Florida Historical Markers Programs - Marker Detail
PALM COTTAGE- FLAGLER WORKER'S COTTAGE/ HENRY MORRISON FLAGLER
Location:60 SE 4th Street
County: Miami-Dade
City: Miami
Description: Side One: This cottage is the first known residential building in downtown Miami, and the last known building in the city directly associated with railroad magnate and developer Henry M. Flagler. Built around 1897, this house was one of at least 30 in a row of identical homes built along then 14th Street, now SE 2nd Street between SE 1st and 2nd Avenues. The homes were rentals constructed for workers building Flagler’s Royal Palm Hotel. Renters paid $15-$22 a month, or could buy a house for $1,300-$3,000. One of Miami’s few surviving examples of Folk Victorian architecture, it features two-story rectangular wood frame construction, a gable end roof, and shiplap wood siding. The gable end is faced with decorative scalloped-wood shingles. The front windows were double wooden sash with 6-over-6 panes, while the side windows had 2-over-2 panes. The main entrance was originally located in the far-right bay of the front elevation, but was moved to the center in 1950. The original one-story porch extended across the entire front elevation. In 1989, Palm Cottage was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Side Two: Henry M. Flagler was born January 2, 1830, in Hopewell, New York. In 1852, he became a partner at D. M. Harkness and Co. The following year, Flagler married Mary Harkness. In 1862, he partnered with his brother-in-law, Barney York, to start the Flagler and York Salt Company, but it collapsed soon after the Civil War. In 1866, Flagler was introduced to John D. Rockefeller, who was working as a commission agent at the Harkness Grain Company. Flagler partnered with him and others in 1867 to form Rockefeller, Flagler & Andrews, which became Standard Oil in 1870. Flagler's wife Mary became very ill in 1878, and on her doctor’s advice, they moved to Jacksonville. Mary died soon after moving to Florida, and Flagler married Ida Alice Shourds two years later. The couple moved to St. Augustine, where Flagler constructed the Hotel Ponce de Leon and bought the Jacksonville, St. Augustine & Halifax Railroad. He believed that Florida had the potential to attract large numbers of tourists but lacked proper hotels, so he began building a hotel empire. He purchased the Hotel Ormond near Daytona, Hotel Poinciana on Lake Worth, and later built the Royal Palm Hotel in Miami.
Sponsors: The City of Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado, The City of Miami in Coordination with Alexander Adams