In 1513, Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de Leon discovered St. Augustine, Fla., in his quest to find the fountain of youth. But it was the arrival of wealthy industrialist Henry M. Flagler in 1885 that put the city on the map. The co-founder of Standard Oil Co., Flagler was a visionary who saw “gold” in the wilds of Florida, and successfully mined the tropical landscape by building railroads and luxurious hotels during America’s Gilded Age.

Flagler’s ventures began in St. Augustine, where he built two magnificent hotels: the Ponce de Leon and Alcazar. Combining Spanish Renaissance and Moorish architectural elements, both hotels epitomized opulence and luxury.

Completed in 1887, the Hotel Alcazar featured an indoor swimming pool, Turkish and Russian baths, a bowling alley, and tennis courts. Throughout its more than 50 years in existence, the hotel played host to society’s elite.

In 1947, Otto C. Lightner, the publisher of Chicago-based “Hobbies” magazine, bought the Alcazar and transformed it into the Lightner Museum to house his collection of 19th-century art, antiques and collectibles. As the grand estates of the Gilded Age came on the market during the Great Depression, Lightner had acquired rooms of furnishings — everything from priceless European treasures to everyday household goods.

He had filled two mansions in Chicago with his purchases and was searching for a more appropriate venue to display his collection when he found the Alcazar. An admirer of Flagler, Lightner was taken with the hotel’s exquisite architecture and flamboyant past. Coincidentally, Lightner was born in the same year the Alcazar was built — a fact Lightner took as a prophetic sign.

Lightner opened the museum in 1949 and unfortunately died a year later. With no children from his two marriages to inherit it, he bequeathed the museum to the citizens of St. Augustine.

Robert W. Harper III, the museum’s executive director for the past 20 years, estimates that Lightner had amassed 10,000 to 15,000 pieces, which comprise the museum’s permanent collection. And like most museums, visitors only see the tip of the iceberg.
“We display what is the best or representative of the collection — and rotate our exhibits by drawing from our permanent collection,” Harper says. “We have drawers full of minute objects, such as thimbles, napkin rings and more.”

The Victorian Village on the first floor displays toys, jewelry, clothing, quilts and other objects. The second floor showcases paintings, art glass, porcelains, cut glass, an Oriental collection, and lamps and leaded-glass windows by Louis Comfort Tiffany. The third floor is reserved for dollhouses, coins, stamps, buttons and furniture. Visitors can also dine at Café Alcazar, which used to be the indoor swimming pool.

Many of the furnishings and art can be traced to some of Chicago’s most prominent families, including the Palmers, Armours and Blackstones. “The Potter Palmer family is the most famous associated with our collection,” Harper says. “Bertha, Potter’s wife, was an avid art collector and known for being a patron of the French Impressionists. She was also president of the Board of Lady Managers for the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893.”

As far as his favorite piece, Harper singles out the museum’s stunning malachite urn and pedestal. Lightner purchased the urn from a Chicago estate whose owners claimed it was from the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. “Supposedly, it was one of the objects brought to the world’s fair, but whether it came from the Hermitage has never really been proven. But it is definitely Russian and certainly palace quality.”
Recently, the museum completed an extensive renovation to restore the lobby to its past grandeur.

“It’s a grand new entrance that offers visitors a preview of what to expect inside,” Harper says. “The museum is really a national treasure, and we are often referred to as the ‘Florida Smithsonian.’ ”

Please call 904/824-2874 for more information, or visit www.lightnermuseum.org.m