Overseas Railroad - Henry Flagler

Henry Flagler

Henry Flagler was a principal in Rockefeller, Andrews & Flagler and later in Standard Oil during the Gilded Age in the United States. The wealthy man took interest in Florida while seeking a warmer climate for his ailing first wife in the late 1870s. Returning to Florida in 1881, he became the builder and developer of resort hotels and railroads along the east coast of Florida.

Beginning with St. Augustine, he moved progressively south. Flagler helped develop Ormond Beach, Daytona Beach, Palm Beach, and became known as the "Father of Miami, Florida." Flagler's network of railroads became known as the Florida East Coast Railway (FEC).