenewyorkpizzacompany.com/_media/243a9e5d79d982dc4952fdd6a045f652dc75aedee66c78ee17b0d7bacfab293b/1125.webp) On Saturday, July 4, 2026, the City of St. Cloud held its yearly 4th on the Lake party at Lakefront Park, and this year it was also America's 250th birthday. The afternoon had live music from Modern Ties, the Paul Bunyan Lumberjack Show, glow-in-the-dark putt-putt and a hot dog eating contest, and an extended fireworks show went up over East Lake Tohopekaliga at 9:15 p.m. The next evening, St. Cloud Main Street kept it going with a seafood boil on the beach along Lakeshore Boulevard. The [Osceola News Gazette rounded up the whole weekend](https://www.aroundosceola.com/node/22010) if you want the full lineup. A 250th birthday suits St. Cloud better than most towns. The city was built on purpose for the men who fought to keep the country together, and their story is still on its street signs, its brick walls and its cemetery markers. We make pizza over on Osceola Parkway in Kissimmee. This guide is for St. Cloud families: the lakefront, the town's history, and where a pizza night fits into the day. ## Why St. Cloud is called Soldier City St. Cloud got its nickname from the Union Civil War veterans who settled it, but the land had a story before they came. In the 1880s, Hamilton Disston, a Pennsylvania industrialist who did a lot to promote Florida, drained land around St. Cloud and started an experimental sugar plantation there, with its own cane mill. It ran for several years. Then the federal bounty on domestic sugar was dropped, the business failed, and much of the machinery was sold for scrap. The state historical marker says the failure put big sugar farming in Florida on hold for years. In 1909 the land got a second life. The Seminole Land and Investment Company, together with the Grand Army of the Republic, picked up about 35,000 acres for a colony of Union veterans. The GAR was the big fraternal group for men who'd served the Union, and newspaper ads up North drew veterans down from all over the country. The colony started with 86 veterans, and within about a year roughly 1,700 people lived in St. Cloud. That's how it became Soldier City. According to the state historical marker at its cemetery, it had the largest concentration of Union army veterans anywhere in the South. The local GAR post grew to be the biggest in Florida and the second biggest in the nation. The last Union veteran in St. Cloud died in 1943, but the nickname stuck. ## Things to do at St. Cloud Lakefront Park Lakefront Park sits on Lakeshore Boulevard along the south shore of East Lake Toho, and it's the easy answer when the kids need to burn off energy. The park was finished in spring 2006 and has walking and biking trails, a swimming area, a splash pad, covered pavilions, a playground, a concession stand and boating facilities. For seeing the lake, start with the trail. The city repaved the Lakefront Park Trail and reopened it in late summer 2025, so the path is smooth for strollers and wobbly first bike rides. In summer, go early in the morning, when the air is cooler and the water is calm. The pavilions work well for birthday parties and family reunions, and the splash pad is a lifesaver on a hot afternoon. Pack towels, a change of clothes, water bottles and more sunscreen than you think you need. Splash pad schedules and other hours can change with the season, so check the city's website before you go. ## A short history walk around downtown St. Cloud You can see the Soldier City history without a tour guide. Downtown has shops on streets named for states, like New York Avenue and Massachusetts Avenue. The street names were laid out on the town plat before settlers arrived, and many people believe they honor the states the veterans served from. As New York pizza people, we have a soft spot for a town with a New York Avenue. Start at the Grand Army of the Republic Building at 1101 Massachusetts Avenue. Its state historical marker explains that the Seminole Land and Investment Company donated the land for the post's first hall in 1909, and the town's first officials were elected in that original hall. The bigger building that stands today has brick panels inscribed with soldiers' names. Over the years it hosted plays, movies and graduations, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. Kids may enjoy hunting for names on the bricks. Next, head to Mount Peace Cemetery on 10th Street. The local GAR helped set it up, and [its historical marker](https://markers.flheritage.com/home/details/1098) is worth reading