| St. Augustine Hotel Competition by Gil Wilson |
| Did Henry Flagler have competition in St. Augustine? The short answer to this question is no. There was no competition to Henry Flagler. The closest thing to competition to Flagler was the San Marco Hotel. He took the builders, the manager, sometimes the orchestras, and the train station. Later the hotel was burned by arsonists. After that there was no quality competition. Even the San Marco suffered from its age. It was built in the time of gas as opposed to the time of electricity. (See what 2 years will do.) Even Flagler was on the cusp of change as private bathrooms were added year by year to the Ponce de Leon Hotel. The Major St. Augustine Competition Most of the hotels opened only for the winter season, which could extend from November through May. Late openings or early closings meant that guests would simply move to other hotels. The hotel proprietors usually managed a hotel in a northern state in the summer; like their wealthy guests, they wintered in the south and spent summers in the north. The hotel maids, waiters, etc. did the same thing in many instances. Henry Flagler broke the pattern by not offering a northern hotel. However, his managers were allowed to advertise their summer hotels (including adding the name of the other hotel on the Flagler hotel stationery). If the manager was good at his job, guests would “follow” the manager from hotel to hotel. Florida House George L. Atkins and Sons were the proprietors of the Florida House Hotel in the 1880s. Their summer hotel was the Ocean Hotel in Asbury Park, New Jersey, open from June 15th to September 15th. The Florida House was originally built in 1833. It opened in 1835. Mr. J. H. Rehmer of Ansonia, Connecticut erected the main building in 1875. In 1883, George Atkins petitioned the town council for permission to build a pedestrian bridge over Treasury Street, connecting the Florida House with the Planters Hotel, and enlarging the hotel. In the 1884 Chapins’ Hand Book of St. Augustine by Elias Nason, the Florida House was advertised as a winter hotel open from December to April. Chapins’ reported that improvements had been made to the hotel, and that its 131 rooms were “…large, elegantly furnished, well ventilated, and lighted throughout with gas. A steam passenger elevator carries guests to the “New improvements were made for the year. The rooms were advertised as large, elegantly furnished, well ventilated, and lighted throughout with gas. A steam passenger elevator carries fourth floor. The introduction of steam into the building insures a warm and comfortable house. Electric bells in each room connect with the office. Terms are $4.00 a day. A liberal reduction given to parties desiring to engage rooms for the season. Special rates for January.” George L. Atkins and Sons ran the hotel. The Hotel was located on St. George street near the Plaza. The sister hotel to the Florida House was Pierce Villa in Cottage City, Massachusetts. The rates at Pierce Villa were $3 to $4 per day in 1890. Magnolia Hotel Mr. B. E. Carr, a St. Augustine merchant, built the Magnolia Hotel in 1847. The hotel opened with seventeen rooms and could accommodate about 40 people. In 1853 it had 45 rooms. W. W. Palmer from New York City became the proprietor in 1872. The 200-room hotel was located on St. George Street and boasted great fireplaces in the reading-room and parlor. A specialty of house was the hand-painted menus. In 1859 a guest could stay at the Magnolia for $1.25 per day. However, the rate for second floor accommodations was $6.50 per month, and guests staying in the attic paid only $4.00 a month. By 1886 the Magnolia had 250 rooms that rented for $4.00 a day. In 1892, it advertised filtered rainwater for drinking, and by 1894, porcelain bathtubs on each floor were advertised. The public and private rooms have gas. 1867 Arrivals MAGNOLIA HOUSE B JOHN C. BUFFINGTON D. G. Jones, Nashville Ten. B. K. Guilt A J. (?) Bingham Mrs. E. Shoemaker & Daughter, N. Y. F. Grossman, U. S. Army B. R. Amos A R. B. Patterson A H. W. Wensells A Buckinham [sic] Smith, St. Augustine Mrs. Ameron, New York Miss Ameron A D. Livingston, Canada K. Kelly A F. A. Molloy A C. Bohn, Fla. Mrs. Palmer arranged card parties and entertainments. They were usually opened by Thanksgiving. In 1892 Mr. J. N. and G. H. Mance were the office with William Bosworth as Stewart and Mr. Armstrong as chef. In 1899 20 new bathrooms were opened. The partners had hotels in New Jersey for the summer months. Palmer originally had Hotel Brighton at Long Branch, New Jersey, with space for 250 guests and rates of $17.50 to $25 per week. Later, Palmer and MacDowell owned Hotel Breslin on Lake Hopatcong, N. J. It was forty-three miles from New York, had electricity and could care for 500 guests. St. George Hotel The St. George Hotel started with the house of Dr. Oliver Bronson. It was originally a small hotel provided over by Col. Tyler but in 1887 Charles Tyler, his son, enlarged it. The hotel was located next to the Trinity Episcopal Church on St. George Street