#historical palm beach

The Breakers Hotel. Palm Beach, Florida. 1900.

First known as The Palm Beach Inn, the original hotel was opened on January 16, 1896, by business tycoon Henry Flagler to accommodate travelers on his Florida East Coast Railway. It occupied the beachfront portion of the grounds of the Royal Poinciana Hotel, which Flagler had opened in 1894 beside Lake Worth Lagoon, facing the inland waterway. Guests began requesting rooms “over by the breakers”, so Flagler renamed it The Breakers Hotel in 1901.

The original wooden hotel (pictured here) burned on June 9, 1903, after which it was rebuilt, opening on February 1, 1904. Rooms started at $4 per night, including three meals a day. Since Flagler forbade motorized vehicles on the property, patrons were delivered between the two hotels in wheeled chairs powered by employees. The grounds featured a nine-hole golf course.