Saint Augustine, Florida Lightner Museum – Alcazar Hotel

During our recent trip to Saint Augustine for independence day we visited some of the sights around downtown.  One of those places is the Lightner Museum and former Alcazar Hotel.

Built in 1887 as a hotel by Henry Flagler the Hotel Alcazar provided a place for the tourists traveling his railroad to stay.  The hotel is one of the first buildings in the world to be constructed using poured concrete. The hotel closed in 1932 due to a slowdown of the tourism industry in Florida during the great depression.  The hotel was purchased by Otto Lightner in 1946 as a place to house his extensive collection of Victorian era artwork and artifacts. We did not tour the museum this time but Lighner’s collections are still on display for tourists visiting Saint Augustine to see.  Here are some photographs I made of the outside area of the museum. For more information about the museum visit http://www.lightnermuseum.org/main_lightner.html

The entrance way to the Lightner museum and courtyard.

Some of the architechtural detail of the Lightner Museum/Alcazar Hotel

The gardens that front the Lightner Museum and Alcazar Hotel. Notice the solid poured concrete walls of the hotel.