During our Palm Beach stay, we visited two museums that added greatly to our visit — and which, in case of bad weather, would provide valuable diversions.

Henry Morrison Flagler Museum

Henry Flagler, a co-founder of Standard Oil, was also a visionary who foresaw the attraction of Florida as a warm-weather escape from winter within the United States. At the turn of the 20th century, he charged his architects with creating a mansion to rival the most opulent in Europe, as well as those in Newport, Rhode Island, as a wedding gift to his new (and third) wife. Flagler took up winter residence in 1902. Highlights of the 75-room estate, now the Henry Morrison Flagler Museum, include many of the original furnishings, a superb art collection and, in an adjacent pavilion, Flagler’s personal railcar, in which he would travel down from New York. The splendor of the place is breathtaking, especially the 5,000-square-foot Grand Hall, which features two portraits of Flagler, one at each end.

Flagler Museum
One Whitehall Way,
Palm Beach. Tel. (561) 655-2833