HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Florida East Coast Railway History WikipediaThe Florida East Coast Railway (reporting mark FEC) is a Class II railroad operating in the U.S. state of Florida and since
2007 has been a subsidiary of Railroad Acquisition Holdings, LLC, itself a subsidiary of Fortress Investment Group, LLC.
The FEC was historically a Class I railroad owned by Florida East Coast Industries (FECI) from 2000-2006, FOXX Holdings
from 1983-2000, and the St. Joseph Paper Company prior to 1983.
Built primarily in the last quarter of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century, the FEC was a project of
Standard Oil principal Henry Morrison Flagler. Flagler originally visited Florida to aid with the health issues faced by his
first wife, Mary. A key strategist who worked closely with John D. Rockefeller building the Standard Oil Trust, Henry Flagler
noted both a lack of services and great potential during his stay at St. Augustine. He subsequently began what amounted
to his second career developing resorts, industries, and communities all along Florida's shores abutting the Atlantic Ocean.
The FEC is possibly best known for building the railroad to Key West, completed in 1912. When the FEC's line from the
mainland to Key West was heavily damaged by the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, the State of Florida purchased the
remaining right-of-way and bridges south of Dade County, and they were rebuilt into road bridges for vehicle traffic and
became known as the Overseas Highway. However, a greater and lasting Flagler legacy was the developments along
Florida's eastern coast.
During the Great Depression, control was purchased by heirs of the du Pont family. After 30 years of fragile financial
condition, the FEC, under leadership of a new president, Ed Ball, took on the labor unions. Ball claimed the company could
not afford the same costs as larger Class 1 railroads and needed to invest saved funds in its infrastructure, fast becoming a
safety issue. Using replacement workers, the company and some of its employees engaged in one of the longest and more
violent labor conflicts of the 20th century from 1963 until 1977. Ultimately, federal authorities had to intervene to stop
the violence, which included bombings, shootings and vandalism. However, the courts ruled in the FEC's favor with
regards to the right to employ strikebreakers. During this time, Ball invested heavily in numerous steps to improve its
physical plant, installed various forms of automation,was the first US Railroad to operate two man train crews, eliminate
cabooses and end all of its passenger services (which were unprofitable) by 1968.
In modern times, the company's primary rail revenues come from its intermodal and rock trains. Since 2007, it has been
owned by Fortress Investment Group,[citation needed] which acquired it for over US$3 billion (including non-rail assets).
Fortress previously owned conglomerate short line railroad operator RailAmerica, which for a time operated FEC but the
two companies never merged; Fortress no longer owns RailAmerica and RailAmerica no longer operates FEC. A former CSX
official, James Hertwig, was named as President and Chief Executive Officer of the company effective July 1, 2010.
History
Henry Flagler: Developing Florida's east coast
The Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) was developed by Henry Morrison Flagler, an American tycoon, real estate promoter,
railroad developer and John D. Rockefeller's partner in Standard Oil. Formed at Cleveland, Ohio as Rockefeller, Andrews &
Flagler in 1867, Standard Oil moved its headquarters in 1877 to New York City. Flagler and his family relocated there as
well. He was joined by Henry H. Rogers, another leader of Standard Oil who also became involved in the development of
America's railroads, including those on nearby Staten Island, the Union Pacific, and later in West Virginia, where he
eventually built the remarkable Virginian Railway to transport coal to Hampton Roads, Virginia.
Henry Flagler's non-Standard Oil interests went in a different direction, however, when in 1878, on the advice of his
physician, Flagler traveled to Jacksonville, Florida for the winter with his first wife, Mary, who was quite ill. Two years after
she died in 1881, he married Mary's former caregiver, Ida Alice Shourds. After their wedding, the couple traveled to St.
Augustine, Florida in 1883. Flagler found the city charming, but the hotel facilities and transportation systems inadequate.
He recognized Florida's potential to attract out-of-state visitors. Though Flagler remained on the Board of Directors of
Standard Oil, he gave up his day-to-day involvement in the firm in order to pursue his Florida interests.
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When Flagler returned to Florida, in 1885 he began building a grand St. Augustine hotel, the Ponce de León Hotel. Flagler
realized that the key to developing Florida was a solid transportation system, and consequently purchased the 3 ft
(914 mm) narrow gauge Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Halifax River Railway (JStA&HR) on December 31, 1885. He also
discovered that a major problem facing the existing Florida railway systems was that each operated on different gauge
systems, making interconnection impossible. He converted the line to 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge in 1890 and
the small operation was incorporated in 1892.
The earliest predecessor of the FEC was the narrow gauge St. John's Railway, incorporated in 1858, which constructed a
now-abandoned line between St. Augustine and Tocoi, a small settlement on the east bank of the St. Johns River, midway
between Palatka and Green Cove Springs. In 1883, Henry M. Flagler, now retired from Standard Oil, moved to St.
Augustine and built the previously mentioned Ponce de Leon and the Alcazar Hotels and purchased the Casa Monica, just
east of the Alcazar, changing the name to Cordova. The East Coast of Florida was relatively undeveloped at that time, and
Flagler found it difficult to obtain the construction materials he needed. His purchase of the JStA&HR Railway was
intended to make it faster and easier to supply his building projects.
The JStA&HR Railway served the northeastern portion of the state and was the first operation in the Flagler Railroad
system. Before Flagler bought the line, the railroad stretched only between South Jacksonville and St. Augustine and
lacked a depot sufficient to accommodate travelers to his St. Augustine resorts. Flagler built a modern depot facility as
well as schools, hospitals and churches, systematically revitalizing the largely abandoned historic city.
Flagler next purchased three additional existing railroads: the St. John's Railway, the St. Augustine and Palatka Railway,
and the St. Johns and Halifax River Railway so that he could provide extended rail service on standard gauge tracks.
Through the operation of these three railroads, by spring 1889 Flagler's system offered service from Jacksonville to
Daytona. Continuing to develop hotel facilities to entice northern tourists to visit Florida, Flagler bought and expanded the
Ormond Hotel, located along the railroad's route north of Daytona in Ormond Beach.
Beginning in 1892, when landowners south of Daytona petitioned him to extend the railroad 80 miles (130 km) south,
Flagler began laying new railroad tracks; no longer did he follow his traditional practice of purchasing existing railroads and
merging them into his growing rail system. Flagler obtained a charter from the state of Florida authorizing him to build a
railroad along the Indian River to Miami, and as the railroad progressed southward, cities such as New Smyrna and
Titusville began to develop along the tracks.
The Florida East Coast Railway depot in Sebastian. The structure was built in 1893.
By 1894, Flagler's railroad system reached what is today known as West Palm Beach. Flagler constructed the Royal
Poinciana Hotel in Palm Beach overlooking the Lake Worth Lagoon. He also built The Breakers Hotel on the ocean side of
Palm Beach, and Whitehall, his private 55-room, 60,000 square foot (5,600 m²) winter home. The development of these
three structures, coupled with railroad access to them, established Palm Beach as a winter resort for the wealthy
members of America's Gilded Age. Palm Beach was to be the terminus of the Flagler railroad, but during 1894 and 1895,
severe freezes hit all of Central Florida, whereas the Miami area remained unaffected, causing Flagler to rethink his
original decision not to move the railroad south of Palm Beach. The fable that Julia Tuttle, one of two main landowners in
the Miami area along with the Brickell family, sent orange blossoms to Flagler to prove to him that Miami, unlike the rest
of the state, was unaffected by the frost is untrue. The fact is that Mrs. Tuttle wired Mr. Flagler to advise him that "the
region around the shores of Biscayne Bay is untouched by the freezes." Mr. Flagler sent his two now famous in Florida
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history lieutenants, James E. Ingraham and Joseph R. Parrott to investigate and they brought boxes of truck (produce) and
citrus back to Mr. Flagler, who then wired Mrs. Tuttle, asking, "Madam, what is it that you propose?" To convince Flagler
to continue the railroad to Miami, both Julia Tuttle and William Brickell offered half of their holdings north and south of
the Miami River to Mr. Flagler. Mrs. Tuttle added 50 acres (200,000 m2) for shops and yards if Mr. Flagler would extend his
railroad to the shores of Biscayne Bay and build one of his great hotels. An agreement was made, contracts were signed,
and the rest, as it is said, is history. On September 7, 1895, the name of Flagler's system was changed from the
Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Indian River Railway Company to the Florida East Coast Railway Company and
incorporated.[1] On April 15, 1896, track reached Biscayne Bay, the site of present day downtown Miami. At the time, it
was a small settlement of less than 50 inhabitants. When the town incorporated, on July 28, 1896, its citizens wanted to
honor the man responsible for the city's development by naming it Flagler. He declined the honor, persuading them to
retain its old Indian name, Miami. The area was actually previously known as Fort Dallas after the fort built there in 1836
during the Second Seminole War. To further develop the area surrounding the Miami railroad station, Flagler dredged a
channel, built streets and The Royal Palm Hotel, instituted the first water and power systems, and financed the town's first
newspaper, the Metropolis. Flagler was a great visionary and he can be credited for the development of the entire east
coast of Florida. Yet he lacked vision on at least one issue: he felt that Miami would never be more than a fishing village.
