The Casino and Pool

The Casino saltwater pool viewed from the inside, west end looking east. Note the spectators sitting on the east end top deck.

The Casino seen from the southeast looking northwest. Same spectators on the top deck. Click to enlarge. Note the signs above the doors reading Mens Tickets Only and Womens Tickets Only. Hotel guests could change into rented bathing suits here. To the right (north) of the Casino are the two wings of the Breakers hotel. North of the hotel are the "cottages" available to guests who required more spacious accommodations.The guest cottages were torn down and replaced by condominiums. One cottage "Seagull" was spared and moved across the island next to Flagler's Whitehall. It recently underwent a complete restoration.

Caddyshack

A triptych featuring the Hotel Poinciana Hotel golf course. Click to enlarge! A man tees up at the first hole while friends and players wait in the shade. The hotel looms in the background. This was Florida's first eighteen hole golf course. Henry Flagler didn't play the game and thought it was a colossal waste of time and space. But that didn't stop him from denying his guests the pleasure.

The course and the Pine Walk (background) still stands today.

(Photo- Library of Congress/Detroit Publishing Collection)

The Bathing Hour

Children on the south side of the Breakers pier.

The Breakers pier served as the first Port of Palm Beach. At one time it had train tracks to the end of the pier where ships unloaded cargo. The same track served later as the mule trolley line linking the Breakers to the Hotel Royal Poinciana. The hurricane of 1928 destroyed the pier. The remnants are a popular destination for local divers.

These ladies opt out of wearing the long, heavy woolen bathing costumes of the day. Alert lifeguards kept a watchful eye on the women in particular who risked being dragged under the waves by the sheer weight of their wet bathing dresses.

A cropped version of this picture was a popular postcard of the day on which lucky vacationers could boast of swimming in the dead of winter. There's a lot going on in this richly detailed photograph featuring all manner of resort fashions ca.1905 (click to enlarge.)
The sign in the center reads:  "The bathing hours on the beach are 11 to 1 during which expert Life Guards & Boatmen are provided for the safety of Casino Guests. Please be guided by their advice when entering the water. Geo. E. Anderson Supt."
In the foreground, a messenger from Alligator Joe reminds the tourists of his daily performance at 3:30.
The shoreline is lined with beach chairs topped with awnings (for the less adventurous.)
(Photos- Library of Congress/Detroit Publishing Collection)

The Bicycle Chair

The bicycle chair- sometimes called the "Afrimobile" or "Palm Beach Cab" was the only wheeled conveyance (other than a railroad or trolley car) allowed on Palm Beach at the turn of the century. The hotels employed drivers by the hundreds during the season.

The Palm Beach Hotel, which stood on the lake front about a half-mile north of the Royal Poinciana provided guests with this handy price list. Click to enlarge!

Paradise Found

A striking panorama featuring the famous gardens of the Hotel Royal Poinciana. The architecture of the building was a relatively modest Colonial design. The interior decoration, featuring grass-green carpets, soft pastels and wicker furniture amid   potted trees and plants suggested an eternal Spring- to the delight of guests escaping the harsh northern Winter. Click to enlarge! (Library of Congress)

The Palm Walk

The Palm Walk ran parallel to the mule trolley line from the Royal Poinciana to the Breakers- about a half mile. A fashionable lady strikes a pose ca. 1905. (James D. Phelan Collection)

 

The native sable palms cast a lovely lattice-work of shadows on the walk. Portions of the trail still exist a century later! (Library of Congress)

Afternoon Concert

Guests enjoy tea in the Coconut Grove while the hotel band serenades them from
the end of the Piazza that extended west from the front entrance. The bands played all day between both  the Royal Poinciana and the Breakers hotels. This appears to be the 4:30 p.m. concert. Click to enlarge! (Library of Congress)


Note the bottom of the program- The "Colored Sextette" (or sometimes a banjo quartette) provided late night  entertainment for the younger crowd in the Palm Room just across the hall from Hypocrite's Row.

A Tour Of The Rotunda

Welcome to Palm Beach. Your train arrived at the little station (where the Royal Poinciana Plaza stands today) where you were whisked away to the hotel by bicycle chair. You make a mental note to be one of the lucky few admitted to Col. E.R. Bradley's Beach Club casino tonight. First order of the day- check in.

