Hotel Ponce de Leon


The Forbidden Fourth Floor

You are given the special privilege to view the forbidden area. This area was a ballroom during the hotel's service, the ballroom was used as a library when the school first opened and the rooms on this floor were also used as classrooms. These photos were taken by me during a special treat to the Flagler College student ambassadors on April 8, 2003. Enjoy this site, because I certainly did.
***If you are a sensitive historian or history student, you will be surprised with what you will see and I highly recommend having some tissues in handy.***

There are 36 images on this site, please be patient if it loads slowly, it'll be worth the wait!

History of the Hotel: In 1882, Henry Flagler, New York entrepreneur and cofounder of Standard Oil, became interested in the historic city of St. Augustine and its potential as a winter resort. Flagler's subsequent development of transportation and resort facilities in St. Augustine and along the east coast of Florida spurred rapid development in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A focal point of this development was Flagler's Hotel Ponce de León. In 1887 Flagler hired two young architects from the prominent New York firm, McKim, Mead, and White, to design the hotel. With the design of the Ponce de Leon, John Carrere and Thomas Hastings launched a new architectural firm, Carrere & Hastings, which would gain national prominence. Flagler chose the Spanish Renaissance Revival style so that the hotel's design would compliment its historic surroundings. Retained to decorate the interior of the hotel, Louis C. Tiffany used stained glass, mosaics and terra cotta relief on the walls and ceilings and commissioned several grand murals. The hotel was the first large scale building constructed entirely of poured concrete. The popularity of "the Ponce" and its style strongly influenced the architecture of southern Florida for the next fifty years. The success of the Hotel Ponce de Leon was episodic, immediately contending with a yellow fever epidemic and the worst freeze in state history in 1895. St. Augustine's weather proved not to be as warm and sunny as other resort areas that were developed further south along the peninila, and the town never boomed as a winter resort. However, toursits did come during the first decades of the 20th century, and the Ponce de Leon was one of only three Flagler Hotels to survive the Great Depression. Following a lull in tourism during World War II, the hotel attracted large crowds for several years, but decline resumed and in 1967 the hotel closed and was sold to Flagler College. It has been renovated and retains most of its original integrity.
Information courtesy of National Register of Historic Places

The hotel was also used as a Coast Guard training station during World War II.
The building got air conditioning systems in the summer of 2001.

For a virtual tour of the beautiful site of Flagler College, go to Ecampustours.com, register and then search for Flagler College.


Floor plan I drew of the area I got to see.
You can also refer to this drawing to give you a better understanding of where I was.


The spiral staircase outside the maintenance elavator, the second EL on the drawing.


John Rice, the kind maintenance worker who took us up to the fourth floor.


The floor of the rotunda, made of wood and painted. This is the unstable part of the fourth floor, which is why this area is blocked off. I have no idea what the paintings are of, but I'm guessing they may be zodiac signs.


The ceiling, original woodwork apparently.


John again. Note the pretty windows and original chairs behind him.


The furniture piled in this area. The mirror in the back left is an original piece from the hotel's era John said. There's a stamp on the back of this piece that indicated it was made for Ponce de Leon Hotel, along with a signature and a number. This is the only picture I do not have on this site because it is of poor quality, too blurry. Students also used some of this furniture when the school first opened.


View of the bay from the roof on the east side.


The east tower. The towers were used to hold water for the hotel.


Amber Jolly, Jen Tatem, Student Ambassador sponsor, and Melissa Martin on the roof.
Would have been a great picture had the wind not been blowing in Melissa's hair!


View of the rotunda roof.


Chimney.
Picture was taken after I changed film!


View of the courtyard from the roof. This is the best picture according to my friends.
In background, you can see Lightner Musuem, another Flagler hotel - Alcazar, and Flagler College's Auditorium and gym.


View of the east side roof with Casa Monica and Alcazar Hotels in background.


Side view of the east tower.

Room 405


Picture of Room 405's door just to prove I was there! =P
This room was the office for the school newspaper, The Gargoyle, during the 1970s.


Ambassadors in the room.


Some heating system I guess.


Really cool painting on the wall in this room. My first reaction was, "Wow! It's Lucy in the sky with diamonds!"


This picture was taken by my friend, Melissa Martin, she found it hilarious.
I forgot what was written on the wall, something like, "Jack be nimble. Jack be quick..."


Gargoyle bulletin board, dated 1976-1977. Names I could get from the photo, some are probably incorrect: Charee Laurent - editor, Mark Medders(?) - managing editor, Kenneth R. - ???, Michael E. Bell III - layout editor, Larry Polla - photography editor.

Room 407


Door of Room 407, one of the classrooms.


Light fixtures in this room.


View outside of Room 407's window of Kenan Hall, building that has majority of our classrooms, and the roof of the dining hall (circular portion).


Picture of the floor outside of Room 407.


Picture of the wall in the hallway.

The Bathroom


Mariusz Sosnowski looking in the bathroom.
Next photo is of the space in doorway on left.


Mainly junk in this space here.


Imagine a tub or toilet in this area where you can see the plumbing.


The bath door. Yes, it's upside down.


A lovely piece of furniture I wouldn't mind having!


Northwest view from the roof of Flagler College's library, Proctor Library, and the Memorial Presbyterian Church, which was built by Flagler as well.


Flagler College Student Ambassadors, Spring 2003


(L-R) Amie Perschnick, Amber Jolly, Amy Knight, Charles Anderstrom, Sarah Shipman, me in back, Melissa Martin, Rebecca Burrous, Lauren Hunt, Jen Tatem, Laura Mantell, Ariel Hernandez, Kristyrae Larson, Mariusz Sosnowski, and Nicole Hagedorn.


View of the window. Majority of the windows have red bricks around them, beautiful!


View of the rotunda.

Please email me if you have any questions or want more details.
If you are a 1970s Flagler Alumni, I'd love to hear from you!

MagBeatles@msn.com

My other pictures of St. Augustine, Florida:
Spring 2001 - Pictures during my spring break
St. Augustine - Mostly pictures of places taken during spring 2003