As of 1904, Flagler started what everybody considered a folly: the extension of the FEC to Key West which would later be
known as the Overseas Railway, at the time considered the eighth wonder of the world and surely the most daring
infrastructure ever built exclusively with private funds. The first train—a construction engineers train—arrived in Key West
on January 21, 1912, while Mr. Flagler's special train and other passenger trains arrived the next day, January 22, 1912,
and that is considered the first day of service on the new route.
A 1913 print advertisement extols the many advantages of traveling on the Florida East Coast Railway, the "New Route to
the Panama Canal."
Constructing the Florida East Coast Railway[edit]
The railroad south of West Palm Beach was constructed in phases by the FEC and the predecessor systems. Flagler began
his railroad building in 1892. Under Florida's generous land-grant laws passed in 1893, 8,000 acres (3,200 ha) could be
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claimed from the state for every mile (1.6 km) built. Flagler would eventually claim a total in excess of two million acres
(8,000 km²) for building the FEC, and land development and trading would become one of his most profitable endeavors.
Before it became the FEC, the Jacksonville, St. Augustine & Indian River was constructing a line southwards from Daytona
Beach in 1894. Fort Pierce was reached on January 29, and West Palm Beach on March 22. Further extension southwards
did not begin until June 1895, when a favorable deal was signed with Miami-area business interests. Fort Lauderdale was
reached on March 3 of the following year. By April, the construction reached Biscayne Bay, the largest and most accessible
harbor on Florida's east coast. Flagler announced in 1904 that the FEC would be extended 128 miles (206 km) to Key West
over the ocean. However, in 1906, a powerful hurricane killed 135 of Flagler's workers.[2] The Over-the-Sea Extension was
completed in 1912, a mere 16 months prior to Flagler's death, at a cost of $50 million and lives of hundreds of workmen.
Key West Extension[edit]
Main article: Overseas Railroad
en route to Key West
Never one to rest on his laurels, Flagler next sought perhaps his greatest challenge: the extension of the Florida East Coast
Railway to Key West, a city of almost 20,000 inhabitants located 128 miles (206 km) beyond the end of the Florida
peninsula. Flagler became particularly interested in linking Key West to the mainland after the United States announced in
1905 the construction of the Panama Canal. Key West, the United States' closest deep-water port to the canal, could not
only take advantage of Cuban and Latin America trade, but the opening of the canal would allow significant trade
possibilities with the west.
The construction of the Overseas Railroad required many engineering innovations as well as vast amounts of labor and
monetary resources. At one time during construction, four thousand men were employed. During the seven-year
construction, three hurricanes threatened to halt the project.
Despite the hardships, the final link of the Florida East Coast Railway was completed in 1912. On January 22 of that year, a
proud Henry Flagler rode the first passenger train into Key West, marking the completion of the railroad's oversea
connection to Key West and the linkage by railway of the entire east coast of Florida.
One of the reasons Flagler built the Key West Extension was at the time of its conception, Key West was a major coaling
station for ship traffic between South America and New York. Flagler thought it would be profitable for coal to be brought
by railroad to Key West for coaling those ships. By the time the railroad was finished in 1912 though, range had been
extended on the ships to such a degree that Key West was no longer a stopover for coal.
FEC Through the Years[edit]
The Florida Overseas Railroad, also known as the "Key West Extension of the Florida East Coast Railway" was heavily
damaged and partially destroyed in the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935. The Florida East Coast Railway was financially unable
to rebuild the destroyed sections, so the roadbed and remaining bridges were sold to the state of Florida, which built the
Overseas Highway to Key West, using much of the remaining railway infrastructure. A rebuilt Overseas Highway (U.S.
Route 1) taking an alignment that closely follows the Overseas Railroad's original routing, continues to provide a highway
link to Key West, ending at the southernmost point in the continental United States.[3]
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The Stock Market Crash of 1929 and Great Depression were harsh on the FEC. The railroad declared bankruptcy and was in
receivership by September 1931, 18 years after Flagler's death. Bus service began to be substituted for trains on the
branches in 1932. Streamliners plied the rails between 1939 and 1963, including "The Champion" and "The Florida Special"
jointly operated with the Atlantic Coast Line. Adding to the woes was the Cuban embargo.
During the Great Depression Edward Ball, who controlled the Alfred I. duPont Testamentary Trust, bought a majority
ownership of FEC, buying its bonds on the open market, allowing the FEC to emerge from bankruptcy following protracted
litigation with a group of the company's other bondholders, led by S.A. Lynch and associated with the Atlantic Coast Line
which had proposed an alternate plan of reorganization. That same year, a labor contract negotiation turned sour. Ball
was determined to save the railroad from the bankruptcy that had continued for more than a decade. Ball was certain that
if the company didn't become profitable, the equipment and track would deteriorate to the point where some lines would
become unsafe or unusable and require partial abandonment.
Promotional excursions such as the Florida Special helped make the state the tourist destination it is today.
Ball fought ferociously for the company's right to engage in its own contract negotiations with the railroad unions rather
than accept an industry wide settlement that would traditionally contain featherbedding and wasteful work rules. This led
to a prolonged work stoppage by non-operating unions beginning January 23, 1963, and whose picket lines were honored
by the operating unions (the train crews).
Because the strike was by the non-operating unions, a Federal judge ordered the railroad to continue observing their work
rules, while the railroad was free to change the work rules for the operating unions, who were technically not on strike
and thus had no standing in the federal court regarding the strike.
Ball's use of replacement workers to keep the railroad running during the strike led to violence by strikers that included
shootings and bombings. Eventually, federal intervention helped quell the violence, and the railroad's right to operate
during the strike with replacement workers was affirmed by the United States Supreme Court. As the strike continued, the
FEC took numerous steps to improve its physical plant, installed various forms of automation, and drastically cut labor
costs. Most of the nation's other railroads did not match these achievements for several years; some still had not as of
2010.[4]
Passenger service became an issue in Florida during the early years of the labor strike, which essentially lasted 14 years,
from 1963 to 1977. At the insistence of the City of Miami – which had long fought to get rid of the tracks in the downtown
section just north of the county courthouse – Miami's wooden-constructed downtown passenger terminal was
demolished by November 1963.[5] Although a new station was planned at NE 36th Street and NE 2nd Avenue,[6] it was
never built. Further, while freight trains were operated with non-union and supervisory crews, passenger runs were not
reinstated until August 2, 1965, after the City of Miami sued and the Florida courts ruled that the FEC corporate charter
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required both coach and first class passenger services to be offered. In response, FEC sold "parlour car seating" for first
class accommodations in the rear lounge section of a tavern-lounge-observation car. This new state-mandated passenger
service consisted of a single diesel locomotive and two streamlined passenger cars, which, in addition to the operating
crew, were staffed by a passenger service agent and a coach attendant, who were "non-operating." The mini-streamliner
operated all of the way across three previously observed crew districts (Jacksonville to New Smyrna Beach to Fort Pierce
to Miami). Following the letter of the law, the train carried no baggage, remains, mail or express; honoured no inter-line
tickets or passes; and the only food service was a box lunch (at Cocoa-Rockledge in 1966). On-board beverage service was
limited to soft drinks and coffee. Without a station in Miami, the 1950s era station in North Miami became the southern
terminus. The service operated six days a week until it was finally discontinued on July 31, 1968.
Later, after 23 years under Ball, Raymond Wyckoff took the helm on May 30, 1984. In March 2005, Robert Anestis stepped
down as CEO of Florida East Coast Industries after a 4-year stint, allowing Adolfo Henriquez to assume that position, with
John D. McPherson, a long-time railroad man, continuing as president of the railway itself. By this time, the railroad had
long since made peace with its workers.
In late 2007, in a move surprising to many employees and railroad industry observers alike, the FEC was purchased by the
principal investors who also control short line railroad operator RailAmerica. John Giles was named chairman, and David
Rohal was named president. Both men were also principals with major responsibilities at RailAmerica as well, although the
ownership of FEC and RailAmerica were not linked corporately, and the spinoff of RailAmerica as a publicly traded
company did not include FEC.
In May, 2010, James Hertwig was named as President and Chief Executive Officer of the company effective July 1, 2010.
Hertwig had recently retired from CSX, most recently having served a president of CSX Intermodal, one of CSX's major
operating units.[7]
FEC in modern times[edit]
Old office buildings in St. Augustine
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Florida East Coast Railway #1594 at Gold Coast Railroad Museum
Routing[edit]
The Florida East Coast Railway operates from its relocated headquarters in Jacksonville after selling the original General
Office Building in St. Augustine to Flagler College in late 2006. Its trains run over nearly the same route developed by
Henry Flagler; notably, the Moultrie Cutoff was built in 1925 to shorten the distance south of St. Augustine.
Modern operations
The FEC operations today are dominated by "intermodal" trains and unit rock (limestone) trains. Passenger service was
discontinued in 1968 after labor unrest that resulted in considerable incidents of violence.
