Page 199 - John Anderson

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In the rear of the garage was a cypress shingled building which
housed the chauffeurs of wealthy guests who came in later years.
There was also a laundry building where thousands of linens of all
descriptions were washed and dried. In the rear of the laundry were
the dormitories for men and women employees. Some of the more
important employees were quartered on the ground floor of the Hotel
Ormond where the smallest rooms were located.
By 1894, Flagler's railroad system reached what is today known as
West Palm Beach. Flagler constructed the 1150 room Royal
Poinciana Hotel in Palm Beach overlooking Lake Worth. 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 The
Breakers in 1901) overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in Palm Beach.
He also built Whitehall, his private 55-room, 60,000 square foot
winter home, built as a wedding present to Mary Lily in 1902 by
architects John Carrere and Thomas Hastings.
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 Industrial age.
Flagler originally intended for West Palm Beach to be the terminus of
his railroad system, but during the 1894/1895 winter season, severe
freezes hit the area, causing Flagler to rethink this 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 from private landowners, the
Florida East Coast Canal and Transportation Company, and the
Boston and Florida Atlantic Coast Land Company, in exchange for
laying rail tracks.
Flagler's railroad, renamed the Florida East Coast Railway in 1895,
reached Biscayne Bay by 1896. Flagler dredged a channel, built
streets, instituted the first water and power systems, and financed
the town's first newspaper, the Metropolis. When the town
incorporated in 1896, its citizens wanted to honor the man
responsible for its growth by naming it "Flagler." He declined the

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