Ponce de Leon Hotel

Ponce de León Hotel
The Ponce de León Hotel, today Flagler College
Ponce de Leon Hotel is located in Florida
Ponce de Leon Hotel
Ponce de Leon Hotel is located in the United States
Ponce de Leon Hotel
Location74 King Street St. Augustine, Florida, US
Coordinates29°53′32″N 81°18′54″W / 29.89222°N 81.31500°W / 29.89222; -81.31500
Built1885–1887[2]
ArchitectJohn M. Carrere and Thomas Hastings[2]
Architectural styleSpanish Colonial Revival architecture[3]
NRHP reference No.75002067[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPMay 6, 1975
Designated NHLFebruary 17, 2006[4]
Designated NHLDCPApril 15, 1970

The Hotel Ponce de Leon, also known as The Ponce, was a luxury hotel in St. Augustine, Florida, built by millionaire developer and Standard Oil co-founder Henry M. Flagler. Built between 1885–1887, the winter resort opened in January 1888. The hotel was designed in the Spanish Colonial Revival style as the first major project of the New York architecture firm Carrère & Hastings, which gained world renown for more than 600 projects, including the House and Senate Office Buildings flanking the US Capitol. Their final project was the New York Public Library.[5][6]

The hotel is the first of its kind constructed entirely of poured concrete,[5] using the local coquina stone as aggregate. The hotel is one of the first buildings in the country wired for electricity from the onset, with the power being supplied by DC generators installed by Flagler's friend, Thomas Edison.

Since 1968, with the founding of Flagler College, the original building and grounds of the hotel serve as the centerpiece of the campus Flagler College.

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ^ a b Thomas Graham (October 1, 2014). Flagler's St. Augustine Hotels: The Ponce de Leon, the Alcazar, and the Casa Monica. Pineapple Press. pp. 36–38. ISBN 978-1-56164-753-8.
  3. ^ John M. Bryan; Fred L. Savage (April 7, 2005). Maine Cottages: Fred L. Savage and the Architecture of Mount Desert. Princeton Architectural Press. p. 168. ISBN 978-1-56898-317-2.
  4. ^ Hotel Ponce de Leon Archived May 2, 2009, at the Wayback Machine at National Historic Landmarks Program
  5. ^ a b "Florida Historic Places – Hotel Ponce de Leon". U.S. National Park Service. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
  6. ^ Keys, Leslee F. Hotel Ponce de Leon: The Rise, Fall, & Rebirth of Flagler's Gilded Age Palace, U Press of Florida, 2015.