The company's major income-earning sources are its rock trains, transporting primarily limestone, and intermodal trains.
FEC freight trains operate on precise schedules. Trains are not held for missed connections or late loadings. Most of the
trains are paired so that they leave simultaneously from their starting points and meet halfway through the run and swap
crews, so they are back home at the end of their runs. The FEC pioneered operation with 2 man crews with no crew
districts, which they were able to start doing after the 1963 strike. The entire railroad adopted positive train control (PTC)
after a fatal 1987 collision caused by a crew not obeying signaling. (PTC is a safety feature long-sought by federal safety
officials for all railroads).
FEC has what is called by some a "prime" railroad right-of-way. The heavy weight of the rock trains required very good
trackage and bridges. The railroad has mostly 133 pound-per-yard (66 kg/m) continuous-welded rail attached to concrete
ties, which sits on a high quality granite roadbed. The entire railroad is controlled by centralized traffic control with
constant radio communication. Because the railroad has only minor grades, it takes very little horsepower to pull very long
trains at speed. 60 mph (97 km/h) trains are a normal FEC operating standard.
Passenger service
The FEC was already in the freight-business only when Amtrak was created and assumed passenger operations of many
other U.S. railroads in 1971. Periodically, there has been speculation that the southern end of the FEC line may be used for
7
a commuter rail service to complement the existing Tri-Rail line (which follows former CSX tracks). There have also been
some discussion about Amtrak or the State of Florida using FEC lines for a more direct route between Jacksonville and
Miami. In March 2012 the FEC proposed a privately owned and operated service along its route named All Aboard Florida.
In 2014 the very first beginnings of All Aboard Florida commenced with studies and actual construction of the first phase.
Rock trains
A lifeblood of the FEC is its transportation of high-grade limestone, which is used in the formulation for concrete and other
construction purposes. The limestone is quarried near Miami in the "Lake Belt" area of Dade County and Broward County
just west of Hialeah. The rock trains come out of the FEC yard at Medley in Miami-Dade County and the southern end of
the FEC service area. Shipments currently are principally for materials dealers Titan and Rinker.
Rinker has since been sold and is now part of the multi-national Cemex. Rock train traffic dropped dramatically in 2008
with the elimination of all but one dedicated rock train. Other rock loads are now added onto other regular trains. The
only rock train left, called the "unit train" operates between Miami and City Point.
Intermodal services
The intermodal traffic includes interchanged shipments with CSX and Norfolk Southern, participation in EMP container
service operated by UP and Norfolk Southern, United Parcel Service (UPS) piggyback trailers, trailers going to the Wal-Mart
distribution center at Fort Pierce, and intermodal shipping container traffic through the ports of Miami, Port Everglades
(adjacent to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and the principal source of imports), Port of Palm Beach/Lake Worth Inlet, and Port
Canaveral.
Additionally FEC offers "Hurricane Service" offering trucking companies the opportunity of having their trailers
piggybacked out of Jacksonville to save the expensive cost of back-hauling empty trailers.
Starting in 2012 the FEC began an aggressive project to re open direct rail service to the ports of Miami, and Port
Everglades. This is in anticipation of the expansion of the Panama Canal and the expected increase of intermodal traffic. In
2013 the drawbridge at the Miami was repaired and reactivated and trains began to roll. In 2014 a new container shuttle
was put into operation between Hialeah Yard and the Miami. Also in 2014, the new rail lines into Port Everglades were
opened allowing direct access of FEC trains into the port. Further a new transfer facility in Hialeah Yard will add additional
intermodal transfer between trains, trucks and planes. This facility will open by 2015. Additional capacity improvements
are planned at other ports as well as the FEC's mainline.
Manifest, other freight[edit]
Produce being loaded into FEC refrigerated cars in the 1950s.
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The FEC also hauls normal "manifest" freight to and from points along its right of way. These cars are hauled on whatever
train is going that way, so intermodal and rock trains routinely have some manifest cars in their consists.
Additionally, the FEC currently transports Tropicana Products "Juice Train" cars to and from one of the company's
processing facilities located on the "K" Line. The Juice Train concept was developed by Tropicana founder Anthony T. Rossi
in conjunction with Seaboard Coast Line Railroad (a CSX predecessor) beginning in 1970.
Motive power
The FEC completed its "second generation" dieselisation with the purchase of 49 GP40s and GP40-2s and 11 GP38-2s,
ranging in the 400's. Most of these locomotives have been extensively rebuilt with others being retired. In 2002, the FEC
acquired 20 ex-UP SD40-2s, which were numbered in 700's. These ex UP locomotives remained in UP colors with FEC
markings, however as of 2014 seven of them have been repainted into the "retro" Champion scheme. In 2006 The FEC
leased four SD70M-2's numbered in the 100 series (100-103) in the Alaskan Railroad scheme. In 2009 when RailAmerica
came into the picture, they had added for more SD70M-2's (104-107) in the Red, Pearl & Blue scheme which was the
standard RailAmerica scheme. This brought the total SD70M-2 count to eight. Seeking further power improvements in
2009, the FEC leased three CITX SD70M-2's making the count now of 11 of the big EMD's. These locomotives were
numbered 140, 141 and 142, all are big blue and white striped units. The GP38-2s are used principally for yard and road
switching as well as the occasional local. The others are used as available in road service. Some test runs have been made
to observe the effect on fuel consumption of dynamic braking and combinations of new and old power. In 2014 it was
announced that the railway would purchase 24 GE ES44C4's the first GE power to be owned by the railway. These
locomotives will replace the SD70M-2's which will be returned after their lease is up and sideline other EMD's in road
service. All of the GE's are expected to be delivered by the end of 2014 with the first arrivals in expected in the fall. Further
the railway will experiment with LNG fuel help with costs and efficiency.
LinesMain line
Florida East Coast Railway
Route map
Legend
Dist. Station
0 m
0 km
Jacksonville
St. Johns River / FEC Strauss
Trunnion Bascule Bridge
South Jacksonville
7 mi
11 km
Bowden Yard
Greenland
Bayard
Durbin
37 m
60 km
St. Augustine, Florida
[expand]Moultrie Cutoff
College Par
9
54 m
87 km
61 m
98 km
87 m
140
km
Bunnell
Favorita
104
mi
167
km
Ormond Beach
110
mi
177
km
Daytona Beach
Port Orange
124
mi
200
km
New Smyrna Beach
135
mi
217
km
New Smyrna Beach
Edgewater
Oak Hill
Scottsmoor
Wiley
154
mi
248
km
Titusville
Indian River City
Frontenac
Sharpes
City Point
10
169
mi
272
km
Cocoa-City Point
173
mi
278
km
Cocoa
174
mi
280
km
Cocoa-Rockledge
190
mi
306
km
Eau Gallie
194
mi
312
km
Melbourne
Palm Bay
Malabar
Grant
Micco
Roseland
Sebastian
Wabasso
Winter Beach
Gifford
228
mi
367
km
Vero Beach
Oslo
Viking
Indrio
St. Lucie
242
mi
389
km
Fort Pierce
White City
Walton
Jensen Beach
261
mi
420
km
Stuart
Port Sewall
11
Salerno
Gomez
275
mi
443
km
Hobe Sound
Jupiter
Monet
Lake Park
Riviera Beach
297
mi
478
km
West Palm Beach
299
mi
481
km
West Palm Beach
306
mi
492
km
Lake Worth
Hypoluxo
Boynton Beach
317
mi
510
km
Delray Beach
325
mi
523
km
Boca Raton
Deerfield Beach
333
mi
536
km
Pompano Beach
Oakland Park
341
mi
549
km
Fort Lauderdale
Dania
346
mi
557
km
Hollywood
Hallandale
Ojus
12
North Miami Beach
346
mi
557
km
North Miami
Little River
365
mi
587
km
Hileah
PortMiami
366
mi
589
km
MiamiGovernment Center
[expand]Key West Extension
Coconu
Grove
Key West
This route map:
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• view
• talk
• edit
Historical listing of main line stations (north to south)
Historical marker
Historical marker
• Lyrata
• Scottsmoor
• East Aurantia
• Jones Post Office or East Mims
• Titusville (Enterprise Branch begins)
• Indian River City
• Pritchards
14
• Frontenac
• Hardeeville
• Fuastina
• Sharpes
• City Point
• Cocoa
• Rockledge
• Rockledge Hotels (spur across Indian River)
• Coquina
• Bonaventure
• Pineda
• Bahia
• Horse Creek
• Eau Gallie
• Military Park (Station at the Kentucky Military Institute)
• Sarno
• Melbourne
• Tillman (now Palm Bay)
• Malabar
• Valkaria
• Grant
• Micco
• Roseland
• Sebastian
• Wabasso
• Winter Beach
• Gifford
• Vero Railroad Station, now Vero Beach, extant
• Viking
• Indrio
• St. Lucie
• Fort Pierce
• White City
• Walton
• Jensen (now Jensen Beach), demolished
• Rio, demolished
• Stuart, demolished
• Port Sewall, demolished
• Salerno, now Port Salerno, demolished
• Gomez, demolished
• Hobe Sound, moved to a grove on Bridge Road west of Hobe Sound and still extant (Land purchased and
developed into the Hobe Sound Polo Club and the old station now serves as the grounds office)
• Jupiter, built 1914, later moved to 479 Seabrook Road, Tequesta to be used as a house. Now facing demolition.[15]
• Monet (now Palm Beach Gardens)
• Kelsey City (now Lake Park)
• Riviera
• West Palm Beach
• Lake Worth
• Hypoluxo
• Boynton
• Delray Beach
15
• Yamato
• Boca Raton Florida East Coast Railway Station, extant
• Deerfield
• Pompano
• Oakland Park
• Fort Lauderdale
• Dania
• Hollywood
• Hallandale
• North Miami Beach
• North Miami
• Little River/ El Portal/ Miami Shores
• Miami
Bypass around Miami[edit]
Kissimmee Valley Line and cutoff (K-Branch)[edit]
FEC Kissimmee Valley Extension Map
Stations (north to south)
• Maytown
• Osceola
• Geneva
• Chuluota
• Bithlo
• Pocataw
• Wewahotee
• Narcoossee
• Salofka
• Tohopkee ( Mail service terminated 1927 )
• Holopaw
• Illahaw ( Mail service terminated 1935 )
• Nittaw ( Mail service terminated 1935 )
• Kenansville
Kenansville Branch (East)[edit]
• Apoxsee
• Lokosee
• Yeehaw
• Osawa
• Fort Drum Depot
• Hilo (Currently known as Hilolo)
• Efal
• Opal
• Okeechobee
Kenansville Branch (West)[edit]
16
• Armstrong
• Pine Island
• Halsey
• Greely
• Bassinger
South of Holopaw, the line roughly parallels US 441.
