Cordova Hotel/County Courthouse

Designed and built by Franklin W. Smith, the Casa Monica Hotel opened in January 1888. The medieval Spanish style structure was one of the earliest multi-storied buildings in the United States constructed of poured concrete. In April 1888, Henry M. Flagler purchased the hotel and renamed it the Cordova. Soon regarded as the annex to the neighboring Alcazar Hotel and in fact connected by an upper level passageway, the Cordova Hotel remained open until the Depression forced its closure in 1932. In 1961, the Florida East Coast Hotel Company sold the structure to the St. Johns County Commission which remodeled the building for use as a courthouse. The Cordova Hotel was dedicated as the St. Johns County Courthouse on May 29, 1968.

St. Augustine, Florida · United States