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Henry Morrison Flagler
oil baron, land baron, railroad tycoon
[1830-1913]

short profile Standard Oil Era Florida Real Estate Flagler's properties image gallery Flagler's railroad works about Henry Flagler family & friends links

“The hardest problem a man has is how to help people. The desire to help others comes when a man has more than enough for
his own needs. I have come to the conclusion that the best way to help others is to help them help themselves.”
— Henry Flagler

Henry Morrison Flagler Museum in Palm Beach, Florida
Henry Flagler entry at Wikipedia

Standard  Oil  Era
Standard Oil was founded as an Ohio corporation in 1870 and expanded to become the largest oil refiner in the world, a virtual monopoly that was
broken up by order of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1911. Founding partners included Henry M. Flagler [1830-1913], Stephen V. Harkness [1818-88],
Oliver Burr Jennings [1825-93], John D. Rockefeller [1839-1937], his brother William Rockefeller [1841-1922], and Henry H. Rogers [1840-1909].

	"The History of The Standard Oil Company" [1904] by Ida Tarbell, Introduction by Danny Schechter Originally serialized in 19 parts in McClure's Magazine Volume 1: Cosimo Classics 9x6 hardcover [8/2009] for $34.99 Forgotten Books 9x6 pb [6/2012] for $11.41 Volume 2: Cosimo Classics 9x6 hardcover [8/2009] for $37.99 Cosimo Classics 9x6 pb [8/2009] for $16.99 both volumes: Cosimo Classics 9x6 hardcover [10/2010] for $59.99 Cosimo Classics 9x6 pb [10/2010] for $29.99 both volumes: Kindle Edition from Joe Barta [1/2012] for $5.99 free online text at Page Tutor
	"Standard Oil: The First 125 Years" [1996] by Wayne Henderson & Scott Benjamin Motorbooks Intl. 11¼x10½ pb [6/96] out of print/used
	"Taking On The Trust: The Epic Battle of Ida Tarbell and John D. Rockefeller - How An Investigative Journalist Brought Down Standard Oil" [2008] by Steve Weinberg W.W. Norton 8¼x5½ pb [8/2009] for $12.92 W.W. Norton 9¼x6½ hardcover [3/2008] for $17.13
	"The History of The Standard Oil Company: Briefer Version" [2003] Edited by David M. Chalmers Dover Publns 7¾x5½ pb [2/2003] for $10.35

Florida  Real  Estate

"Palm Beach: An Architectural Legacy" [Rizzoli Intl. 2002] by Polly Anne Earl

"Palm Beach: The Way We Were" [Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach, 2003] by Polly Anne Earl

"Palm Beach: Then and Now" [Lickle Publng, 2003] by Maureen O’Sullivan & Dianna Sphritz

"Pioneers in Paradise: West Palm Beach - The First 100 Years" [The Palm Beach Post, 1994] by Jan Tuckwood & Eliot Kleinberg

