Henry Morrison Flagler entrepreneur

An interesting read in The Road to Paradise.  I picked it up years ago thinking it was about the Strasburg Railroad in Pennsylvania and discovered a fascinating history of the railroad to the Florida Keys.

 

Farmer Bill, Isn't it an incredible book? My wonderful wife got it for me! Isn't that neat! This morning I read the first 35 pages of the book and was blown away by the utter destruction of that 1935 hurricane. I am looking forward to being impressed by this giant and forward thinker what a fantastic human being. Mike

If it wasn't for Henry Flagler, the Florida we have today would not exist. Without the railroad, the only way to get to the resort towns (Miami, ft Lauderdale, Boca, and all the rest) was by ship. the roads that existed were primitive and dangerous.

Fec Fan, My thoughts exactly! He linked his hotels by train in that sense he was a true businessman who saw grand opportunity. They even wanted to name Miami after him! Imagine that! What would it be like to go to Flagler instead of Miami? Makes you sort of glad he refused!

 

He insisted on the old Indian name of Miami. A whole industry (tourism) is in his debt!

Watch the movie TRUE LIES. Arnold Schwarzenegger in a helicopter tries to pull his wife, Jamie Lee Curtis, from the sunroof of the bad guys' black limousine (the driver is dead at the wheel) as they speed toward a gap in Six Mile Bridge blasted by a missle.

 

I was excited to see a historic part of the Florida East Coast Key West Extension.

 

My wife was more interested in the characters.

 

Denominational differences.

 

Never knew about the FEC and Flagler until I worked at a Hobby shop in Tallahassee and we got in an N-Scale FEC F7.  Beautiful engine.  Like the SP Daylight paint scheme.

 

Still love the FEC and the story.

 

My favorite Flagler mental picture is him riding into Key West when they opened the extension.  He had a special train car he could sit and wave from.  He was nearly blind and practically dead.  Everyone in Key West was going crazy, cheering him. 

 

Someone asked him:  Do you see all the children cheering for you, or something to that effect.  He replied:  "I can hear the children, but I cannot see them."

 

Very poignant, he died not long after that, and then his fabled Key West extension was destroyed in a hurricane.

    Most of the original FEC RR bridges built over the open ocean are still standing, but newer parallel ones have been built to carry Rt. 1 south from the mainland to the tip of Key West. (The longest RR bridge was 7 miles long.)

   What makes that story all the more remarkable was that Flagler paid for the entire construction out of his own pocket. (As I recall, the engineers had to devise a special mix of concrete to withstand the caustic sea water.) It's a shame it was in service for such a short time; it's one of the great engineering projects of the early 20th century!

Dick, as I recall it was "special German concrete" that was formulated to cure underwater, as well as withhold the sea water.

Another thing that Henry M. Flagler did was to start Florida Power and Light company. He built his own power company because he needed electricity to work in Homestead FL and the Florida Keys, was not called FPL back then but later went on to become FPL a.k.a. the younger sister of FEC RR.

 

H. M. Flagler also built the Whitehall motel on Palm Beach and the Breakers motel in south Florida. There is also a very large musuem that used to be a hotel and bath house in St. Augustine FL that H. M. Flagler built, very interesting to go see.

 

Henry Flagler was a teenager selling newspapers up north, then took some advice from J. D. Rockafeller (oil tycoon), came to Florida and built a railroad empire.

 

Lee F.

One of the old bridges is still standing, but not used, at Bahia Honda State Park in the lower keys, not sure might be near Tavernier key or Big Pine Key. Also the old station in Key West is still standing, now a gift shop.

 

Lee F.

More recommended Florida East Coast reading material:

 

http://www.fecrs.com/reading.html#speedway

 

Worthy of special mention is Seth Bramson's "Speedway to Sunshine." It is considered the definitive history of the FEC.

 

Bob

Well, that sort of glosses over that he was Rockafeller's partner in Standard Oil and was one of the real Robber Barons of the time.  He envisioned the extension to Key West ultimately to be a shipping connection to the Panama Canal traffic and was looking to monopolize that same traffic.  He certainly was responsible for transforming Florida, building cities and what are now resorts; Miami was almost renamed Flager.  But, he was always looking at this with a busines angle as an end point.

 

Favorite story was when they reported to Flagler that they could not find any land available in Key West -- "Then make some!"

One of Henry Flagler's hotels in St Augustine is now Flagler College. The Lightner Museum in St Augustine used the be a hotel and bathhouse.

Have really only been to Fla. twice, (three times if you count a military business trip) but I did a circle tour driving trip once, and found and photographed, somewhere on the coast in NE Fla., a restored FEC station, but don't remember where, and this was decades ago.  Are there any sugar cane or logging RR restorations running?

Florida might not have developed the same way, but it probably would have developed without Flagler. Henry Plant was also putting together a rail system largely in the central and western part of Florida during the late 19th century that was adquired by the Atlantic Coast Line, and a number of other roads were also developing that ultimately ended up being acquired by the Seaboard.

 

Also Flagler wasn't the only Standard Oil railroad magnate.  H.H. Rogers built the Virginian in the early years of the 20th century, again largely with his own money and credit.

Great job guys! I see that most of you have great respect still for this great man who did much more than line his own pocket! He was bold enough to see a dream and go after it! Mike Maurice Much like us with our own individual layouts however small, you must have faced some small challenges within your own families, I know I did in mine!

The Whitehall "motel" in Palm Beach is now the home of the Henry Flagler museum.  It is open to the public and one of the exhibits is Henry Flagler's private Railcar No. 91.  And the Museum is a great place to take the spouse as there are plenty of exhibits that appeal to the ladies.  Here’s a link to their website: http://www.flaglermuseum.us/

 

The Breakers is nearby and is a famous Luxury Resort Hotel at which many industrial barons and celebrities spent their winters.  We used to have TCA meets there in the summer in the 1970’s when their prices were low (room rates around $40/night).  But their summer business has increased so they no longer offer such deals.   

 

The FEC thrives today as a freight railroad.  FEC Industries, another subsidiary of the same parent company, is behind the plans to build a privately-financed new passenger train from Miami to Orlando.  Called “All Aboard Florida”, it will use existing but upgraded FEC trackage from Miami to Cocoa, FL but getting the rights to build new trackage from Cocoa to Orlando is still under negotiation and could be a deal killer.  If that negotiation is successful, future plans include extensions to Jacksonville and Tampa.

 

Bill