and King. By 1888 the property was owned by L. K. Tyler of Newark, New Jersey. It had a parlor, sitting rooms, broad verandas, reading and reception rooms. In 1892 George S. Fell was chief clerk; Mr. H. D. Wilde, Night clerk; Mr. F. E. Fenton, Steward; Mr. E. V. Lucas, chef; Isiah Spencer, Baker and Ben Briant, Porter. San Marco Hotel The San Marco Hotel, opened in 1885, was the main competition to Henry Flagler’s hotels. Henry Flagler and his second wife, Ida Alice Shrouds, spent their honeymoon in this hotel. In part, this beautiful new hotel convinced Flagler that St. Augustine had possibilities. The hotel was unique for St. Augustine in that it sat on twenty acres of land and created its own environment. Mr. Isaac Smith Crufts of Boston built the San Marco. Originally a ship builder, Mr. Crufts was an established hotel owner when he built the San Marco. His first hotel was the Maplewood in the White Mountains of New York, and in March 1882, he built the Magnolia Hotel on the St. Johns River near Green Cove Springs. It could be said that Crufts was the “first” person to transform St. Augustine from a backwater town. Four stories high, the San Marco was built on the highest ground in St. Augustine, next to the Castillo de San Marcos. It had a view of the bay, ocean, and surrounding country. The hotel was four stories tall and the towers could be seen 15 miles out in the ocean. There were roughly 275 rooms in 1885 and the hotel could hold about 600 guests. The cost was $2.50 to $6 per day. Corridors extended the entire length of the hotel, with guest rooms on both sides. Guests could use the large elevator, or the stairs to access the upper floors. The office, parlors, reading and writing-rooms occupied most of the first floor. The dining-hall was west of the main hotel and was a large, lofty room with windows on three sides. A theatre was attached to hotel where dances and entertainments were held. The hotel also offered a newsstand, barbershop, billiard room, private docks, and a café in addition to tennis and croquet courts. For a guest at this hotel the week would start with a sacred concert on Sunday evening and end with a card party on Saturday night. One unique opportunity in the hotel was that the guests were able to pick their own vegetables from the hotel garden for their meals. As the competitor to Flagler’s hotels, the San Marco advertisements used “built on natural ground,” “high and dry,” and “large and airy” to capitalize on the Flagler Hotels being built on a former tidal area. Isaac Crufts dies December 27, 1889 . The Hotel does not open for the 1890 season but reopens for the 1891 season. The San Marco Hotel burned to the ground on November 7, 1897 and was not rebuilt. Henry Flagler not only got the vision of St. Augustine’s potential from the San Marco Hotel, but also took McGuire and MacDonald, the builders, and Osborn Seavey, Crufts’ hotel manager, away from the Hotel. The Hotel Buckingham The Hotel was built from the remodeled building that Dr Oliver Bronson commissioned for the Buckingham Smith Association. It opened in 1895 for the first time. It was located on Granda Street the renamed Bronson Street across the street from the Alcazar Hotel. It was listed as a family hotel. Meals were served from bills of fare. The opening manager was George C. Howe. By 1899 Howe had expanded to Daytona with the Holly Inn and the Hybiscus at Palm Beach. He had also acquired the Clarendon at Green Cove Springs The Casa Monica Flagler had some unexpected competition from his associate, Franklin Smith. In arranging the land acquisition, Flagler gave Smith land and the Sunnyside Hotel, which was moved across the street to the site of the Casa Monica Hotel. Flagler encouraged Smith to fix up the Sunnyside, but Smith had much bigger plans – he moved the Sunnyside Hotel and built a 250-room hotel on its site. The beautiful new building was concrete, with less coquina than the Ponce de Leon or the Alcazar. Deep river sand was used, which made the color of the building more dense and uniform than the Ponce de Leon or Alcazar. Advertising for the new hotel focused on its Spanish-Moorish structure, Artesian sulfur baths, French cuisine, and Table d’hote. All of the suites in the Casa Monica were equipped with closets, gaslights, gas heat, and electric bells to call for service. Baths were located on each floor. With its cottages, the hotel could accommodate four hundred guests. Smith had trouble completing the hotel; a plumbers’ strike in January of 1888 sent all the plumbers back to New York (The FloridaError! Bookmark not defined. Times Union, January 7, 1888), and a fire at the Nelson, Matter & Co. factory in Michigan delayed a shipment of furniture. The building opened on January 17, 1888, a week after the Ponce de Leon. The opening was not a success. Smith was plagued by low occupancy and was unable to compete with the Ponce de Leon. The hotel officially opened on January 30, and by March 28 Smith was cutting back expenses by closing off two floors and laying off two or three dozen people. The hotel was sold in