September 1, 2015

1868 UNITED STATES (Florida) - Lightner Museum in St. Augustine


Founded in 1565 by Spanish admiral and Florida's first governor, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, St. Augustine is the oldest continuously occupied European-established settlement in the continental United States. Among the points of interest of the city is Lightner Museum, a museum of antiquities, mostly American Gilded Age pieces, housed within the historic Hotel Alcazar. This 1887 Spanish Renaissance Revival style building was commissioned by Henry M. Flagler to appeal to wealthy tourists who traveled south for the winter on his railroad, the Florida East Coast Railway.

Designed by New York City architects Carrère and Hastings, it was closed in 1932. After purchasing the building to house his extensive collection of Victorian Era pieces in 1947, Chicago publisher Otto C. Lightner turned it over to the city of St. Augustine. The building is an attraction in itself, centering on an open courtyard with palm trees and a stone arch bridge over a fishpond.

About the stamp
The stamp is a Global Forever First-Class Mail International one ($1.10), about which I wrote here

References
Lightner Museum - Wikipedia
Lightner Museum - Official website

Sender: Denise
Sent from Greenvale (New York / United States), on 10.03.2014

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