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St. Augustine, Florida, circa 1905. "Court of the Ponce de Leon Hotel." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
1905 was before most places had Air Conditioning, so it was probably unbearably hot inside. It is a different concept than today when being outside during the hottest part of the day is foreign to us. The wicker chairs allowed the wind to flow through, cooling them off a little when the wind was blowing.
[Florida was a winter resort -- keeping cool in January was not a problem. - Dave]
GLORIOUSLY beautiful! Can I go there now? Where is Doc Brown and his DeLorean?
Henry Flagler built these fanciful hotels up and down both coasts of Florida, apparently. They were destination spots for the railroad line he built, including the Overseas Railway to Key West. There's another amazing hotel-turned-college in Tampa. Looks like a Moorish pavilion.
A beautiful place then as it is now. I've toured it and it is still positively gorgeous.
St. Augustine's old Ponce de Leon Hotel is still there in all its glory; only now days they call it Flagler College. If you've got the tuition, you can even stay there!
Randy Newman must have seen this photo before he wrote; "It's a jungle out there."
I'm a native Floridian with fond memories of "Old Time Florida", not as old as in this image but the way Florida was even 50 years ago.
My fav place nowadays is St Augustine. All those magnificent buildings build by Flagler are still there and the atmosphere is relaxed and carefree. Even older structures dating to the 1500's attest to the claim as "America's First City". You can spend mucho bucks on luxury or nada on the simple pleasure of enjoying the atmosphere. There are several 'character' bars where you might expect to meet the likes of Hemingway. Go there and you will not be disappointed.
It really is quite something left over from a different era.
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