	"Fifty Feet In Paradise: The Booming of Florida" [1984] by David Nolan Harcourt 9x6¼ hardcover [7/84] out of print/used
	"The Florida Land Boom: Speculation, Money, and The Banks" [1995] by William Frazer & John J. Guthrie, Jr. Praeger 9½x6¼ hardcover [11/95] for $107.95
	"God's Church: Henry Flagler's Legacy, The Royal Poinciana Chapel - One Hundred Years" [1998] A history by Sandra Thompson indep 9x6 hardcover [1998] out of print/used
	"The Architecture of Leisure: The Florida Resort Hotels of Henry Flagler & Henry Platt" [2002] by Susan R. Braden covers hotels operated by Flagler: Casa Marina, Casa Monica/Hotel Cordova, Hotel Alcazar, Hotel Colonial, Hotel Continental, Hotel Ormond, Hotel Ponce de Leon, Hotel Royal Palm, Hotel Royal Poinciana, the Long Key Fishing Camp, Palm Beach Inn/The Breakers, and Royal Victoria Hotel; also covers hotels operated by Plant & the Plant System: Fort Myers Hotel, Hotel Belleview, Hotel Kissimmee, Hotel Punta Gorda, Ocala House, Seminole Hotel, and Tampa Bay Hotel Univ Press of Florida 10x7 hardcover [12/2002] out of print/used
	"Flagler's St. Augustine Hotels: The Ponce de Leon, The Alcazar, and The Casa Monica" [2004] by Thomas Graham Pineapple Press pb [3/2004] for $11.21
	"Florida’s Grand Hotels From The Gilded Age (Images of America)" [2005] by R. Wayne Ayers hotels covered: in St. Augustine - Ponce de León, Alcazar & Cordova; in Palm Beach - Hotel Royal Poinciana & The Breakers; in Miami - Royal Palm Hotel; in Tampa - Tampa Bay Hotel; in BellAire (north of St. Petersburg) - Hotel Belleview Kindle Edition from Arcadia Publng [9/2012] for $9.99 Arcadia Publng 9¼x6½ pb [10/2005] for $17.15
	"Paradise For Sale: Florida's Booms and Busts" [2010] by Nick Wynne & Richard Moorhead Kindle Edition from The History Press [10/2011] for $9.99 The History Press 8¾x5¾ pb [2/2010] for $21.99
	"Carrère & Hastings: The Masterworks" [2011] by Laurie Ossman & Heather Ewing, Photography by Steven Brooke Carrere and Hastings designed Beaux-Arts masterpieces & other structures in New York, Washington DC, London, Paris, Rome, Florida, and Havana between 1895 and 1924; their client list included Astor, Carnegie, Alfred I. duPont, Henry M. Flagler, Frick, Gould, Harriman, Morgan, Payne, the Rockefellers, Henry Sloane, Vanderbilt, Whitney, and the U.S. government. Rizzoli 12x9 hardcover [10/2011] for $48.85
	"Long Key: Flagler's Island Getaway For The Rich and Famous" [2014] by Thomas Neil Knowles Kindle Edition from Univ Press of Florida [4/2014] for $10.69 Univ Press of Florida 9½x6½ hardcover [4/2014] for $17.13
	"Mr. Flagler's St. Augustine" [2014] by Thomas Graham Kindle Edition from Univ Press of Florida[5/2014] for $11.99 Univ Press of Florida 9¼x6½ hardcover [5/2014] for $21.80

Properties

Satanstoe purchased & renovated in 1877, a 40-room summer home on 32 acres on Long Island Sound
in Mamaroneck, New York; renamed Lawn Beach, still standing?

Henry Flagler's Alcazar Hotel in St. Augustine, Florida was built in 1887, closed in 1932;
sold in 1946; opened as the Lightner Museum {of antiquities} in 1948
official website • entry at Wikipedia

Hotel Ormond was built in 1888 just north of Daytona; Flagler purchased and enlarged the hotel to 600 rooms;
although listed on the National Register, the building was torn down in 1992 and replaced by condominiums.
entry at Wikipedia

Henry Flagler's Ponce De León Hotel in St. Augustine, Florida opened in 1888 • entry at Wikipedia
operated as the U.S. Coast Guard Training Center, circa 1941-45; became Flagler College in 1968
official website • entry at Wikipedia

Casa Monica Hotel in St. Augustine was built by Franklin W. Smith in 1888; bought by Flagler in 1889 and renamed
the Cordova Hotel; restored & reopened in 1999 by the Kessler Hotels chain • official website

Flagler Memorial Presbyterian Church [built 1890] in St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine Municipal Building [built 1890] at St. George & and Hypolita Streets
The Old Jail in St. Augustine, built by Henry Flagler in 1891 • entry at Wikipedia
Kirkside [built 1893, torn down 1950s], the home & office of Henry & Ida Flagler in St. Augustine, Florida

Henry Flagler's Royal Poinciana Hotel in West Palm Beach, Florida was built in 1894, and became the largest wooden structure
in the world; torn down during the 1930s Depression • entry at Wikipedia

Henry Flagler helped found the Miami Metropolis newspaper in 1896; sold in 1923 and renamed the Miami Daily News in 1925.
Freedom Tower at 600 Biscayne Blvd. in Miami was built in 1925 to house the offices & printing plant

Flagler built the Palm Beach Inn overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in Palm Beach in 1896; renamed The Breakers Hotel in 1901; burned down in 1903,
rebuilt in 1904; burned again in 1925, reopened in 1927; operated as an Army hospital during WWII; currently operated by Flagler heirs.
official Breakers website • entry at Wikipedia

Henry Flagler also built a beach house on the Breakers property, called Nautilus Cottage (where he died in 1913).

Flagler opened the Royal Palm Hotel on Biscayne Bay in 1896.

