This is a superb museum, a must for everyone who wishes to learn about the history of Florida, the Gilded Age, Henry Flagler and the spirit that built the USA.
If you aren’t familiar with the Flagler name and how it relates to Florida, Henry Flagler and the Standard Oil Company are responsible for extending the Florida East Coast Railway all the way down to the Florida Keys.
The elegant, extravagant, and luxurious mansion, known as Whitehall was one of Henry Flagler’s houses in West Palm Beach and was a wedding present for his third wife, Mary Lily Kenan.
After the Flaglers deaths, the mansion was eventually sold to a group of investors, who converted it to a hotel and built a 10-story, 300-room tower on its west side. The original house became card rooms, lounges, a bar and guest suites from 1925-1959, before it closed. The entire building was in danger of demolition, but Flagler’s granddaughter, Jean Flagler Matthews, swooped in, forming the non-profit Henry Morrison Flagler Museum. She spent the next 20 years running it.
The same architects who built Flagler’s Hotel Ponce de Leon in St. Augustine designed Whitehall: John Carrere and Thomas Hastings were trained at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris in the Beaux Arts style of architecture, characterized by arched windows and noble spaces like the museum’s grand marble entrance and double staircase.
The 75-room mansion has 3 floors but only 2 are open to the public. There are elevators and ramps available for accessibility.
My favorite part of the museum was the train that you can walk through and explore in behind the building. In 1912, Flagler celebrated the opening of the Florida East Coast Railway by riding in this car from Jacksonville all the way to Key West. Railcar 91 is an amazing add-on to an already great tour.
You can do a self-guided tour (in different languages) by listening to an app or using the brochure. My family thoroughly enjoyed wandering around this museum.
On June 5th of each year, the Flagler Museum celebrates its founding by opening to the public free of charge in honor of the Museum’s founder, Jean Flagler Matthews.
*Check out their website for current information and hours.