Palm Beach Branch[edit]
Fellsmere Branch[edit]
See http://www.taplines.net/tfc/tfc01.html for the story of the Fellsmere Branch.
Lake Harbor Branch[edit]
The Lake Harbor Branch runs from Fort Pierce in St. Lucie County to Lake Harbor in Palm Beach County. Also known as the
"K" branch. It is now partially owned by other short lines. It basically serves the sugar farms in Palm Beach and Hendry
Counties.
Enterprise Branch[edit]
The Enterprise Branch (E-branch) was built in 1885 by the Atlantic Coast, St. Johns and Indian River Railroad and leased to
the Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West Railroad, part of the Plant System. Initially, the westernmost five miles (8 km)
served as a connection from Enterprise Junction to Enterprise, a port for steamboat traffic down the St. Johns River. Later,
the line was built through Osteen, Kalamazoo, and Mims to Titusville. The Enterprise Branch also crossed the Kissimmee
Valley Branch at a location known as Maytown.
FEC Railway crossing at Maytown, Florida
A steam locomotive pulled the first train over the line onto the wharf on the Indian River at Titusville on the afternoon of
December 30, 1885, and greatly accelerated the transportation of passengers, produce, seafood, and supplies to and from
central Florida. While Titusville thrived thanks to this new transportation connection, Enterprise lost stature as a
steamboat port, since Henry Plant's railroad paralleled the St. Johns River and greatly reduced travel times to Jacksonville.
During the winter of 1894–95, a widespread freeze hit twice, decimating the citrus crop and ruining that part of Florida's
economy. This allowed Henry Flagler to acquire the line at a discount to piece together what became the Florida East
Coast Railway.
The track of the E-branch at one time had been uprooted as far as Aurantia, about five miles (8 km) northwest of Mims,
ending directly under the Interstate 95 overpass and has been abandoned. The crossing gates and signals were removed
17
before the summer 2004 hurricanes and the track is being removed by a steel salvage company. As of 2008 the track has
been completely removed up to the connection with the current FEC mainline in Titusville.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection took ownership of the rail bed on December 31, 2007. The corridor
will become Florida's longest rails-to-trails project.[16][17] This rail line would have been suited to recreational railroad use
by such groups as the North American Rail Passenger Car Owners' Association assuming a representative who is local to
the area could have been located.
Atlantic and Western Branch[edit]
This branch, from Blue Spring on the St. Johns River via Orange City to the main line in New Smyrna Beach, was built by the
Blue Spring, Orange City and Atlantic Railroad. In the mid-1880s it became the Atlantic and Western Branch of the
Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Indian River Railway, which changed its name to the Florida East Coast Railway in 1895. It
may have been the Atlantic and Western Railroad in between. The line was in use until 1930.
Tocoi Branch[edit]
The railroad from Tocoi to Tocoi Junction, outside St. Augustine, was built by the St. Johns Railway. The Jacksonville, St.
Augustine and Indian River Railway took it over by 1894, and changed its name to the Florida East Coast Railway in 1895.
The line was abandoned by 1917; it was later used for SR 95, which became SR 214 at some time after the 1945 Florida
State Road renumbering, and is now CR 214.
Moultrie Cutoff[edit]
The almost arrow-straight Moultrie Cutoff was built in 1925 to cut the distance on the main line, avoiding the swing inland
to East Palatka. It runs from just north of Bunnell to Moultrie Junction in St. Augustine. In 2005 the entire route had its
mileposts redone to match the rest on the main line.
Flagler Beach Branch[edit]
The railroad from Flagler Beach to Dorena, north of Bunnell, was built by the Lehigh Portland Cement Company in 1953.
The line connected to the Lehigh Portland Cement Company Plant located near Flagler Beach. The line was abandoned in
1963, after a deadly strike erupted in that year that closed the massive plant. The site of the old plant was where some of
the monorail beams were assembled for Walt Disney World in the early 1970s. The route is now part of the rails to trails
system. The plant has been demolished outside of one smokestack that will become a "lighthouse" for a new
development. Some remains of the yard can be found in the woods near the eastern end of the current Lehigh rail trail.
Palatka Branch[edit]
The railroad from Palatka to Moultrie Junction, outside St. Augustine, was built by the Jacksonville, St. Augustine and
Halifax River Railway. The Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Indian River Railway took it over by 1894, and changed its name
to the Florida East Coast Railway in 1895. The line was the main route until the construction of the Moultrie Cutoff in
1925. it was later abandoned in 1988 and all rail was removed to a point just west of I-95. In 2001 rail service resumed up
to this point and track was rehabilitated when new industries were located there. A daily local serves the eastern end of
the line today known as the Wilber Wright Industrial Lead.
Mayport Branch[edit]
This was originally built by the Jacksonville and Atlantic Railroad, a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge line from Jacksonville to
Pablo Beach (now Jacksonville Beach). In late 1899 it was bought by Henry Flagler, who had the line converted to
18
4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge and extended it north along the coast to Mayport. The new branch opened in
March 1900 and was abandoned in October 1932.
Family tree[edit]
This transport-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
• Florida East Coast Railway formed September 13, 1895, as a renaming of the Jacksonville, St. Augustine and
Indian River Railroad; still exists
• Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Indian River Railroad - formed October 6, 1892, as a renaming of the FC&G;
renamed the Florida East Coast Railway September 13, 1895
o Florida Coast and Gulf Railway - formed May 28, 1892; renamed the Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Indian
River Railroad October 6, 1892
o Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Halifax River Railway - formed February 28, 1881, as a renaming of the
Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Halifax River Railroad; merged with the Jacksonville, St. Augustine and
Indian River Railroad October 31, 1892
Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Halifax River Railroad - formed March 1879; renamed the
Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Halifax River Railway February 28, 1881
o St. Augustine and Palatka Railway - formed September 1, 1885; merged with the Jacksonville, St.
Augustine and Indian River Railroad 1893
Notes
1. Jump up ^ Florida Trend: September 1, 2008-Florida Companies With Promise by Amy Keller
2. Jump up ^ "Monthly Weather Review". American Meteorological Society. National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration. 1906. pp. 479–480. Retrieved 2011-10-11.
3. Jump up ^ http://overseasrailroad.railfan.net/today.htm
4. Jump up ^ Florida Times-Union: February 21, 1999-A powerful man craved little but gave a lot by
Raymond Mason
5. Jump up ^ Howe, Ward Allan (Nov 3, 1963). "THE FLORIDA RUN: Railroads Anticipating a Busy Winter—
New Schedule Effective Dec. 13". New York Times. p. XX13. Retrieved 2011-03-29.
6. Jump up ^ Einstein, Paul (Sep 23, 1963). "It's Coming Down This Week!". The Miami News. p. 2A. Retrieved
2011-03-29.
7. Jump up ^ "Hertwig named Florida East Coast Railway CEO". Historiccity.com. 2010-05-28. Retrieved
2012-05-15.
8. ^ Jump up to: a b c BusinessWeek magazine: Company Profiles-Florida East Coast Industries, Inc.
9. Jump up ^ "FEC 143". Rrpicturearchives.net. Retrieved 2012-05-15.
10. Jump up ^ "FEC taps GE Transportation for 24 locomotives". Railway Age. Retrieved 2014-01-31.
11. Jump up ^ Association of American Railroads (reprinted by Norfolk Southern Railway) (2006-05-16).
"Railroads Set Another Employee Safety Record in 2005". Archived from the original on 2007-02-13.
