Hotels

The Ocean View Hotel

The Ocean View Hotel was located at Pablo Beach (now Jacksonville Beach) along the ocean front at the foot of Putnam Boulevard and Pablo Avenue. Like most grand structures of their time, it burned to the ground in 1926.

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Historic Hotels at the Beaches

The Oceanic Hotel

The Oceanic Hotel was located at Pablo Beach (now Jacksonville Beach) along the ocean front. Unlike most grand structures of their time, it did not burn down.

The Oceanic Hotel was torn down in 19__, some items were salvaged. In the Foreman’s House bathroom, a large tall mirror is from the hotel.

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Historic Hotels at the Beaches

 

The Murray Hall Hotel

The first of the seaside fantasy hotels, the Murray Hall Hotel was built by John G. Christopher in 1886 at the oceanfront in Pablo Beach where the Lifeguard Station stands today. Christopher had high hopes of starting a tourist industry to rival that underway in Jacksonville. The hotel was a fabulous three story structure with a tower-like section of six stories in the front and cost the then princely sum of $150,000. It had a billiard room, bowling alley, bar, reading room, sulphur water spa, a large reception hall, over 50 fireplaces, steam heat, an elevator, and its own plant to supply the hotel’s electricity. Water came from an artesian well, which provided all of Pablo Beach with water until the 1920s.

Antique furnishings, crystal chandeliers, imported lace curtains and heavy drapes were used throughout the hotel. The hotel advertised that it had a capacity for 350 guests. Guests could travel on the newly developed railway, the Jacksonville and Atlantic Railroad (1885) from South Jacksonville to the oceanfront. They could stroll the elaborately landscaped grounds and partake in a myriad of turn of the century activities.

On August 7, 1890, after only four years of glory, fire broke out in the boiler room consuming all of the wooden structure and its outbuildings leaving Murray Hall as an ephemeral ghost monument to the memory of the founders of Florida Tourism.

The Murray Hall Hotel

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Historic Hotels at the Beaches

 

McCormick Hotel and Apartments

McCormick Hotel & Apartments “New Modern, 100% Fireproof, Rooms, suites and Completely furnished Housekeeping Apartments, Open all year.”
Three story, flat-roofed building: 1601 North third St., Jacksonville, Beach, Florida

McCormick Motel Jacksonville Beach 2McCormick Apartment Hotel; 1601 N. 3rd St., A1A Hiway – Jacksonville Beach, Florida
A modern Motor Hotel with all the conveniences of home. Each Apartment has a Kitchen completely equipped. Tile Bath and Shower, 200 yards from World’s finest Beach, Air Conditioned, well heated in winter. TV Equipped. Open year round. Special Winter rates by week, month or season. (Old: phone: Cherry 9-9063)

McCormick Apts “New, modern, completely furnished. 354 apartments, 110 rooms by day, week, month, year. Open all year”
Three story, flat-roofed building.

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Historic Hotels at the Beaches

 

The Atlantic Beach Hotel

The first Atlantic Beach HotelThe Atlantic Beach Hotel was the new name given to the Continential Hotel in 1913. Unfortunately it burned to the ground in a spectacular fire in 1919 on September 20th. A new hotel, also named the Atlantic Beach Hotel, soon replaced the wooden structure and remained in operation until the late 1960s. That hotel was quite a bit smaller as can be seen in the second photo below.

After the fire of the Atlantic Beach Hotel in 1919, a few items were salvaged, including adjacent area buildings that did not burn.

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Historic Hotels at the Beaches

 

The Continental Hotel

In 1900, after purchasing the Jacksonville and Atlantic Railway, which ran from South Jacksonville to Pablo Beach, and making it part of his Florida East Coast Railway system, Henry Flagler built the Continental Hotel on the railroad line between Pablo Beach and Mayport. A summer resort, the Continental was a massive colonial yellow building with signature green blinds. The Continental had 250 guest rooms, 56 baths, large parlors, and a huge dining room. Although the exterior was architecturally simple, the interior was considered luxurious. For guests’ enjoyment, there was a 9-hole golf course, a dance pavilion, a fishing pier, tennis courts, and a riding stable. There was a train depot on the west side of the hotel.

The Continental changed names in 1913 to the Atlantic Beach Hotel. Unfortunately it burned to the ground in a spectacular fire in 1919 on September 20th. A new hotel, also named the Atlantic Beach Hotel, soon replaced the wooden structure and remained in operation until the late 1960s. The later hotel was much smaller than the original. Nothing since has ever compared to the grandeur of the Continential Hotel.

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Historic Hotels at the Beaches

 

Beaches Museum
381 Beach Boulevard
Jacksonville Beach, Florida 32250