Flagler’s Lasting Tracks Across the State

On May 20, 1913, Florida lost the driving force behind much of its early growth. Through a mix of hotels, railroads, and determined vision, Henry Morrison Flagler helped turn stretches of scrubland into destinations. His grand resorts in St. Augustine, Palm Beach, and Miami drew winter visitors, while his investment in the Florida East Coast Railway opened the Atlantic coast to new towns, farms, and industry.

Flagler had already made his fortune as a founding partner of Standard Oil. A visit to Florida in the late 1870s led him to new ambitions. He began with the Hotel Ponce de Leon in St. Augustine, expanded his rail network south through Palm Beach, and followed Miami’s early boosters to Biscayne Bay, where he financed the city’s first newspaper, The Metropolis.

His boldest project came with the Overseas Railroad to Key West, completed in 1912 after seven years of construction. Just a year later, after an accident at his Palm Beach estate Whitehall, Flagler died at 83. Today, Whitehall stands as the Henry Morrison Flagler Museum, preserving the story of a man whose vision helped shape modern Florida.