Print ArticleDowntown isn't the only neighborhood in town that's interesting. Here's eight facts about the beaches that you probably didn't already know.
5. Hotel Continental in Atlantic Beach
Henry Flagler's Hotel Continental was just north of what eventually became the Beaches Town Center. Courtesy of http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~flbakehs/ContinentalHotelAtlanticBeach1900.jpg
In 1900, after extending a branch of his railroad to Mayport, Henry Flagler built the massive Hotel Continental, on the line between Pablo Beach (now Jacksonville Beach) and Mayport. Flagler intended for the hotel to be a summer resort, partly due to its location. The hotel itself was a large, yellow, colonial-style building with green blinds. It featured 250 rooms for guests, and nearly 60 bathrooms. In addition, there were large parlors, a six-story rotunda, and a dining room that seated 350 people. There was also a dance pavilion, fishing pier, tennis courts, a riding stable, and a 9-hole golf course for guests’ entertainment.
The land surrounding the hotel was subdivided and sold for summer homes. There were promotional activities outside of the hotel such as auto races and air shows. The Hotel Continental also had a bowling alley, a depot, and even quarters for servants to sleep. After years of losing money, Flagler sold the Continental to the Atlantic Beach Corporation in 1913 and changed the name to the Atlantic Beach Hotel. With few people willing to visit during World War I, the Atlantic Beach Corporation went bankrupt. Not long after, the hotel would burn to the ground on September 20, 1919.
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