Flagler built The Port of Palm Beach, a 1,000-foot pier next to the Palm Beach Inn in 1896.

Wiley Hall was built by Henry Flagler in 1898; named Casa Amarylla in 1900

Whitehall, Henry Flagler's winter home in Palm Beach, was completed in 1902
operated as the Whitehall Hotel from 1925 to 1960
and became the Henry Morrison Flagler Museum in 1960
official website • entry at Wikipedia
Whitehall Society's Bal Poudré Centennial Ball [Feb 2013]

Long Key Fishing Camp was built in 1908 and featured a two-story hotel and a number of cottages. At first used to house workers on the F.E.C. Key West Extension, then promoted as having 'some of the best fishing in the world'. Quickly attracted the wealthy class, including Western author Zane Grey, Herbert Hoover, Franklin Roosevelt, Andrew Mellon, and Charles Kettering. Destroyed by the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane • entry at Wikipedia

Wyndham Casa Marina Resort [est. 1920] in Key West, Florida
'conceived' by Henry Flagler, not built until 1920; includes Jazz Age-decor Flagler’s Seafood, Steaks & Chops restaurant

The monument on Flagler Memorial Island was built in Biscayne Bay in 1920 by Miami Beach co-founder Carl G. Fisher.

Image  Gallery

statue of Henry Morrison Flagler at the Key West Bight Ferry Terminal

b&w engraving 'bust portrait' of real estate promoter Henry M. Flagler [1830-1913] 8"x12" print for $8.99 from Amazon

Florida East Coast Railway train at the station in Downtown Miami, Florida (circa 1930)

Flagler Memorial [built 1920] entry at Wikipedia

color postcard of Flagler's Hotel Royal Poinciana in Palm Beach, Florida [1894-1930s]	circa 1898 color postcard of Flagler's Alcazar Hotels in St. Augustine, Florida [built 1887] 8"x12" print for $8.99 from Amazon	photo poster of the dining room at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida 19½"x24" poster for $19.99 from Amazon	color postcard of Flagler's Hotel Ponce de Leon in St. Augustine, Florida [built 1888] 16"x24" poster for $24.99 from Amazon	b&w postcard of F.E.C. train on a Key West Overseas Railroad viaduct, 1912-35
color postcard of Flagler Memorial Presbyterian Church in St. Augustine, Florida	Flagler Station in Key West, Florida {looking southeast)

        
Flagler's  Railroad
The Florida East Coast Railway began as the narrow-gauge Jacksonville, St. Augustine & Halifax River Railroad in 1881, which was purchased
in 1885 by Henry Flagler [1830-1913] and renamed; he also acquired the St. Augustine Palatka Railroad and the St. John’s Railroad,
and by 1889 had laid track as far south as Daytona. By 1894, the railroad was extended to West Palm Beach, and by 1901 had reached Miami.
Before and during construction, the new railroad extension to Key West, Florida was called "Flagler's Folly"; after it opened, it became
known as “The Eighth Wonder of the World”. The Key West line was destroyed in a hurricane in 1935.
F.E.C. Industries official website • F.E.C. Railway official website • F.E.C. Railway entry at Wikipedia
Florida East Coast Railway Society [est. 1999] of Palmetto Bay, Florida

for more info (history, route detail, equipment, books, movies) visit
G.E. Nordell's Florida East Coast Railway [est. 1885] Page

FEC Private Railcar 90 [1898 yellow] restored/exhibited at Indiana Transportation Museum since 1970
FEC Private Railcar 91 [1886 green] restored/exhibited at Kenan Pavilion, Whitehall, Palm Beach since 2003

	"Pigeon Key and The Seven-Mile Bridge, 1908-1912" [1995] by Dan Gallagher, PhD Pigeon Key Foundation 8½x5¾ pb [1995] out of print/used
	"The Railroad That Went to Sea: Florida East Coast Railway's Overseas Train To Key West" [2000] Historic Tours of America 26-minute color/b&w VHS [12/2000] out of prodn/used
	"Last Train To Paradise: Henry Flagler and The Spectacular Rise and Fall of The Railroad That Crossed An Ocean" [2002] by Les Standiford Kindle Edition from Random House Digital [2003 edition] for $11.99 Broadway Books 8x5¼ pb [8/2003] for $10.17 Crown Books 9½x6 hardcover [9/2002] out of print/many used
	"The Florida Keys Overseas Railway" [2006] by Warren Zeiller Signature Press 11x8½ hardcover [2006] out of print/used
	"Florida East Coast Railway (Images of Rail Series)" [2006] by Seth H. Bramson Arcadia Publng 9¼x6½ pb [10/2006] for $16.05
	"The Two Henrys: Henry Plant and Henry Flagler and Their Railroads" [ages 9 & up; 2010] by Sandra Wallus Sammons Pineapple Press Biographies 9x6 pb [3/2010] for $9.95 Pineapple Press Biographies 9½x6 hardcover [3/2010] for $11.96
	"The Greatest Railroad Story Ever Told: Henry Flagler & The Florida East Coast Railway's Key West Extension" [2011] by Seth H. Bramson The History Press 8¾x5¾ pb [11/2011] for $18.74