Retrieved 2006-05-24.
12. Jump up ^ Barton, Susanna: [1] Jacksonville Business Journal, December 5, 2000 - Peyton joins FECI board
13. Jump up ^ "Florida East Coast Industries to Be Acquired By Funds Managed By Fortress Investment Group
LLC in an All-Cash Transaction Valued at $3.5 Billion" (Press release). Florida East Coast Industries. 2007-
05-08. Retrieved 2007-05-11.
14. ^ Jump up to: a b Basch, Mark: [2] Florida Times-Union, July 21, 2008 - FEC rolling along after buyout
15. Jump up ^ Wagner, Jody, Palm Beach Post, Tequesta gives groups time to try to save old Flagler train
depot
16. Jump up ^ Topic Galleries - OrlandoSentinel.com
17. Jump up ^ Florida Department of Environmental Protection: January 3, 2008-State Takes Ownership of
Longest Rail-Trail in Florida
19
Bibliography
• Bramson, Seth H. (2002). Speedway to Sunshine: The Story of the Florida East Coast Railway. Boston Mills Press,
Boston, MA. ISBN 1-55046-358-6.
• Standiford, Les (2002). Last Train to Paradise. Crown Publishers, New York, NY. ISBN 0-609-60748-0.
• Rand McNally Map — 1917 showing Western Kissimmee Valley Branch
• Biscayne Times: Waiting for the Train (Jan. 2009)
• Florida East Coast Railway Website
• http://www.sethbramsonbooks.com (Includes three books on FEC, many local histories and history of the Plant
System)
• Flagler Museum - History of the Florida East Coast Railway
• Florida East Coast Railway Society
• Winchester, Clarence, ed. (1936), "Out to sea by train", Railway Wonders of the World, pp. 109–114 account of the
Florida East Coast Railway Key West Extension
Henry Morrison Flagler (January 2, 1830 – May 20, 1913) was an American industrialist and a founder of Standard Oil. He
was also a key figure in the development of the Atlantic coast of Florida and founder of what became the Florida East
Coast Railway. He is known as the father of Miami, Florida, and founded the city of Palm Beach.[2]
Upbringing and education
Henry Morrison Flagler was born in Hopewell, New York, the son of Isaac Flagler, a Presbyterian minister, and Elizabeth
Caldwell Morrison Harkness Flagler. Henry had a step-brother: future tycoon Stephen V. Harkness, who had become
Elizabeth's stepson when she married David Harkness of Milan, Ohio; and a half-brother Daniel M. Harkness, Elizabeth's
own son with David.[3] Widowed by David's death, Elizabeth had brought her family back to upstate New York and there
married Isaac Flagler.
Henry Flagler received an eighth-grade education before Daniel convinced him to leave home at 14 to work at Daniel's
uncle's store, Lamon G. Harkness and Company, in Republic, Ohio, at a salary of US$5 per month plus room and board. By
1849, Flagler was promoted to the sales staff at a salary of $400 per month. He later joined Daniel in a grain business
started with Lamon in Bellevue, Ohio. In 1862, Flagler and his brother-in-law Barney York founded the Flagler and York Salt
Company, a salt mining and production business in Saginaw, Michigan. The company collapsed when the American Civil
War undercut demand for salt, and Flagler returned to Bellevue having lost his initial $50,000 investment and an
additional $50,000 he borrowed from his father-in-law and Daniel. Flagler felt he had learned a valuable lesson: invest in a
business only after thorough investigation.[4]
Business and Standard Oil[edit]
20
Henry Flagler, c. 1882
Flaglers Gingerbread house in Bellevue, OH
After the failure of his salt business in Saginaw, Flagler returned to Bellevue and reentered the grain business as a
commission merchant with The Harkness Grain Company. Through this business, Flagler became acquainted with John D.
Rockefeller, who worked as a commission agent with Hewitt and Tuttle for the Harkness Grain Company. By the mid-
1860s, Cleveland had become the center of the oil refining industry in America and Rockefeller left the grain business to
start his own oil refinery. Rockefeller worked in association with chemist and inventor Samuel Andrews.
Standard Oil Articles of Incorporation signed by John D. Rockefeller, Henry M. Flagler, Samuel Andrews, Stephen V.
Harkness and William Rockefeller
Needing capital for his new venture, Rockefeller approached Flagler in 1867. Flagler obtained $100,000 (equivalent of $1.7
million in 2013) from family member Stephen V. Harkness on the condition that Flagler be made a partner. The
Rockefeller, Andrews & Flagler partnership was formed with Flagler in control of Harkness' interest.[5] The partnership
eventually grew into the Standard Oil Corporation. It was Flagler's idea to use the rebate system to strengthen the firm's
position against competitors and the transporting enterprises alike. Though the refunds issued amounted to no more than
fifteen cents on the dollar, they put Standard Oil in position to outcompete other oil refineries.[6] By 1872, it led the
21
American oil refining industry, producing 10,000 barrels per day (1,600 m3/d). The Flagler family moved to New York in
1877 since New York was becoming the center of commerce in the US. In 1885, Standard Oil moved its corporate
headquarters to New York City to the iconic 26 Broadway location .
Standard Oil had the same principal owners that Rockefeller, Andrews and Flagler had, give or take a few business
associates: one of whom was John D. Rockefeller's brother, William.[7] Standard Oil monopolized quickly and took America
by storm.[8] Although Standard Oil was a partnership, Flagler was credited as the brain behind the booming oil refining
business. According to Edwin Lefevre, in "Flagler and Florida" from Everybody's Magazine, XXII (February, 1910) p. 183,
"When John D. Rockefeller was asked if the Standard Oil company was the result of his thinking, he answered, "No, sir. I
wish I had the brains to think of it. It was Henry M. Flagler."[9]
Henry Flagler dabbled in various businesses aside from building up infrastructure in Florida. When he envisioned successes
in the oil industry, he and Rockefeller started building their fortune in refining oil in Cleveland, Ohio. Cleveland became
very well known for oil refining, as, "More and more crude oil was shipped from the oil regions to Cleveland for the
refining process because of transportation facilities and the aggressiveness of the refiners there. It was due largely to the
efforts of Henry M. Flagler and John D. Rockefeller."[10] Flagler and Rockefeller worked hard for their company to achieve
such prominence. Henry explained: "We worked night and day, making good oil as cheaply as possible and selling it for all
we could get."[11] Not only did Flagler and Rockefeller's Standard Oil company become well known in Ohio, they expanded
to other states, as well as gained additional capital in purchasing smaller oil refining companies across the nation.[11]
According to Allan Nevins, in John D. Rockefeller (p 292), "Standard Oil was born as a big enterprise, it had cut its teeth as a
partnership and was now ready to plunge forward into a period of greater expansion and development. It soon was doing
one tenth of all the petroleum business in the United States. Besides its two refineries and a barrel plant in Cleveland, it
possessed a fleet of tank cars and warehouses in the oil regions as well as warehouses and tanks in New York."[12]
By 1892, Standard Oil had a monopoly over all oil refineries in the United States. In an overall calculation of America's oil
refineries' assets and capital, Standard Oil surpassed all.[13] Standard Oil's combined assets equalled approximately
$42,882,650.00 (U.S) from: Indiana, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York and Ohio. As well as the highest capitalization,
totaling $26,000,000 (U.S).[13] The history of American oil refining begins with Henry Morrison Flagler, and his business
associate and friend, John D. Rockefeller, as they built the biggest, most prosperous and monopolizing oil empire of their
time: Standard Oil.
Florida: resort hotels and railroads
On the advice of his physician, Flagler traveled to Jacksonville for the winter with his first wife, Mary (née Harkness)
Flagler, who was quite ill. Two years after she died in 1881, he married again. Ida Alice (née Shourds) Flagler had been a
caregiver for Mary Flagler. After their wedding, the couple traveled to Saint Augustine. Flagler found the city charming, but
the hotel facilities and transportation systems inadequate. Franklin W. Smith had just finished building Villa Zorayda and
Flagler offered to buy it for his honeymoon. Smith would not sell, but he planted the seed of St. Augustine's and Florida's
future in Flagler's mind.[14]
Although Flagler remained on the board of directors of Standard Oil, he gave up his day-to-day involvement in the
corporation to pursue his interests in Florida. He returned to St. Augustine in 1885 and made Smith an offer. If Smith could
raise $50,000, Flagler would invest $150,000 and they would build an hotel together. Perhaps fortunately for Smith, he
couldn't come up with the funds,[15] so Flagler began construction of the 540-room Ponce de León Hotel by himself, but
spent several times his original estimate. Smith helped train the masons on the mixing and pouring techniques he used on
Zorayda.[16]
22
Florida East Coast Railway, Key West Extension, express train at sea, crossing Long Key Viaduct, Florida. photo from Florida
Photographic Collection
Realizing the need for a sound transportation system to support his hotel ventures, Flagler purchased short line railroads
in what would later become known as the Florida East Coast Railway.
