Flagler Memorial Bridge

Flagler Memorial Bridge. Original year of construction 1938. During the late 1800s, Henry Morrison Flagler built numerous resort hotels and a railroad network, the Florida East Coast Railway, along the east coast of Florida. In 1894, Flagler constructed the Royal Poinciana Hotel in Palm Beach, which became the world's largest wooden resort hotel and could accommodate 1,200 guests. Initially guests traveled across Lake Worth to the hotel by boat since there was no bridge connecting the mainland to the Island of Palm Beach., Flagler constructed a railroad bridge in 1895 to offer guests direct access to his hotel. This would be the first bridge linking Palm Beach with the mainland. The first bridge terminated just south of the Royal Poinciana Hotel and just north of Whitehall, Flagler’s winter home. Flagler had the railway bridge reconstructed further north of Whitehall because his wife disliked the noise so close to their home. The replacement railroad bridge was completed in 1902., In 1938, and automobile bridge partially funded by the Public Works Administration (funded under Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal Program) replaced the 1902 railroad bridge. The bridge, named Flagler Memorial Bridge, honors Henry Flagler’s contributions to the development of the East Coaso of Florida. Colonel Edward R. Bradley, considered a prominent figure in the development of Palm Beach, donated gateway pylons with wrought iron lanterns to enhance the appearance of the Palm Beach side of the bridge., Completed in 1938, the bridge was a double-leaf rolling lift bascule bridge. The total length of the bridge was 2,299 feet over the Lake Worth lagoon. At the time the Flagler Memorial Bridge was the the largest bascule bridge in Florida. In 2007, Flagler Memorial Bridge was determined eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.