Flagler's Royal Palm Hotel and the Birth of Miami Tourism

Henry Flagler didn't just bring trains to Miami. He brought guests, and he needed somewhere grand to put them.

A resort at the river's mouth

Flagler built the Royal Palm Hotel on the north bank of the Miami River where it meets Biscayne Bay, on land given by Julia Tuttle. The site had been the location of the Tequesta's main village and later the Fort Dallas area. The hotel opened in early 1897.

Gilded Age luxury

The Royal Palm was a long, multi-story wooden building painted in Flagler's signature yellow, with wide verandas, a swimming pool, electric lights and manicured grounds lined with palms. Wealthy guests arrived by private railroad car and spent the winter season fishing, boating and enjoying the warm weather.

Selling the subtropics

The hotel was Miami's first big tourism engine. Visitors who came for the season went home talking about the climate, and some bought land and returned. Tourism quickly became the foundation of the local economy.

Decline and demolition

By the 1920s newer hotels had eclipsed the Royal Palm, and it was damaged in the 1926 hurricane. It was torn down around 1930. The land later became part of downtown's riverfront, now covered by towers.

The legacy

Every hotel on Miami Beach, every cruise ship leaving PortMiami and every convention group taking an afternoon out to the Everglades is part of a tradition that began at the Royal Palm.

A day at the Royal Palm

Guests at the Royal Palm could fish in the bay, sail, swim in the pool, play games on the lawn and attend dances and concerts. The hotel's dining room served elaborate meals, and its orchestra entertained evening guests. Excursions took visitors up the Miami River to see the rapids and the edge of the Everglades, an early form of Everglades tourism.

An employer and a training ground

The hotel employed many workers, including Black and Bahamian staff who worked as waiters, porters, cooks and maids. These jobs were important to the growth of the city's Black community, even as segregation limited workers' opportunities.

Flagler's chain of hotels

The Royal Palm was part of a chain of Flagler hotels along the east coast, from St. Augustine's Ponce de Leon Hotel to Palm Beach's Royal Poinciana and The Breakers. Wealthy travelers moved along the coast by train, staying at Flagler properties throughout the season.

Echoes of the Royal Palm

Although the building is gone, Miami's hotel industry, now among the largest in the country, follows the path it set. Today's resort hotels on Miami Beach, downtown and Brickell continue a tradition of welcoming winter visitors that began on the banks of the Miami River.