Flagler
College
King St.
St.
Augustine, Fl.
November 19, 1999
If the
Fort can be considered the most prominent structure
in St. Augustine, Henry Flagler may well be the most prominent
figure. Arriving with his new wife for their honeymoon in the
late 1800s, Flagler, a self-made man who, with John D.
Rockefeller had created the Standard Oil Company, found in St.
Augustine, the potential to develop the kind of winter resort
that As we went into Flagler
College I couldn't help thinking about the "rich and
famous" who must have
would cater to the aristocratic northern travelers who were
trying to escape the harsh winters. Using the unlimited resources
at his disposal, he developed the town in the "Spanish
Renaissance Revivalist" form, which quickly brought the city
into the Golden
Age of Tourism, which still exists in a somewhat lesser degree
today. The center piece of this splendid development was the
Ponce de Leon Hotel. Although the rich and famous have long since
departed, the Hotel remains as Flagler College. The
magnificent
structure was created between 1885
and 1887 by Henry M. Flagler. Designed by the New York
architectural firm of Carrera and Hastings, the building reflects
the Spanish Renaissance style throughout. The hotel was the first
major edifice in the United States to be constructed of poured
concrete, a mixture of cement, sand, and coquina shell. The
interior is decorated with imported marble, carved oak, and
murals painted by Tojotti and George W. Maynard. Its
stained glass windows were created by Louis Tiffany of New York.
The Ponce de Leon Hotel was the flagship of the Flagler Hotel
system which soon extended all along the east coast of Florida. Located in
the "Winter Newport," this resort hotel
entertained celebrities from around the world, including several
U.S. Presidents. To 
make sure that the customers would come Flagler assisted in
extending the railroad to St. Augustine, thus allowing the travelers their
luxury on the trip down. During World War II, the hotel served as a Coast
Guard Training Center. In 1960, this historic landmark was
converted into Flagler College, an accredited four year liberal
arts institution. Independent and coeducational, the college
serves students from across the nation. The college is open to
the public from 11AM-4PM. If you would be interested in finding
out anymore about the college check out there website at: http://www.flagler.edu.
passed through these doors before me. The main
entrance went through a very pleasant garden, that had very
interesting architectural accents. There were dragon heads
embedded in the walls of the second floor balconies that allowed
the water to empty out through their mouths. Inside the foyer,
it was amusing to see the mixture of "new and old". I'm
sure there are those who would be offended that the college would allow
the students to hang banners from the 
beautiful ceiling. But I felt that it was a
wondrous mixture of "old glory" and "new
spirit". In other words they allowed the student to enjoy
the beauty around them, but still do the type of things that
students enjoy doing. As we went through the foyer we noticed the golden lions around the ceiling with light bulbs in their
mouths, lighting up the hallway. While all of this was fetching,
it was the dining room that really took 
Good Luck! Have Fun! and Stay Safe!
Laura
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