April to Henry Flagler for $250,000 On July 16 the name of the hotel was changed to the Hotel Cordova. In the coming years Flagler will keep the manager of the Hotel – E.N. Wilson. However, in the summer of 1889 with the assistance of O. D. Seavey the interior of the hotel is renovated especially the kitchen area. Valencia The Valencia was a smaller family hotel with bell service. The house was located on south St. George Street near the St. Francis' barracks with a view of the ocean. It was run in the 1890s by Mrs. Mary Fraser. It had electric bells and gas and a great menu. The water was aeriated artestian well water. It was built by McGuire and McDonald. The hotel was located on what is today the parking lot of the St. Francis Inn (which as one time was known as the Valencia annex. The Barcelona The Barcelona was located near the Union Depot, Memorial and Grace Methodist Methodist Episcopal, North Churches on the corner of Carrera and Seville Streets. It was the Ball mansion moved, enlarged and remodeled. Miss R. E. Hasseltine was the manager in the 1890s. It had baths, gas, hot and cold water on each floor. The Hernandez House The house had been open for 20 years. It was near the Bay, Plaza and not far from Fort Marion. Mrs. Hernandez and son were owners of the house. The Carleton This hotel was located on St. George Street not far from the Plaza. Mr. Rolleston was the owner and manager. The La Borde The La Borde was located near the bay. Large rooms with water views. Mr. and Mrs. Abbott were the owners in the 1890s. Abbey Hotel The house was located on St. George street near the city gates and Frot Marion. It was run by W. B. Pine and W. A. Wood. Originally it was owned by Mrs. A. B. Abbee from Martha's Vineyard, Mass. The rates were $2.00 and $2.50 per day. Columbia Hotel The Columbia hotel was $2.00 per day or $10.00 per week. It advertised gas, sanitary sewerage and electric bells. It was owned by A. S. Washburne. Washburne was from the Saratoga and the Saratoga at Palatka. It had fifty rooms. The Carleton This family hotel was located on the corner of St. George and Treasury Streets and owned by w. Rolleston. Ocean View It had gas in the office, parlors, dining room and halls. In charge of the house was Mr. Pinkham (who would later be the St. Johns County School Board Superintendent. The dinning-room sat 100. This was the only hotel directly on the bay in the 1890s. Competition Lost Two sources of competition were lost before the doors of the Ponce de Leon and the Alcazar opened. Hotel St. Augustine was built in 1869 by a partnership of Captain E. E. Vaill, F. H. Palmer, and Dr. Andrew Anderson. T. P House was the architect and builder. The hotel had gaslights, was 200 feet long, three stories high, and contained 80 rooms (140 rooms were added in 1875). In 1884 in Chapin’s Hand Book of St. Augustine by Elias Nason included the following description of the hotel: “…southerly front of 200 feet upon the Plaza and 160 feet on the Bay with wide plazas and hanging balconies from each story overlooking the City, Bay, and Atlantic Ocean. The Dining-Room, Parlors, Billiard-Room, and many of the Sleeping Rooms are elegantly frescoed. It is lighted with gas and provided with water conveniences, electric bells. The dining hall is capable of seating over 300 guests, and the table will be furnished with all the luxuries of the Northern Market.” By 1885 the St. Augustine Hotel had 300 rooms that rented for $4 per day. Captain Vaill (a sea captain from Milton, Conn.) was the sole owner of the Hotel St. Augustine in 1887 when the fire that also destroyed the Cathedral destroyed it. Unfortunately, Captain Vaill had canceled the insurance on the hotel because he thought the rates were too high. Sunnyside Hotel – T. F. House built the Sunnyside Hotel in 1876 on property that had been part of Dr. Anderson’s estate. Originally on the site of the Ponce de Leon, Flagler moved the hotel across the street (to the present site of the Casa Monica) and gave it to Franklin Smith, encouraging him to run the Sunnyside rather than build the Casa Monica. The hotel had a capacity of 40 guests and rented for $2.50 per day. It was renamed “Villula” and “Villa del Sol” by Franklin Smith when it was annexed on December 15, 1886. |
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| Florida House New York Public Library |
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| Magnolia Hotel New York Public Library |
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| Magnolia New Year's Party New York Public Library |
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| St. Augustine Hotel New York Public Library |
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| Sunnyside Hotel New York Public Library |
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| Casa Monica Library of Congress |
| Buckingham Hotel |
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| Florida House |
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| Buckingham Hotel - Florida State Archives |
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