[ By Clarissa Otero. Photographs courtesy Division of Historical Resources and Visit Florida. ]
San Agustín
The Ancient City—Birthplace of Florida Tourism
Henry Morrison Flagler changed the fate of St. Augustine and Florida's tourism industry forever. Already a middle-class entrepreneur and oil magnate, Flagler first visited Florida in 1878 seeking the "climate cure" for his wife's tuberculosis, from which she died in 1881. Flagler returned to Florida in 1883 to honeymoon with his second wife, arriving in St. Augustine via the Jacksonville, St. Augustine, and Halifax River Railway. The Ancient City inspired him, and soon his empire of hotels, railroads and developments attracted wealthy northerners seeking warm, luxurious vacations.
Flagler's first hotel, the Hotel Ponce de León, opened in January 1888 surpassing all other hotels in Florida in both size and elegance. Its 16th-century Spanish Renaissance style with lavish furnishings and Louis Comfort Tiffany windows has charmed guests for more than half a century. His second hotel, the Hotel Alcazar, opened on Christmas Day 1888, as a recreation annex to the Ponce de León. The Alcazar featured a courtyard hotel, steam baths, massage parlors, gymnasium facilities, a casino and ballrooms, and the largest indoor swimming pool in existence at that time.
Boston entrepreneur, Franklin W. Smith shared Flagler's interest in St. Augustine and built the Casa Monica hotel in 1888. However, the Casa Monica could not compete with Flagler's hotels. One year after it opened, Flagler purchased the Casa Monica from Smith and renamed it the Cordova Hotel.
In the years that followed, Flagler's empire continued to grow along Florida's east coast with the development of the Florida East Coast Railway and additional hotels and resorts. Tourists traveled further south towards Palm Beach and after 1923, his St. Augustine hotels ceased to draw crowds.
Since the late 1960s, the three structures have served different purposes. The Hotel Ponce de León became the main campus building of Flagler College when it opened in 1968. Since the early 70s, the Hotel Alcazar has served as St. Augustine's City Hall and housed the exquisite collections of the Otto Lightner Museum and a variety of retail stores.
The Casa Monica served as the county courthouse from 1968 until its 1997 restoration. Doors reopened in 1999 and now visitors can enjoy overnight accommodations in one of the unique structures of Flagler's era while exploring the city.
Most of St. Augustine's attractions existed long before Flagler's time. The city's most prominent landmark and a National Monument, the Castillo de San Marcos was built between 1672 and 1695. It is the oldest masonry fort and best-preserved example of a Spanish colonial fortification in the continental United States.
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