Royal Palm Hotel in Miami, Florida,
Henry Flagler's Royal Palm Hotel opened in Miami, Florida, on January 16, 1897. Sitting on the north bank of the Miami River, overlooking Biscayne Bay, it was one of the first hotels in the Miami area. Five stories tall with a sixth-floor salon, the Royal Palm Hotel featured the city's first electric lights, elevators, and swimming pool. Flagler cut a channel across the bay so guests could bring their yachts to the Royal Palm Hotel docks, and Miami experienced its first tourist season as wealthy northerners spent the winter here. The Great Maimi Hurricane in 1926 grievously damaged the Royal Palm Hotel and became infested with termites. In 1930, it was condemned and torn down.


Image by the Detroit Photographic Company, 1901.