Built in 1884 the building that would later become known as Alicia Hospital was a house built by a man named D.L. Dunham and purchased by Dr. Sloggett. The home was located on Marine Street near the Matanzas bay front in what is today St. Augustine's Historic District. The home became Alicia Hospital in 1889. Dr. Andrew Anderson was the first elected president of the Board of Trustees for the hospital and Henry Flagler provided the deed for the property, allowing the staff to begin treating patients in 1890.

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Alicia Hospital was the only public hospital in northeast Florida at the time. The hospital not only treated whites, but African Americans as well, dedicating an entire ward to caring for them. In 1905 the hospital was renamed Flagler Hospital. Most of the Flagler Hospital complex was destroyed by St. Augustine's most common disaster, fire. Patients were moved into local residences or in buildings where the owners had offered to help the staff.

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Mary Lily Kenan, Flagler's third wife donated money to have the structure rebuilt and in a few years a new three story building had donned the name Flagler Hospital.

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Text by Clayton Junkins