Ormond Hotel - Florida Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

The Hotel Ormond was the skyline signature of Ormond Beach for more than 100 years. It was built in 1887 by John Anderson and Joseph Price and opened January 1, 1888. Two years later, Henry Flagler bought the hotel and made it into one of the best-known hotels in the world, a playground for the rich and famous of the time

One of the hotel’s most famous guests was Flagler’s partner in the Standard oil Company, John D. Rockefeller, who spent several winters in the hotel before buying The Casements across the street in 1918. Other prominent guests included The Prince of Wales, Will Rogers, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, Thomas Edison, President Warren Harding, Harriet Beecher Stowe, George and Babe Zaharias, John Phillip Sousa, the Astors and Vanderbilts, and Al Capone. In 1923, Ed Sullivan became the golf secretary after he lost his newspaper job in Miami.

Because of its lack of air conditioning, Hotel Ormond was only open four months out of the year. Each January, our sleepy little town was shaken awake by the arrival of Mr. Flagler’s train. By the end of April, things quieted back down as wealthy Yankees fled the heat, returning to their northern compounds. When John D. Rockefeller died in 1937, the period of elite patronage began a steady decline.  A succession of new owners took over.

On November 24, 1980, The Ormond Hotel was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. In 1992, the structure was razed to the ground to make way for a condominium. The original cupola now stands in a riverfront park directly west of the site of the former hotel.

--Markers text --
Hotel Ormond, named for Volusia County pioneer James Ormond, was built in 1887 by John Anderson and Joseph Price. The large frame building was bought and enlarged by Henry M. Flagler in the 1890´s. Operated by Flagler´s Florida East Coast Railway, it was one of the first Flagler hotels in Florida. After 1890, the hotel and adjoining Ormond Beach Golf Club became major Florida tourist centers. John D. Rockefeller, a nearby resident, was a patron of both.

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