The First Oceanarium

Not only does the 10th annual Florida’s Birding and Photo Fest offer great opportunities for capturing award-winning wildlife photos, it is headquartered at the University of Florida’s Whitney Lab in Marineland – the smallest municipality in Florida (pop. 10). For decades, Marineland was the number one tourist destination in Florida because it was home to “Marineland” the world’s first oceanarium. In fact, the word “oceanarium” was created there to describe the attraction. 

It opened in 1938 under the name Marine Film Studios -- 30,000 people showed up the first day. In its earlier days, the oceanarium was the set for Tarzan movies, a favorite drinking spot for Ernest Hemingway, a set for Revenge of the Creature From the Black Lagoon (featuring the very first on-screen appearance by Clint Eastwood) and later was the setting for numerous episodes of the TV series Sea Hunt starring Lloyd Bridges and ABC’s Benji. Now on the National Register of Historic Places, Marineland has become part of the Georgia Aquarium and is known as the Dolphin Adventure at Marineland. Instead of the stadium-style performing dolphin shows of old, the “new” Marineland is strictly a swim-with-the-dolphins experience. For more information, go to www.marineland.net

Flagler College. It’s Scary Beautiful.

If you built this place you wouldn’t want to leave either. So we really can’t blame Henry Flagler, founder of the famed Hotel Ponce de Léon  (now Flagler College) for hanging around all these years. The only odd part is that he died 100 years ago back in 1913. So how is it that he’s still on premises?

Before we get into the heebie-jeebie stuff, let’s examine exactly how much effort went into Flagler College’s magnificent construction. The massive, ornate structure was planned to sit in a tidal marsh wetland. So not only was establishing a strong foundation difficult, but transporting supplies to the area wasn’t a walk in the park either. In fact, it was a train ride, on tracks built specifically to usher materials to the building site.

So, starting on December 1, 1885, more than 700 workers began an intense construction effort of what would become the  first major poured  concrete structure in the U.S. with a complex electrical system wired by Thomas Edison himself.  Mr. Flagler  noted that he overspent on the foundation so even in 100 years it would stand strong and appear exactly the same.

And now, the weird stuff. 100 years after his death, Mr. Flagler is still around to see that, indeed, his hotel remains both beautiful and formidable. At least according to legend. You see, just after his passing in 1913, Mr. Flagler’s body was briefly displayed in a coffin in the hotel’s rotunda. When time for burial came and assistants prepared to remove the coffin, all doors of the rotunda slammed shut on their own, simultaneously. Obviously Mr. Flagler didn’t want to leave. Immediately after the incident, workers noticed something strange in one of the tiny tiles on the rotunda floor. It was a perfect likeness of Mr. Flagler’s face, burned into the tile, watching over the hotel. No one knows how it got there. No one noticed it prior to the incident.

This tale of Mr. Flagler’s ghostly face isn’t the only oddity about this unusually gorgeous place. And the 100-year commemoration of its creator’s death serves to highlight the lore and significance of this vitally important piece of St. Augustine history. It could also highlight your next visit here, or your next nightly ghost tour. That is, if you aren’t afraid to come discover why our history – and the history of Flagler College – isn’t the same old story.
 

April 3, 1513, Is Only A Few Days Away