Talk about unique.

At the grand opening of Polk County’s newest resort addition, the Lodge at Streamsong, General Manager Richard Mogensen said: “Streamsong will no doubt emerge as one of the most unique destinations in the United States and the world.”

Bold words, indeed. But they ring true even in unseen ways.

Streamsong, located 25 miles south of downtown Lakeland, opened its 216-room luxury lodge in late January amid 16,000 acres of critically acclaimed golf, bass fishing, a sporting clays facility, a grotto-style spa and more. Streamsong’s Red and Blue golf courses opened in January 2013 and topped GOLF magazine’s list of the “Best New Courses You Can Play,” and were recently ranked as the 12th and 14th best resort courses in the U.S. by golfweek.com. The courses were designed by Tom Doak, Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, and like all world-renown golf courses are meant to be walked. The lodge features floor-to-ceiling glass showcasing lake vistas, along with meeting space.

Pretty impressive. The hope is that business people will stream in, too.

Yet, Streamsong’s real story is actually buried beneath all the glitz and glam. The Mosiac Co.’s $80 million ode to Florida grandeur—its first foray into real estate development—sits on a phosphate mine. The very sand dunes that have sparked such buzz in the golf world were created by some 50 years of phosphate production, which also dictated the routing of the courses.

Phosphate.

The Payne Creek Mine operated from the 1960s to the mid-1990s, producing 60 million tons of finished phosphate fertilizer. Mosaic chose the location to demonstrate value in the restoration of the land.

Two years after breaking ground, the site is still paying dividends. You might say Streamsong is almost literally “the salt of the earth.”