Florida East Coast Railway owned by Henry Morrison Flagler
History
Henry Flagler: developing Florida's east coast
The Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) was developed by Henry Morrison Flagler, an American tycoon, real estate promoter, railroad developer and John D. Rockefeller's partner in Standard Oil. Formed at Cleveland, Ohio, as Rockefeller, Andrews & Flagler in 1867, Standard Oil moved its headquarters in 1877 to New York City. Flagler and his family relocated there as well. He was joined by Henry H. Rogers, another leader of Standard Oil who also became involved in the development of America's railroads, including those on nearby Staten Island, the Union Pacific, and later in West Virginia, where he eventually built the remarkable Virginian Railway to transport coal to Hampton Roads, Virginia.
Flagler's non-Standard Oil interests went in a different direction, however, when in 1878, on the advice of his physician, he traveled to Jacksonville, Florida, for the winter with his first wife, Mary, who was quite ill. Two years after she died in 1881, he married Mary's former caregiver, Ida Alice Shourds. After their wedding, the couple traveled to St. Augustine, Florida, in 1883. Flagler found the city charming, but the hotel facilities and transportation systems inadequate. He recognized Florida's potential to attract out-of-state visitors. Though Flagler remained on the Board of Directors of Standard Oil, he gave up his day-to-day involvement in the firm in order to pursue his Florida interests.
When Flagler returned to Florida, in 1885 he began building a grand St. Augustine hotel, the Ponce de Leon Hotel. Flagler realized that the key to developing Florida was a solid transportation system.  At the time, St. Augustine was served by the Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Halifax River Railway (JStA&HR), a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge railway that began service in 1883 between South Jacksonville and St. Augustine.  While the JStA&HR was used to transport building materials for the hotel's construction, Flagler found it was poorly constructed and its passenger services would be inadequate for patrons to reach his hotel.  Flagler joined the board of the JStA&HR on December 10, 1885 before fully purchasing the line three weeks later.  Flagler then rehabilitated the line to his standards, purchased new rolling stock, and converting the track to standard gauge.: 65–66   He built a modern depot facility as well as schools, hospitals and churches, systematically revitalizing the largely abandoned historic city.The Ponce de Leon Hotel opened on January 10, 1888.  By April of that year, Flagler acquired a second hotel in St. Augustine, the Casa Monica Hotel, which he renamed Cordova.  He then built a third hotel, the Hotel Alcazar, which opened in 1898.: 49   With the success of his three St. Augustine hotels, Flagler incorporated the Jacksonville Bridge Company to build a bridge across the St. Johns River and connect the JStA&HR to the rest of Jacksonville's railroads.  Passengers needed to ferried across the St. Johns River in Jacksonville to access the line at the time, which was a time-consuming process.  Construction began in 1889 and the bridge opened on January 5, 1890, allowing a direct connection for private railcars and Pullman coaches to reach St. Augustine.By 1888, Flagler was interested in expanding his network beyond St. Augustine.  He acquired three additional railroad that year to expand further south.  He acquired the St. Johns Railway, which ran from St. Augustine west to the St. Johns River at Tocoi Landing.  The St. Johns Railway first opened in 1858 and Flagler purchased the line from New York millionaire William Astor.  Flagler also acquired another railroad from Astor, the St. Augustine and Palatka Railway which ran from Tocoi Junction (about half way between St. Augustine and Tocoi Landing) on the St. Johns Railway and ran southwest to East Palatka.  Finally, Flagler acquired the St. Johns and Halifax River Railroad which opened in the early 1880s from East Palatka southeast to Ormond Beach and Daytona.  It was extended west into Palatka after the completion of a bridge over the St. Johns River in 1888.  In addition to expanding the network, the acquired railroads gave Flagler two additional accesses to the St. Johns River at Tocoi Landing and East Palatka, as well as additional connections to other railroads in Palatka.  Continuing to develop hotel facilities to entice northern tourists to visit Florida, Flagler bought and expanded the Ormond Hotel in Ormond Beach.: 66 Flagler created the Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Indian River Railway Company in 1892 as a holding company for his railroad newtork.: 27