slowly. Union veterans were buried there from 1910 to 1942, 427 of them, including three men who served in the U.S. Colored Troops, fifteen documented survivors of the Andersonville prison camp, and a Medal of Honor recipient. Nearly 1,000 veterans of later wars rest there too, from the Spanish-American War through the Gulf War. It's a quiet stop, and a good chance to talk with older kids about what all those Fourth of July fireworks are for. To see where the whole story started, there's a state marker for the Hamilton Disston Sugar Plantation at 2700 Lake Shore Boulevard, right along the water. The St. Cloud Heritage Museum keeps photographs, records and artifacts from the early Soldier City veterans, and Veterans Park in the middle of town honors those who have served since. ## Planning a family day on East Lake Toho Here's how we'd string it all together with kids in tow: - **Morning:** Walk or bike the lakefront trail while it's cool. - **Late morning:** Do the history walk downtown, with a stop at the GAR Building and Mount Peace Cemetery. - **Afternoon:** Back to Lakefront Park for the playground and the splash pad, or lunch under a pavilion. - **Evening:** Pizza night. On a summer afternoon in Central Florida, storms can roll in fast, so keep an eye on the sky and have a plan for heading inside. That's also when a lot of families start asking each other what's for dinner. ## When pizza night fits in After a long day in the sun, nobody wants to cook, and nobody wants to argue about dinner either. If you're looking for pizza near St. Cloud, our dining room on Osceola Parkway has red booths, a brick wall and a New York skyline painted on the wall, which feels about right after a day of reading old soldiers' names in brick. We sell pizza whole or by the slice, so a hungry kid can grab a cheese slice for $2.99 while the grown-ups decide on a whole pie. For a crowd that spent the day outdoors, the Big Family special covers two XL one-topping pizzas, 20 wings, 6 garlic knots and a 2-liter of soda for $52.99. Daily specials are claimed in the store, so mention it when you come in. If your family can't agree on toppings, The Loaded New Yorker has pepperoni, sausage, ham, mushrooms, onions, green peppers and black olives. Hamilton Disston was a Philadelphia man, so the Philly Cheesesteak Pizza, with steak, grilled onions, green peppers, mushrooms, provolone and mozzarella, feels like a fair tribute. And if anyone at the table is still hungry for pasta, every dinner on our menu comes with 2 garlic knots. With kids, timing matters. We open at 11 a.m. Monday through Saturday and at noon on Sunday. We close at 8:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and stay open until 9:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, so Friday or Saturday is the easiest night to finish a lakefront day with a real sit-down dinner. There's more for St. Cloud families on our page [New York-Style Pizza for St. Cloud](https://thenewyorkpizzacompany.com/pizza-st-cloud-fl). ## Ordering ahead for the lake crowd If the kids are sandy and tired, skip the dining room. Order online and choose pickup, and we'll have it ready, or call us at (407) 933-8800. Our page [Pizza Delivery and Pickup in Kissimmee](https://thenewyorkpizzacompany.com/pizza-delivery-kissimmee) walks through how online ordering works. If you're planning a reunion or a team party at one of the Lakefront Park pavilions, we cater too, and there's a catering form on our website for larger orders. When your lake day winds down, order ahead or come grab a red booth, and we'll handle dinner. All this reading Made you hungry? Order ahead online for pickup or delivery, or come grab a slice. [Order Online](https://order.online/business/the-new-york-pizza-company-141071) [More from The Daily Slice](https://thenewyorkpizzacompany.com/blog) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://thenewyorkpizzacompany.com/#website", "url": "https://thenewyorkpizzacompany.com/", "name": "The New York Pizza Company", "description": "New York-style pizza, just around the corner. Authentic pizza by the slice or pie, calzones, wings, gyros, subs, and desserts in Kissimmee, FL.", "inLanguage": "en", "publisher": { "@id": "https://thenewyorkpizzacompany.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Restaurant", "@id": "https://thenewyorkpizzacompany.com/#organization", "name": "The New York Pizza Company", "url": "https://thenewyorkpizzacompany.com/", "description": "New York-style pizza, just around the corner. 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