All Aboard: Flagler Centennial Events Through January

Related Cities & Topics:

View Full Size

Henry Flagler, oil magnate, hotelier and creator of the Florida East Coast Railway.

Photo Credit: Florida State Archives

View Full Size

The driveway leading to the historic Breakers resort is still reminiscent the luxury Flagler envisioned.

Photo Credit: The Breakers

View Full Size

St. Augustine's Lightner Museum was once the Hotel Alcazar, commissioned by Henry Flagler.

Photo Credit: St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra & The Beaches Visitors & Convention Bureau

View Full Size

Henry Flagler's Casa Monica Hotel remains an architectural wonder of St. Augustine.

Photo Credit: St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra & The Beaches Visitors & Convention Bureau

View Full Size

Carriages pass along St. Augustine's King Street, near the Casa Monica Hotel.

Photo Credit: St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra & The Beaches Visitors & Convention Bureau

View Full Size

Henry Flagler's Casa Monica Hotel stands out against the night sky in St. Augustine.

Photo Credit: St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra & The Beaches Visitors & Convention Bureau

View Full Size

The opulent gold dining room of 95 Cordova in St. Augustine's Casa Monica Hotel.

Photo Credit: St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra & The Beaches Visitors & Convention Bureau

View Full Size

The towers of the Lightner Museum, formerly Hotel Alcazar, highlight the architectural flourishes of Henry Flagler's era.

Photo Credit: St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra & The Beaches Visitors & Convention Bureau

View Full Size

The interior of the Lightner Museum in St. Augustine, once Henry Flagler's Hotel Alcazar.

Photo Credit: St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra & The Beaches Visitors & Convention Bureau

View Full Size

Historic Casa Marina Resort in Key West.

Photo Credit: Contributed Photo

Plan your own tour of Flagler's legacy locations. Palm Beach and Key West are staging ongoing exhibitions and celebrations.

Here's how to follow the footsteps of Henry Morrison Flagler, the father of Florida tourism.

Start in St. Augustine at Hotel Alcazar (now the Lightner Museum) or the Casa Monica Hotel, the first of many reminders of the "Gilded Age" of grandeur and opulence. 

Farther south, Flagler's home in Palm Beach is now The Flagler Museum and houses magnificent antiques, his personal rail car and memorabilia from the oil tycoon's life in business. The historic Breakers Resort still welcomes in grand style in Palm Beach as does the Casa Marina Hotel in Key West.

The centennial of Flagler's Over-Sea Railroad has inspired numerous exhibitions and events. Here's a list.

Palm Beach

Flagler Museum
1 Whitehall Way, Palm Beach
561-655-2833
flaglermuseum.us
Open Tuesday-Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday noon-5 p.m., closed Monday

Special Exhibition: "First Train to Paradise: The Railroad That Went to Sea"

• Oct. 18, 2011 through Jan. 8, 2012
• Free with museum admission

Children's Exhibit Activity

• Nov. 12, 2011, 10 a.m. to noon
• Free with museum admission
• In conjunction with the exhibition, the museum invites fourth- through eighth-grade children to a special gallery tour with the education director followed by a hands-on learning activity.

Special Presentation

• Dec. 6, 2011, 12:15 p.m.
• Tour "First Train to Paradise: The Railroad That Went to Sea" with best-selling author Les Standiford and learn more about the "Eighth Wonder of the World," Henry Flagler's Over-Sea Railroad. Standiford will discuss the development of the railroad from sketches to reality, and the legacy of the project whose visionary creator was also one of America's most forward-thinking captains of industry.
• Free with museum admission
• Reservations recommended

Florida Keys & Key West

Flagler Centennial: 100 Years of Railroads in the Florida Keys
www.flaglerkeys100.com

Family Fun Day at Historic Pigeon Key

• Jan. 14, 2012, 10. a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Visitors to Pigeon Key venture back in time to a tiny island that played a tremendous role in the Florida Keys of today. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this five-acre property served as a home base for railroad workers erecting and later operating the final installment of Henry M. Flagler's Key West Railroad.

Hobbyist Train Exhibit at Crane Point

• Jan. 15, 2012, noon to 5 p.m.
• Make it a family day, with free admission and a bring-your-own picnic, and enjoy live Flagler-era musical entertainment from 3 to 7 p.m. Stroll through the Crane Point Hammock Museum, follow the nature trails and visit the Marathon Wild Bird Center.
• Hobbyist train exibit, from noon to 7 p.m.
• For more information, call John Henderson 305-743-3900 or e-mail john@cranepoint.net

Historical Reenactment at Bahia Honda State Park

• Jan. 20, 2012, 11. a.m. to 1 p.m.  
• Have you ever wondered what it would be like to ride the first train to Key West? Step back in time to the early 1900s as Mr. Henry Flagler and other travelers share their unique experiences on the railroad. Meet at the railway car "stage" inside the park, just past the Sand & Sea Center.

Flagler's 100th Anniversary Gala Costume Ball

• Jan. 21, 2012 , 6 to 10 p.m.
• An opulent night of period costumes, dinner, dancing and celebrating the glories of the Flagler era
• Located at the historic Casa Marina – A Waldorf Astoria Resort, 1500 Reynolds Street
• 180 guests maximum. Tickets are available for purchase on this website.

Flagler Centennial Parade

• Jan. 22, 2012, 1 to 2 p.m.
• The modern-day Rambler, the railcar that Henry Flagler traveled in, is expected to make an appearance at the 2012 parade. Celebrate Henry Flagler's accomplishment that forever changed the Keys, 100 years after his first train pulled into the station in Key West.

Henry Flagler Back to the Florida Keys

• Jan. 22, 2012, 3 to 9 p.m.
• Marathon Community Theatre welcomes Henry Flagler Back to the Florida Keys. Showtimes are 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. This one-man show of two acts tells the fascinating story of the man who started it all with the creation of the Florida East Coast Railway.

Friends of Key West Library Lecture Series

• Jan. 23, 2012, 6 to 7 p.m.
• Florida historian and author Seth Bramson is to be the evening's highlight with a lecture and book signing of his new book, The Greatest (Railroad) Story Ever Told: Henry Flagler and the Florida East Coast Railway's Key West Extension. Seth Bramson is a leading historian and the Company Historian for the Florida East Coast Railway.

To learn more about Flagler's legacy in Florida, click here.