You are standing on the lawn of the hotel, facing southeast. Just past the hotel and to your right, stands Henry Flagler's magnificent winter home, Whitehall. Head up the steps through one of the arched doorways. (Click to enlarge.) Views are marked on floorplan below.

B) The first thing you see is the great rotunda. Straight ahead is the stairway to the men's and ladie's lounges. In the men's washroom, follow the secret hallway (called "Hypocrite's Row) from to the bar and pool tables! The bar itself still survives and was last seen at the recently closed Hoboken Grill in West Palm Beach. To the left , a hallway leads to the shops. To the right are the elevators, doctor's office and writing room where postcards like these were written.

C) Just off the Rotunda and looking north you can see the long hallway leading to the shops featuring the latest in New York fashion, jewelry and souvenirs. Handy spitoons scattered around the parlor (lower left) saved the weary guest a trip outside.

D) Take a few steps back- same view at a slightly different angle. Just behind you are the elevators.

E) Now take a few more steps to your left. Directly behind you is the doorway to the writing room. Stationary and lots of desks provided. Winter guests were delighted with the
potted plants and wicker furniture that filled almost every room in the hotel. Most of the interior was painted cream with green trim.

Strictly Ballroom

This rare view of the Ballroom (Florida Historical Society collection) shows the entrance (center) as you enter from the top of the stairs in the Rotunda. Looking west, down the entrance hall you can see the center front entrance door of the hotel (bottom, viewed from the outside.) In the picture below (courtesy Historical Society of Palm Beach County) the steps are partially obscured by what appears to be the same plant.  

 

The doors were framed with leaded  glass. A piece of wicker furniture is visible just inside the doorway. Note the cuspidors scattered around the room- a measure to keep the grass-green carpets clean.

  

 In the top picture, the Ballroom (more here) is decorated with Japanese lanterns- a very popular motif of the day. Flagler's hotels staged three important balls every season: The New Year's, George Washington Birthday and St. Patrick's Day Ball.

Eventually the parties got so large they were moved into the massive dining room (below.)

All Aboard! From the Hotel Royal Poinciana To The Breakers

The top photograph shows the trolley track at the south end of Royal Poinciana. Guests had the choice of walking across the island to the Breakers, middle, or taking the mule trolley. For years the only vehicles allowed on Palm Beach were the train, trolley or bicycle chairs. Click to enlarge! (Library of Congress)

From the Breakers to the Hotel Royal Poinciana

A stunning triptych taken by a Detroit Publishing photographer in 1900. This scene was taken from a perch on the Breakers casino looking west towards the Royal Poinciana Hotel. Click to enlarge!

 

The track, originally a rail line from the pier, (bottom picture) served as a trolley line for the popular mule-drawn trolley car. Guests could choose to walk along the Australian Pines (south side of the track) or among the palms (north side.) Click to enlarge!

(Library of Congress)

Hallway

This is a hi-res scan of the hallway outside the Garden Grill.  It's hand-colored but a pretty accurate look at the color scheme of the hotel. A piano sits at the end of the hallway- one of several scattered throughout the hotel. Off to the right were the staff dining rooms and barber shop. Behind you is a large lounge and the front desk.

Souvenirs

TOP: Silver spoon with alligator motif. A scene from the Lake Trail, just south of Whitehall, is etched into the bowl. SECOND: This spoon , featuring a pineapple in the handle, was available throughout the state. The word "Palm Beach" is etched into the bowl giving it a local flavor. THIRD: Another view of the Lake Trail, south of Whitehall featuring a sailboat. "Lake Worth" refers to the region. BOTTOM: A sterling silver spoon featuring an image of the Hotel Royal Poinciana on the backside of the handle purchased from the Greenleaf and Crosby store located inside the rotunda of the hotel.

The Garden Grill

The Garden Grill was located on the first floor just east of the front desk. The restaurant was "the most unique in America, with its hanging garden and patterres of flowers on every hand" (Palm Beach Life.) The Grill was a much more manageable size than the main dining room which could serve 1600 guests at once and covered 2/3 of an acre.
The top three pictures, A-C on the map, offer views of the restaurant from just inside the west entrance. The bottom picture- D on the map, offers a rare view of a public lounging area. A piano can be seen at the end of the hall.