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Henry Morrison Flagler –
“An Enterprising Yankee and American Tycoon”
Henry Flagler was a major contributor to the style,
art movement, history, architecture, and tourism
industry in St. Augustine. His tale is filled with
adventure, business speculations, billionaires, and
legendary escapades while touching every corner of
our City since his arrival in the late 1870’s. His
partnership with John D. Rockefeller in Standard Oil
is a book unto itself, as were his years developing
railroads throughout America, primarily in Florida.
He was a key figure in the development of what
eventually became the Florida East Coast Railway…as
well as creating the progressive expansion of
Florida’s eastern coast along the Atlantic Ocean.
Born in 1830 in Hopewell, New York, Henry Flagler
was known as the ‘father’ of Miami, although his own
father was a poor Presbyterian minister. With only
an 8th grade education and a few coins jingling in
his pocket, his intellect & business insight
propelled him into developing a salt mining and
production business, then the grain business where
he met Rockefeller. By 1872, together they lead the
American oil refining industry, producing 10,000
barrels per day.
The railroad tycoon brought his ailing wife from New
York to Northeast Florida a few years later and
although he found St. Augustine charming, the hotel
facilities and transportation systems were
inadequate. He recognized Florida’s potential to
attract out-of-state visitors and began construction
on the 540-room Ponce de Leon Hotel. It opened in
1888, an instant success. (Continuing southward, his
legacy included Palm Beach’s Royal Poinciana Hotel,
the Breakers Hotel and the Royal Palm Hotel in
Miami. By the time Flagler married his third wife
Mary Lily Kenan, he built her a wedding present with
55 rooms – Whitehall – their Palm Beach estate that
established the Palm Beach social ‘season’ for the
wealth of America’s Gilded Age!)
The Daily News-Herald of Jacksonville, January 11,
1888 reported”
The Ponce de Leon Opens. Tourists Gaze in Wonder at
the Handsome Structure
At precisely twelve minutes past five this afternoon
a special train carrying the passengers of the
vestibule train from Jacksonville, arrived in the
St. Augustine station, having made the run in
fifty-seven minutes. The passengers were brought in
two parlor cars…and numbered thirty in all. An
almost deafening shout of “Hotel Ponce de Leon”
arose from the throats of two or three dozen bus and
carriage drivers, and in less than five minutes the
party was rolling rapidly down Cordova Street amid
clouds of dust, all eager to get a glimpse of the
most wonderful inn yet built in the whole world.
The St. Augustine Society Newspaper, The Tatler,
described the dining room of the Ponce as:
…the grandest, the most magnificent, indeed persons
who have traveled the world over pronounce it the
most magnificent of any hotel on earth; its area is
ninety by one hundred and fifty feet, and eight
hundred persons may dine in it at the same time!
Throughout the Gilded Age of Henry Flagler and the
Golden Years of St. Augustine’s tourist trade, each
hotel was always filled to capacity during the
season. During the heyday of his years, when asked
why he chose this area he responded “I believe this
State is the easiest place for many men to gain a
living. I do not believe anyone else will develop it
if I do not.”
On May 23, 1913, a Florida East Coast Railway train
pulled into the St. Augustine station, a lone
whistle announcing its arrival. While trains across
Florida stood still in silent tribute, Henry
Flagler’s coffin was lifted from his private rail
car. Two black stallions pulled the funeral carriage
down a street that Henry Flagler had paved while
thousands lined the route in solemn respect. The
cortege continued to Memorial Presbyterian Church,
the magnificent cathedral he built for his beloved
first wife Mary and his daughters Jennie Louise and
Margery. He was laid to rest beside them.
We dedicate our Verandah Room to Henry Morrison
Flagler!
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