The Ponce de León Hotel, now part of Flagler College, opened on January 10, 1888 and was an instant success.
Ponce de Leon Hotel - Now Flagler College
This project sparked Flagler's interest in creating a new "American Riviera." Two years later, Flagler expanded his Florida
holdings. He built a railroad bridge across the St. Johns River to gain access to the southern half of the state and purchased
the Hotel Ormond, just north of Daytona. He also built the Alcazar hotel as an overflow hotel for the Ponce de León Hotel.
The Alcazar stands today as the Lightner Museum next to the Casa Monica Hotel in St. Augustine that Flager bought from
Franklin W. Smith. His personal dedication to the state of Florida was demonstrated when he began construction on his
private residence, Kirkside, in St. Augustine.
Flagler completed the 1,100-room Royal Poinciana Hotel on the shores of Lake Worth in Palm Beach and extended his
railroad to its service town, West Palm Beach, by 1894, founding Palm Beach and West Palm Beach.[2] The Royal Poinciana
Hotel was at the time the largest wooden structure in the world. Two years later, Flagler built the Palm Beach Inn
(renamed Breakers Hotel Complex in 1901) overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in Palm Beach.
Flagler originally intended West Palm Beach to be the terminus of his railroad system, but in 1894 and 1895, severe
freezes hit the area, causing Flagler to rethink his original decision. Sixty miles south, the town today known as Miami was
reportedly unharmed by the freeze. To further convince Flagler to continue the railroad to Miami, he was offered land in
exchange for laying rail tracks from private landowners, the Florida East Coast Canal and Transportation Company, and the
Boston and Florida Atlantic Coast Land Company. The land owners were Julia Tuttle, whom he had met in Cleveland, Ohio
and William Brickell who ran a trading post on the Miami River.
23
Such incentive led to the development of Miami, which was an unincorporated area at the time. Flagler encouraged fruit
farming and settlement along his railway line and made many gifts to build hospitals, churches, and schools in Florida.
Flagler's railroad, the Florida East Coast Railway, reached Biscayne Bay by 1896. Flagler dredged a channel, built streets,
instituted the first water and power systems, and financed the city's first newspaper, The Metropolis. When the city was
incorporated in 1896, its citizens wanted to honor the man responsible for its growth by naming it "Flagler". He declined
the honor, persuading them to use an old Indian name, "Mayaimi". However, an artificial island was constructed in
Biscayne Bay called Flagler Monument Island to honor Flagler. In 1897, Flagler opened the exclusive Royal Palm Hotel
there. He became known as the Father of Miami, Florida.
Flagler's second wife, the former Ida Alice Shourds, had been institutionalized for mental illness since 1895. In 1901,
Flagler successfully persuaded the Florida Legislature to pass a law that made incurable insanity grounds for divorce,
opening the way for Flagler to remarry. Judge Minor S. Jones of Florida's 7th Judicial Circuit presided over the divorce.
Flagler was the only person to be divorced under the law he pushed through before it was repealed in 1905.[17] On August
24, 1901, Flagler married his third wife, Mary Lily Kenan, at her family's plantation, Liberty Hall, and the couple soon
moved into their new Palm Beach estate, Whitehall, a 55-room beaux arts home designed by the New York-based firm of
Carrère and Hastings, which also had designed the New York Public Library and the Pan American Exposition.[18] Built in
1902 as a wedding present to Mary Lily, Whitehall (now the Flagler Museum) was a 60,000-square-foot (5,600 m²) winter
retreat that established the Palm Beach "season" of approximately 8–12 weeks, for the wealthy of America's Gilded Age.
By 1905, Flagler decided that his Florida East Coast Railway should be extended from Biscayne Bay to Key West, a point
128 miles (206 km) past the end of the Florida peninsula. At the time, Key West was Florida's most populous city, and it
was also the United States' deep water port closest to the canal that the U.S. government proposed to build in Panama.
Flagler wanted to take advantage of additional trade with Cuba and Latin America as well as the increased trade with the
west that the Panama Canal would bring. In 1912, the Florida Overseas Railroad was completed to Key West. Over thirty
years, Flagler had invested about $50 million in railroad, home, and hotel construction and gave to suffering farmers after
the freeze in 1894. When asked by the president of Rollins College in Winter Park about his philanthropic efforts, Flagler
reportedly replied, "I believe this state is the easiest place for many men to gain a living. I do not believe any one else
would develop it if I do not ... but I do hope to live long enough to prove I am a good business man by getting a dividend
on my investment."[19]
Death and heritage[edit]
Statue of Henry Flagler that stands in front of Flagler College (Flaglers former Ponce de León Hotel) in Saint Augustine,
Florida.
24
In 1913, Flagler fell down a flight of marble stairs at Whitehall. He never recovered from the fall and died in Palm Beach of
his injuries on May 20 at 83 years of age.[20][21] He was entombed in the Flagler family mausoleum at Memorial
Presbyterian Church in St. Augustine alongside his first wife, Mary Harkness; daughter, Jenny Louise; and granddaughter,
Marjorie. Only his son Harry survived of the three children by his first marriage in 1853 to Mary Harkness. A large portion
of his estate was designated for a "niece" who was said actually to be a child born out of wedlock.
When looking back at Flagler's life, after his death on May 20, 1913, George W. Perkins, of J.P. Morgan & Co., reflected,
"But that any man could have the genius to see of what this wilderness of waterless sand and underbrush was capable and
then have the nerve to build a railroad here, is more marvelous than similar development anywhere else in the world." [22]
Miami's main east-west street, is named Flagler Street, and is the main shopping street in Downtown Miami. There is also
a monument to him on Flagler Monument Island in Biscayne Bay in Miami; Flagler College and Flagler Hospital are named
after him in St. Augustine. Flagler County, Florida, Flagler Beach, Florida and Flagler, Colorado are also named for him.
Whitehall, Palm Beach, is open to the public as the Henry Morrison Flagler Museum; his private railcar No. 91 is preserved
inside a Beaux Arts pavilion built to look like a 19th Century railway palace.[23]
On February 24, 2006, a statue of Henry Flagler was unveiled in Key West near where the Over-Sea Railroad once
terminated. Also, on July 28, 2006, a statue of Henry Flagler was unveiled on the southeast steps of Miami's Dade County
Courthouse, located on Miami's Flagler Street.
The Overseas Railroad, also known as the Key West Extension of the Florida East Coast Railway, was heavily damaged and
partially destroyed in the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935. The Florida East Coast Railway was financially unable to rebuild the
destroyed sections, so the roadbed and remaining bridges were sold to the State of Florida, which built the Overseas
Highway to Key West, using much of the remaining railway infrastructure.
Flagler's third wife, Mary Lily Kenan Flagler, was born in North Carolina; the top-ranked Kenan-Flagler Business School at
the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is named for Flagler and his wife, who was an early benefactor of UNC along
with her family and descendants.[24] After Flagler's death she married an old friend, Robert Worth Bingham, who used an
inheritance from her to buy the Louisville Courier-Journal newspaper. The Bingham-Flagler marriage (and questions about
her death or possible murder) figured prominently in several books that appeared in the 1980s when the Bingham family
sold the newspaper in the midst of great acrimony. Control of the Flagler fortune largely passed into the hands of Mary
Lily Kenan's family of sisters and brother, who survived into the 1960s.
Standard Oil
• Florida East Coast Railway
• Mary Flagler Cary
• St. Augustine, Florida
• Casa Monica Hotel - purchased by Flagler and renamed Cordova
• Ponce de León Hotel - Built by Flagler
• The Alcazar Hotel now the Lightner Museum
• Flagler Memorial Presbyterian Church St. Augustine, FL
• Palm Beach, Florida
• Royal Poinciana Hotel
• Whitehall now Flagler Museum
• Breakers Hotel
• Miami
25
• Royal Palm Hotel (Miami)
• Flagler Beach, Florida
• Flagler, Colorado
• List of railroad executives
References[edit]
Notes
1. Jump up ^ Klepper, Michael; Gunther, Michael (1996), The Wealthy 100: From Benjamin Franklin to Bill
Gates—A Ranking of the Richest Americans, Past and Present, Secaucus, New Jersey: Carol Publishing
Group, p. xiii, ISBN 978-0-8065-1800-8, OCLC 33818143
2. ^ Jump up to: a b "Madoff scandal stuns Palm Beach Jewish community". Reuters. December 19, 2008.
Retrieved 2008-12-20.
3. Jump up ^ Martin 1949. 05.
4. Jump up ^ Martin. 29.
5. Jump up ^ Martin. p. 45.
6. Jump up ^ Martin. p. 64.
7. Jump up ^ Derbyshire, Wyn. "Six Tycoons: The lives of John Jacob Astor, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Andrew
Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Henry Ford and Joseph P. Kennedy." London: Spiramus Press Ltd, 2008, p.
132.
