The Alcazar Hotel

The Alcazar Hotel opened on December 25, 1888, by Henry Flagler and was designed by his architects, Carrere and Hastings. Flagler had it built to provide activities for wealthy winter visitors, and it became the center of social life for half a century until it closed in 1931. In 1947, Hobbies Magazine founder Otto Lightner of Chicago purchased the building for $150,000 to house his collections of 40,000 to 50,000 antiques and collectables, gathered from Chicago estates after the crash of 1929. Upon his death in 1950, the building and collections were left to the citizens of St. Augustine. Today the building houses the St. Augustine City Hall and Lightner Museum. City Hall occupies the forward section, originally hotel rooms surrounding the courtyard, while the Lightner Museum occupies the rear section, originally the casino, which featured salons, steam rooms, a bowling alley, and the largest indoor pool of its time, 120 feet long and 50 feet wide, with a depth of 3 to 12 feet. The City Commission meets in the former ladies parlor in the courtyard section, while the pool area houses shops and a café.

St. Augustine, Florida · United States