Palm Beach

Palm Beach, Fla. — The Breakers Palm Beach is a historic hotel in Palm Beach, Florida. First known as The Palm Beach Inn, it was opened January 16, 1896 by oil, real estate, and railroad tycoon Henry Flagler to accommodate travelers on his Florida East Coast Railway. It occupies the beachfront portion of the grounds of the Royal Poinciana Hotel, which Flagler had opened beside Lake Worth Lagoon facing the inland waterway in 1894. Guests began requesting rooms “over by the breakers,” so Flagler renamed it The Breakers Hotel in 1901. The wooden hotel burned on June 9, 1903 and was rebuilt, opening on February 1, 1904. Photo by Patrick Farrell and Peter W. Cross