8. Jump up ^ Derbyshire, Wyn. "Six Tycoons: The lives of John Jacob Astor, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Andrew
Carnegie, John D Rockefeller, Henry Ford and Joseph P. Kennedy." London: Spiramus Press Ltd, 2008, p.
129-132.
9. Jump up ^ Martin, Sidney Walter. "Florida's Flagler." Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 2010, p. 56.
10. Jump up ^ Martin, Sidney Walter."Florida's Flagler." Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 2010, p. 55.
11. ^ Jump up to: a b Sammons, Sandra Wallus. "Henry Flagler, Builder of Florida." Sarasota, Florida: Pineapple
Press Inc, 2010, p. 4.
12. Jump up ^ Martin, Sidney Walter. "Florida's Flagler." Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 2010, p. 58.
13. ^ Jump up to: a b Tarbell, Ida M. The History of the Standard Oil Company. New York: McClure, Phillips &
Co, 1904, p. 376.
14. Jump up ^ Nolan, David: Fifty Feet in Paradise, Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich Publishers, 1984, page 95
15. Jump up ^ Nolan, David: Fifty Feet in Paradise, Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich Publishers, 1984, page 101
16. Jump up ^ Nolan, David: Fifty Feet in Paradise, Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich Publishers, 1984, page 105
17. Jump up ^ "Divorce Law Was For One Person". The Ledger. March 28, 2010.
18. Jump up ^ Chandler p. 193.
19. Jump up ^ Chandler
20. Jump up ^ "Whitehall Flagler Museum". Destination 360. Retrieved 2010-04-04.
21. Jump up ^ "Henry Morrison Flagler". Everglades Digital Library. Retrieved 2010-04-04.
22. Jump up ^ Moffet, Samuel. Henry Morrison Flagler The Cosmopolitan; a Monthly Illustrated Magazine
(1902) APS Online
23. Jump up ^ "Henry Morrison Flagler Museum". Fodor's. May 12, 2014.
24. Jump up ^ "History". Kenan-Flagler Business School. Retrieved 2010-09-04.
Bibliography
• Chandler, David. Henry Flagler: The Astonishing Life and Times of the Visionary Robber Baron who Founded
Florida(New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1986)
• Standiford, Les (2002). Last Train to Paradise. Crown Publishers, New York. ISBN 0-609-60748-0.
26
• Martin, Sidney Walter (1998). Henry Flagler Visionary of the Gilded Age. Tailored Tours Publications, Buena Vista,
Florida. ISBN 0-9631241-1-0.
• Martin, Sydney Walter (1949). Florida's Flagler. University of Georgia Press, USA.
Further reading[edit]
• Akin, Edward N. (1991). Flagler: Rockefeller Partner and Florida Baron. University Press of Florida. ISBN 0-8130-
1108-6.
• Bramson, Seth H. (2002). Speedway to Sunshine: The Story of the Florida East Coast Railway. Boston Mills Press,
Erin, ONT, Canada. ISBN 1-55046-358-6. Noted by the author as the official history of the Florida East Coast
Railway.
• Mendez, Jesus. "1892-A Year of Crucial Decisions in Florida", Florida Historical Quarterly, Summer 2009, Vol. 88
Issue 1, pp 83–106, focus on Flager's aggressive urban development of the city of St. Augustine, his improvement
of the local railroad networks between several Florida communities, and negotiations regarding international
government trade policies and regulations.
• Nolan, David. Fifty Feet in Paradise: The Booming of Florida. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1984.
• Ossman, Laurie; Ewing, Heather (2011). Carrère and Hastings, The Masterworks. Rizzoli USA. ISBN
9780847835645.
"Henry M. Flagler" redirects here. For the train, see Dixie Flagler.
Henry Morrison Flagler
Portrait of Henry Morrison Flagler.jpg
Portrait of Henry Morrison Flagler
Born
January 2, 1830
Hopewell, New York, U.S.
Died
May 20, 1913 (aged 83)
Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.
27
Net worth
USD $60 million at the time of his death (about 1/651st of US GNP)[1]
Children
Jennie L. (Mar 18, 1855-Mar 25, 1889)
Carrie (1858-1861)
Harry H. (1870-1952)
Henry Morrison Flagler (January 2, 1830 – May 20, 1913) was an American industrialist and a founder of Standard Oil. He
was also a key figure in the development of the Atlantic coast of Florida and founder of what became the Florida East
Coast Railway. He is known as the father of Miami, Florida, and founded the city of Palm Beach.[2]
Contents [hide]
1 Upbringing and education
2 Business and Standard Oil
3 Florida: resort hotels and railroads
4 Death and heritage
5 See also
6 References
7 Further reading
8 External links
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Upbringing and education[edit]
Henry Morrison Flagler was born in Hopewell, New York, the son of Isaac Flagler, a Presbyterian minister, and Elizabeth
Caldwell Morrison Harkness Flagler. Henry had a step-brother: future tycoon Stephen V. Harkness, who had become
Elizabeth's stepson when she married David Harkness of Milan, Ohio; and a half-brother Daniel M. Harkness, Elizabeth's
own son with David.[3] Widowed by David's death, Elizabeth had brought her family back to upstate New York and there
married Isaac Flagler.
Henry Flagler received an eighth-grade education before Daniel convinced him to leave home at 14 to work at Daniel's
uncle's store, Lamon G. Harkness and Company, in Republic, Ohio, at a salary of US$5 per month plus room and board. By
1849, Flagler was promoted to the sales staff at a salary of $400 per month. He later joined Daniel in a grain business
started with Lamon in Bellevue, Ohio. In 1862, Flagler and his brother-in-law Barney York founded the Flagler and York Salt
Company, a salt mining and production business in Saginaw, Michigan. The company collapsed when the American Civil
War undercut demand for salt, and Flagler returned to Bellevue having lost his initial $50,000 investment and an
additional $50,000 he borrowed from his father-in-law and Daniel. Flagler felt he had learned a valuable lesson: invest in a
business only after thorough investigation.[4]
After the failure of his salt business in Saginaw, Flagler returned to Bellevue and reentered the grain business as a
commission merchant with The Harkness Grain Company. Through this business, Flagler became acquainted with John D.
Rockefeller, who worked as a commission agent with Hewitt and Tuttle for the Harkness Grain Company. By the mid-
1860s, Cleveland had become the center of the oil refining industry in America and Rockefeller left the grain business to
start his own oil refinery. Rockefeller worked in association with chemist and inventor Samuel Andrews.
Standard Oil Articles of Incorporation signed by John D. Rockefeller, Henry M. Flagler, Samuel Andrews, Stephen V.
Harkness and William Rockefeller
Needing capital for his new venture, Rockefeller approached Flagler in 1867. Flagler obtained $100,000 (equivalent of $1.7
million in 2013) from family member Stephen V. Harkness on the condition that Flagler be made a partner. The
Rockefeller, Andrews & Flagler partnership was formed with Flagler in control of Harkness' interest.[5] The partnership
eventually grew into the Standard Oil Corporation. It was Flagler's idea to use the rebate system to strengthen the firm's
position against competitors and the transporting enterprises alike. Though the refunds issued amounted to no more than
fifteen cents on the dollar, they put Standard Oil in position to outcompete other oil refineries.[6] By 1872, it led the
American oil refining industry, producing 10,000 barrels per day (1,600 m3/d). The Flagler family moved to New York in
1877 since New York was becoming the center of commerce in the US. In 1885, Standard Oil moved its corporate
headquarters to New York City to the iconic 26 Broadway location .
Standard Oil had the same principal owners that Rockefeller, Andrews and Flagler had, give or take a few business
associates: one of whom was John D. Rockefeller's brother, William.[7] Standard Oil monopolized quickly and took
America by storm.[8] Although Standard Oil was a partnership, Flagler was credited as the brain behind the booming oil
refining business. According to Edwin Lefevre, in "Flagler and Florida" from Everybody's Magazine, XXII (February, 1910) p.
183, "When John D. Rockefeller was asked if the Standard Oil company was the result of his thinking, he answered, "No,
sir. I wish I had the brains to think of it. It was Henry M. Flagler."[9]
Henry Flagler dabbled in various businesses aside from building up infrastructure in Florida. When he envisioned successes
in the oil industry, he and Rockefeller started building their fortune in refining oil in Cleveland, Ohio. Cleveland became
very well known for oil refining, as, "More and more crude oil was shipped from the oil regions to Cleveland for the
refining process because of transportation facilities and the aggressiveness of the refiners there. It was due largely to the
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efforts of Henry M. Flagler and John D. Rockefeller."[10] Flagler and Rockefeller worked hard for their company to achieve
such prominence. Henry explained: "We worked night and day, making good oil as cheaply as possible and selling it for all
we could get."[11] Not only did Flagler and Rockefeller's Standard Oil company become well known in Ohio, they
expanded to other states, as well as gained additional capital in purchasing smaller oil refining companies across the
nation.[11] According to Allan Nevins, in John D. Rockefeller (p 292), "Standard Oil was born as a big enterprise, it had cut
its teeth as a partnership and was now ready to plunge forward into a period of greater expansion and development. It
soon was doing one tenth of all the petroleum business in the United States. Besides its two refineries and a barrel plant in
Cleveland, it possessed a fleet of tank cars and warehouses in the oil regions as well as warehouses and tanks in New
York."[12]
By 1892, Standard Oil had a monopoly over all oil refineries in the United States. In an overall calculation of America's oil
refineries' assets and capital, Standard Oil surpassed all.[13] Standard Oil's combined assets equalled approximately
$42,882,650.00 (U.S) from: Indiana, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York and Ohio. As well as the highest capitalization,
totaling $26,000,000 (U.S).[13] The history of American oil refining begins with Henry Morrison Flagler, and his business
associate and friend, John D. Rockefeller, as they built the biggest, most prosperous and monopolizing oil empire of their
time: Standard Oil.
