Hotel Alcazar
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Alcazar Hotel
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The Lightner Museum, originally the Alcazar Hotel, with a statue of Pedro Menéndez de Avilés on the ground.
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| Location | 75 King Street St. Augustine, Florida |
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| Coordinates | 29°53′30″N 81°18′51″W / 29.89167°N 81.31417°WCoordinates: 29°53′30″N 81°18′51″W / 29.89167°N 81.31417°W |
| Built | 1887 (museum opened 1948) |
| Architect | Carrère and Hastings |
| Architectural style | Spanish Renaissance Revival |
| NRHP reference # | 71001013 |
| Added to NRHP | February 24, 1971 |
The Lightner Museum is a museum of antiquities, mostly American Gilded Age pieces, housed within the historic Hotel Alcazar building in downtown St. Augustine. This 1887 Spanish Renaissance Revival style building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The hotel was commissioned by Henry Flagler, to appeal to wealthy tourists who traveled south for the winter on his railroad, the Florida East Coast Railway. It was designed by New York City architects Carrère and Hastings, in the Spanish Renaissance Revival style. The firm also designed the Ponce de León Hotel across the street, now part of the campus of Flagler College. Both structures are notable for being among the earliest examples of poured concrete buildings in the world. These architects later designed the New York Public Library in New York City and the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C.
The hotel had a steam room, massage parlor, sulfur baths, gymnasium, a three-storey ballroom, and the world's largest indoor swimming pool; however, after years as an elegant winter resort for wealthy patrons, the hotel closed in 1932. After purchasing the building to house his extensive collection of Victorian Era pieces in 1947, Chicago publisher Otto C. Lightner turned it over to the city of St. Augustine.
The building is an attraction in itself, centering on an open courtyard with palm trees and a stone arch bridge over a fishpond.
The museum occupies three floors of the former Hotel Alcazar and is housed in the former health facilities of the hotel, including the spa and the Turkish bath, in addition to its three-storey ballroom.
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