Florida's Godfather - Flagler's Whitehall Museum - Palm Beach

Henry Morrison Flagler was an American industrialist that co-founded Standard Oil with John D Rockefeller.

Because of his first wife’s ill health, he left Ohio and took her to the untamed wilderness of Florida in the late 1860s.

Flagler became convinced of the state’s potential for growth, but was disappointed by its transportation system and hotel options.

He brought his railroad to this region and in return for land grants, amassed over two million acres.

Being one of the richest men on the planet, he invested heavily in Florida and was determined to create an American Riviera.

Beginning in 1888 he built the Gilted Age hotels the Ponce de Leon and the Alcazar in St Augustine, and the Royal Poinciana (at the time the largest wooden structure in the world) overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in Palm Beach in 1890.

He also built schools, bridges, hospitals and churches throughout Florida.

As he was having his second wife declared insane, Flagler met an North Carolina Southern Belle named Mary Lily Kenan.   She was 24, Flagler was 70, when they married.

Mary’s wedding gift was the three story, 100,000 square foot, 75 room Whitehall estate in Palm Beach, designed by John Carrere and Thomas Hastings, that built all of his hotels.

Completed In 1902 Whitehall was declared “America’s Taj Mahal and was more wonderful than any palace in Europe,  grander and more magnificent than any other private dwelling in the world”.

Filled with beautiful antiques and art from a well-lived life,  their winter retreat had massive white columns and spacious marble floors.

Surrounding the five acres is a tall, beautiful iron and bronze thousand foot long fence.

Careful upkeep has protected the structure from salt air and wind storms for more than 120 years.

Relying on tropical breezes for cooling, the mansion is fully air conditioned for visitors comforts today.

Flagler is credited with putting Miami on the map and developing Palm Beach as a destination resort.

It took 4,000 men seven years to build Flagler’s Over-Seas Railroad across 128 miles of open waters through mosquito infested islands and five hurricanes.

In 1912 Flagler and Mary finally arrived aboard his private rail car (like the private jets today) to Key West and it is proudly displayed at the mansion.

Flagler lived at Whitehall until he was 83, and he was having a rough time keeping up with Mary’s constant social gatherings, since she was over 40 years younger.

He was often seen rolling around the grounds with his companion Delos, a white Maltese Terrier in a wicker wheelchair mounted to a Model T.

Flagler sustained injuries from a fall down a stairway at Whitehall and died on May 20th 1913.

He left his well over $100 million fortune which would be $12.5 billion today to Mary.

She remarried and four years later she died under a mysterious illness that implied that her new husband may have had something to do with her death.

Admission to the Henry Morrison Flagler Museum is $28 and you could easily spend 2-3  hours here,  right off Route 1.