HR 9167 2003
1	House Resolution
2	A resolution recognizing the 100th anniversary of
3	Whitehall, Henry Flagler's grand Beaux Arts home in Palm
4	Beach.
5
6	WHEREAS, after focusing the earlier part of his life on one
7	of the most profitable corporations in history, Henry Flagler
8	built his first luxury hotel, the Hotel Ponce de Leon, in St.
9	Augustine, thus launching the tourism industry in Florida, and
10	eventually erected a series of eight magnificent hotels along
11	the coast of the state, establishing as well cities such as
12	Daytona Beach and the world-famous winter resort, Palm Beach,
13	and
14	WHEREAS, Flagler built the Florida East Coast Railway to
15	connect the east coast from St. Augustine to Miami and continued
16	across miles of ocean with approximately 160 miles of track,
17	aptly named the Overseas Railroad, hopping from key to key
18	between Miami and Key West, and
19	WHEREAS, in addition to development, Flagler created a two-
20	million-acre agricultural industry and also gave thousands of
21	acres of land for schools, churches, parks, and cemeteries, and
22	more than a century later, Florida's agricultural and tourism
23	industries remain the two largest segments of the state's
24	economy, while nonprofit endowments based on his fortune
25	generate in excess of $50 million in charitable and educational
26	benefits each year, and
27	WHEREAS, in 1903, Henry Flagler lavishly celebrated the
28	opening of his Palm Beach home, Whitehall, a grand Beaux Arts
29	structure that is today a National Historic Landmark visited by
30	people from the world over and listed by major travel guides as
31	the only "must-see" site in Palm Beach County, NOW, THEREFORE,
32
33	Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of
34	Florida:
35
36	That the Members of the House of Representatives join the
37	citizens of the Town of Palm Beach in recognizing the 100th
38	anniversary of Whitehall, a spectacular symbol of the
39	contributions made by Henry Flagler to the town, the state, and
40	the nation.