Works  About  Henry Flagler
browse books about Henry Flagler at Amazon

	"Florida's Flagler" [1949] by Sidney Walter Martin Univ Georgia Press 8½x5½ pb [2/2010] for $24.95 Univ Georgia Press hardcover [3/81] out of print/used Univ Georgia Press hardcover [1949] out of print/used
	"Henry Flagler: The Astonishing Life and Times of The Visionary Robber Baron Who Founded Florida" [1986] by David Leon Chandler Macmillan 9¾x5¾ hardcover [6/86] out of print/used
	"Flagler: Rockefeller Partner & Florida Baron" [1988] by Edward N. Akin Univ Press of Florida 9x6 pb [10/91] for $15.56 Kent State Univ Press 9¼x6¼ hardcover [2/88] out of print/used
	"Henry Flagler, Builder of Florida" [ages 9 & up; 1993] by Sandra Wallus Sammons Pineapple Press Biographies 8¾x6 pb [3/2010] for $7.95 Pineapple Press Biographies 9¼x6½ hardcover [3/2010] for $10.95 Tailored Tours Publng 8¾x6¾ pb [3/93] out of print/used
	"Henry Flagler: Visionary of The Gilded Age" [1998] by Sidney Walter Martin Tailored Tours Publng 8¾x6¾ pb [1998] out of print/many used

"Flagler Museum: An Illustrated Guide" [1998] from Henry Morrison Flagler Museum
http://www.amazon.com/Flagler-Museum-Illustrated-Henry-Morrison/dp/B0017R7LCA/
http://www.amazon.com/Flagler-Museum-Illustrated-Guide-Morrison/dp/B00132XBWI/

"A Society of Painters: Flagler's St. Augustine Art Colony" [Flagler Museum, 1998] by Sandra Barghini

"Henry M. Flagler’s Paintings Collection: The Taste of A Gilded Age Collector" [Flagler Museum, 2002] by Sandra Barghini

Movies & TV,  Stageplays,  Other  Media
nothing on IBDb, nothing useful on IMDb

Family  &  Friends
Henry Morrison Flagler was born in 1830 in Hopewell, New York and died in Palm Beach, Florida in 1913 at age 83

first wife Mary Harkness Flagler [?-1881], married Nov 1853, died May 1881
daughter Jennie Louise Flagler [1855-89]
daughter Carrie Flagler [1858-61]
son Harry Harkness Flagler [1870-1952]
heir grandaughter Mary Flagler Cary [1901-67] of Millbrook, New York
heir grandaughter Jean Louise Flagler Matthews [1910-79] founded the Flagler Museum

second wife Ida Alice Shourds Flagler [1838-1930], married June 1883, divorced for insanity in 1901

third wife Mary Lily Kenan Flagler [1867-1917], married August 1901, widowed 1913
William R. Kenan, Jr. [1872-1965] Flagler’s engineer, friend & brother-in-law
Mary Lily's niece & heir Louise Clisby Wise Lewis

Dr. Andrew Anderson [1839-1924] partner & friend in St. Augustine

friend Thomas Alva Edison [1847-1931]

business partner John D. Rockefeller [1839-1937]

L i n k s
Henry Morrison Flagler Museum in Palm Beach, Florida
Henry Flagler entry at Wikipedia
"Flagler's Florida" .PDF file for teachers of 4th & 5th graders
Flagler Key West Centennial 2012 - Timeline Page

here on the Henry M. Flagler [1830-1913] Page at Spirit of America Bookstore

top of page • short profile • Standard Oil Era • Florida Real Estate • Flagler's properties •

image gallery • Flagler's railroad • works about Henry Flagler • family & friends • links

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