On the advice of his physician, Flagler traveled to Jacksonville for the winter with his first wife, Mary (née Harkness)
Flagler, who was quite ill. Two years after she died in 1881, he married again. Ida Alice (née Shourds) Flagler had been a
caregiver for Mary Flagler. After their wedding, the couple traveled to Saint Augustine. Flagler found the city charming, but
the hotel facilities and transportation systems inadequate. Franklin W. Smith had just finished building Villa Zorayda and
Flagler offered to buy it for his honeymoon. Smith would not sell, but he planted the seed of St. Augustine's and Florida's
future in Flagler's mind.[14]
Although Flagler remained on the board of directors of Standard Oil, he gave up his day-to-day involvement in the
corporation to pursue his interests in Florida. He returned to St. Augustine in 1885 and made Smith an offer. If Smith could
raise $50,000, Flagler would invest $150,000 and they would build an hotel together. Perhaps fortunately for Smith, he
couldn't come up with the funds,[15] so Flagler began construction of the 540-room Ponce de León Hotel by himself, but
spent several times his original estimate. Smith helped train the masons on the mixing and pouring techniques he used on
Zorayda.[16]
Realizing the need for a sound transportation system to support his hotel ventures, Flagler purchased short line railroads
in what would later become known as the Florida East Coast Railway.
This project sparked Flagler's interest in creating a new "American Riviera." Two years later, Flagler expanded his Florida
holdings. He built a railroad bridge across the St. Johns River to gain access to the southern half of the state and purchased
the Hotel Ormond, just north of Daytona. He also built the Alcazar hotel as an overflow hotel for the Ponce de León Hotel.
The Alcazar stands today as the Lightner Museum next to the Casa Monica Hotel in St. Augustine that Flager bought from
Franklin W. Smith. His personal dedication to the state of Florida was demonstrated when he began construction on his
private residence, Kirkside, in St. Augustine.
Flagler completed the 1,100-room Royal Poinciana Hotel on the shores of Lake Worth in Palm Beach and extended his
railroad to its service town, West Palm Beach, by 1894, founding Palm Beach and West Palm Beach.[2] The Royal Poinciana
Hotel was at the time the largest wooden structure in the world. Two years later, Flagler built the Palm Beach Inn
(renamed Breakers Hotel Complex in 1901) overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in Palm Beach.
Flagler originally intended West Palm Beach to be the terminus of his railroad system, but in 1894 and 1895, severe
freezes hit the area, causing Flagler to rethink his original decision. Sixty miles south, the town today known as Miami was
reportedly unharmed by the freeze. To further convince Flagler to continue the railroad to Miami, he was offered land in
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exchange for laying rail tracks from private landowners, the Florida East Coast Canal and Transportation Company, and the
Boston and Florida Atlantic Coast Land Company. The land owners were Julia Tuttle, whom he had met in Cleveland, Ohio
and William Brickell who ran a trading post on the Miami River.
Such incentive led to the development of Miami, which was an unincorporated area at the time. Flagler encouraged fruit
farming and settlement along his railway line and made many gifts to build hospitals, churches, and schools in Florida.
Flagler's railroad, the Florida East Coast Railway, reached Biscayne Bay by 1896. Flagler dredged a channel, built streets,
instituted the first water and power systems, and financed the city's first newspaper, The Metropolis. When the city was
incorporated in 1896, its citizens wanted to honor the man responsible for its growth by naming it "Flagler". He declined
the honor, persuading them to use an old Indian name, "Mayaimi". However, an artificial island was constructed in
Biscayne Bay called Flagler Monument Island to honor Flagler. In 1897, Flagler opened the exclusive Royal Palm Hotel
there. He became known as the Father of Miami, Florida.
Flagler's second wife, the former Ida Alice Shourds, had been institutionalized for mental illness since 1895. In 1901,
Flagler successfully persuaded the Florida Legislature to pass a law that made incurable insanity grounds for divorce,
opening the way for Flagler to remarry. Judge Minor S. Jones of Florida's 7th Judicial Circuit presided over the divorce.
Flagler was the only person to be divorced under the law he pushed through before it was repealed in 1905.[17] On
August 24, 1901, Flagler married his third wife, Mary Lily Kenan, at her family's plantation, Liberty Hall, and the couple
soon moved into their new Palm Beach estate, Whitehall, a 55-room beaux arts home designed by the New York-based
firm of Carrère and Hastings, which also had designed the New York Public Library and the Pan American Exposition.[18]
Built in 1902 as a wedding present to Mary Lily, Whitehall (now the Flagler Museum) was a 60,000-square-foot (5,600 m²)
winter retreat that established the Palm Beach "season" of approximately 8–12 weeks, for the wealthy of America's Gilded
Age.
By 1905, Flagler decided that his Florida East Coast Railway should be extended from Biscayne Bay to Key West, a point
128 miles (206 km) past the end of the Florida peninsula. At the time, Key West was Florida's most populous city, and it
was also the United States' deep water port closest to the canal that the U.S. government proposed to build in Panama.
Flagler wanted to take advantage of additional trade with Cuba and Latin America as well as the increased trade with the
west that the Panama Canal would bring. In 1912, the Florida Overseas Railroad was completed to Key West. Over thirty
years, Flagler had invested about $50 million in railroad, home, and hotel construction and gave to suffering farmers after
the freeze in 1894. When asked by the president of Rollins College in Winter Park about his philanthropic efforts, Flagler
reportedly replied, "I believe this state is the easiest place for many men to gain a living. I do not believe any one else
would develop it if I do not ... but I do hope to live long enough to prove I am a good business man by getting a dividend
on my investment."[19]
In 1913, Flagler fell down a flight of marble stairs at Whitehall. He never recovered from the fall and died in Palm Beach of
his injuries on May 20 at 83 years of age.[20][21] He was entombed in the Flagler family mausoleum at Memorial
Presbyterian Church in St. Augustine alongside his first wife, Mary Harkness; daughter, Jenny Louise; and granddaughter,
Marjorie. Only his son Harry survived of the three children by his first marriage in 1853 to Mary Harkness. A large portion
of his estate was designated for a "niece" who was said actually to be a child born out of wedlock.
When looking back at Flagler's life, after his death on May 20, 1913, George W. Perkins, of J.P. Morgan & Co., reflected,
"But that any man could have the genius to see of what this wilderness of waterless sand and underbrush was capable and
then have the nerve to build a railroad here, is more marvelous than similar development anywhere else in the world."
[22]
Miami's main east-west street, is named Flagler Street, and is the main shopping street in Downtown Miami. There is also
a monument to him on Flagler Monument Island in Biscayne Bay in Miami; Flagler College and Flagler Hospital are named
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after him in St. Augustine. Flagler County, Florida, Flagler Beach, Florida and Flagler, Colorado are also named for him.
Whitehall, Palm Beach, is open to the public as the Henry Morrison Flagler Museum; his private railcar No. 91 is preserved
inside a Beaux Arts pavilion built to look like a 19th Century railway palace.[23]
On February 24, 2006, a statue of Henry Flagler was unveiled in Key West near where the Over-Sea Railroad once
terminated. Also, on July 28, 2006, a statue of Henry Flagler was unveiled on the southeast steps of Miami's Dade County
Courthouse, located on Miami's Flagler Street.
The Overseas Railroad, also known as the Key West Extension of the Florida East Coast Railway, was heavily damaged and
partially destroyed in the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935. The Florida East Coast Railway was financially unable to rebuild the
destroyed sections, so the roadbed and remaining bridges were sold to the State of Florida, which built the Overseas
Highway to Key West, using much of the remaining railway infrastructure.
Flagler's third wife, Mary Lily Kenan Flagler, was born in North Carolina; the top-ranked Kenan-Flagler Business School at
the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is named for Flagler and his wife, who was an early benefactor of UNC along
with her family and descendants.[24] After Flagler's death she married an old friend, Robert Worth Bingham, who used an
inheritance from her to buy the Louisville Courier-Journal newspaper. The Bingham-Flagler marriage (and questions about
her death or possible murder) figured prominently in several books that appeared in the 1980s when the Bingham family
sold the newspaper in the midst of great acrimony. Control of the Flagler fortune largely passed into the hands of Mary
Lily Kenan's family of sisters and brother, who survived into the 1960s.
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