Henry Flagler was born on 3 January 1830 in the city of Hopewell, New York. His parents, Elizabeth Caldwell Morrison Harkness and Reverend Isaac Flagler, raised Flagler until he was fourteen years old, when he decided to go to Ohio. Henry Flagler had only received an eight year education, but became active in the business world at a young age, first working with his step-brother's uncle's store in Ohio; he eventually became a salesman for the store before leavin to start a Salt Company in Michigan during the Civil War in 1862.

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In partnership with John D. Rockefeller, Henry Flagler was co-founder of the Standard Oil Corporation. Rockefeller often credited Flagler as the brains behin Standard Oil. In the 1870s Flagler and his first wife, Mary Harkness first traveled to Florida in an effort to cure Mary of her poor health. This visit led the Flaglers to St. Augustine, where Flagler realized he would play a major role. Flagler was to take a run-down, backwater FL town and make it into a tourist destination that rivaled those of the Mediterranean coastline.

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After the death of Mary, Flagler erected several buildings throughout St. Augustine which can still be seen today. Most famous is the Ponce de Leon Hotel, now Flagler College. Flagler also built his Hotel Alcazar, Grace United Methodist Church, Memorial Presbyterian Church, The Old Jail, and many others.

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Flagler's business began in oil, but eventually led him to invest in railroads and hotels. Flagler hotels lined the Florida coastline as his Florida East Coast Railway quickly extended from St. Augustine down to Key West; Flagler had hotels in Jacksonville, St. Augustine, and West Palm Beach. Not many men or women are credited with revitalizing states, but Henry Flagler truly contributed to the revival of St. Augustine, and Florida, in more ways than any other man of his time. Without Flagler the Florida landscape would be completely different than the booming tourist attraction it is today.



Henry Flagler died on 20 May 1913 and is entombed within Memorial Presbyterian alongside his first wife, daughter Jennie-Louise, and granddaughter Marjorie.