{{Short description|Historic museum in Florida, US}} {{Redirect|Hotel Alcazar|the building in Cleveland Heights, Ohio|Alcazar Hotel (Cleveland Heights, Ohio)}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox NRHP | name = Alcazar Hotel | image = Alcazar Hotel, St. Augustine, FL, US (21).jpg | caption = The Lightner Museum, originally the Alcazar Hotel, with a statue of [[Pedro Menéndez de Avilés]] on the ground. | location = 75 King Street<br />[[St. Augustine, Florida]] | coordinates = {{coord|29|53|30|N|81|18|51|W|display=inline,title}} | locmapin = Florida#USA | area = | built = 1887 (museum opened 1948) | architect = [[Carrère and Hastings]] | architecture = [[Architecture of the Spanish Renaissance|Spanish Renaissance Revival]]<ref name=brochure>Lightner Museum. "Lightner Museum" brochure, circa 2007.</ref> | added = February 24, 1971 | refnum = 71001013<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref> | visitation_num = | visitation_year = | governing_body = | website = {{URL|www.lightnermuseum.org}} }} The '''Lightner Museum''' is a museum of antiques, mostly American [[Gilded Age]] pieces, housed within the historic '''Hotel Alcazar''' building in downtown [[St. Augustine, Florida|St. Augustine]]. This 1887 [[:Category:Spanish Revival architecture in the United States|Spanish Renaissance Revival style]] building is listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].
==History==
===Hotel Alcazar=== The hotel was commissioned by [[Henry Flagler]], to appeal to wealthy tourists who traveled south for the winter on his railroad, the [[Florida East Coast Railway]]. It was designed by New York City architects [[Carrère and Hastings]], in the [[:Category: Spanish Revival architecture in Florida|Spanish Renaissance Revival style]]. The firm also designed the [[Ponce de León Hotel]] across the street, now part of the campus of [[Flagler College]]. Both structures are notable for being among the earliest examples of poured concrete buildings in the world. These architects later designed the [[New York Public Library]] in New York City and the [[Russell Senate Office Building]] in Washington, D.C.
The hotel had a steam room, massage parlor, sulfur baths, gymnasium, a three-story ballroom, and the world's largest indoor swimming pool; however, after years as an elegant winter resort for wealthy patrons, the hotel closed in 1932.
On August 20, 1947 Chicago publisher Otto C. Lightner purchased the building to convert the old hotel into a hobbies museum. He used the space to house several collections, including his own extensive collection of Victorian era art.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.numismaticmall.com/numismaticmall-com/lightner-otto-curtis |title=LIGHTNER, OTTO CURTIS - NumismaticMall.Com |access-date=2019-08-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190326180531/http://www.numismaticmall.com/numismaticmall-com/lightner-otto-curtis |archive-date=2019-03-26 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.trolleytours.com/st-augustine/lightner-museum |title=Lightner Museum St. Augustine Information Guide |access-date=2019-08-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819133531/https://www.trolleytours.com/st-augustine/lightner-museum |archive-date=2019-08-19 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He then turned it over to the city of St. Augustine and the museum opened to the public in 1948.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://staugustine.com/history/lightner-museum|title=Lightner Museum|author=<!--not stated-->|date=2012|website=staugustine.com|publisher=St. Augustine Record|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120105104644/http://staugustine.com/history/lightner-museum|archive-date=January 5, 2012}}</ref>
The building is an attraction in itself, centering on an open [[courtyard]] with [[palm tree]]s and a [[stone arch bridge]] over a koi pond.
==Museum== The museum occupies three floors of the former Hotel Alcazar and is housed in the former health facilities of the hotel, including the spa and the [[Victorian Turkish baths|Victorian Turkish bath]], in addition to its three-story ballroom.
The first floor of the museum houses a Victorian Science and Industry Room displays shells, rocks, minerals, and Native American artifacts in beautiful [[Gilded Age]] cases, as well as stuffed birds, a small [[Mummy#Egyptian mummies|Egyptian mummy]], a model [[steam engine]], elaborate examples of Victorian [[glassblowing]], a golden elephant bearing the world on its back, and a [[shrunken head]]. Moreover, the first floor contains a music room, filled with mechanized musical instruments—including [[player piano]]s, [[reproducing piano]]s, [[orchestrions]], and others—dating from the 1870s through the 1920s. It formerly featured a Victorian village, with shop fronts representing emporia selling period wares; this area is now the gift shop.
The second floor contains examples of [[cut glass]], Victorian [[art glass]] and [[stained glass|stained-glass]] work from [[Louis Comfort Tiffany]]'s studio. The third floor, in the ballroom's upper balcony, exhibits paintings, sculptures, and furniture, including a ''[[Desk|grande escritoire]]'' created for [[Louis Bonaparte]], [[Napoleon Bonaparte|Napoleon's]] brother and [[Kingdom of Holland|King of Holland]] between 1806 and 1810. The Ballroom Gallery has oil paintings by [[Paul Trouillebert]] (''Cleopatra & the Dying Messenger''), [[Léon Comerre]] (''Maid of Honor''), and [[Albert Bierstadt]] (''In the Yosemite''). It also has sculptures by [[Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux]] and [[Randolph Rogers]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}}
On view from the ballroom's upper balcony is the now drained swimming pool. The pool now hosts the Cafe Alcazar.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://lightnermuseum.org/cafe/ |title=Cafe Alcazar - Lightner Museum |access-date=2019-08-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819133628/https://lightnermuseum.org/cafe/ |archive-date=2019-08-19 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://thealcazarcafe.com/cafe-alcazar/ |title=Cafe Alcazar in St. Augustine, FL |access-date=2019-08-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819133628/https://thealcazarcafe.com/cafe-alcazar/ |archive-date=2019-08-19 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
The Lightner Museum partners with local tourism initiatives such as Visit Florida and Florida Attractions Association. In 2021, the museum developed a local artists initiative called Lightner Local, with support from the Benjamin and Jean Troemel Arts Foundation, awarding exhibition space for artists who lived in Northeast and Central Florida.<ref>{{cite web |title=Local painters invited to apply for solo exhibitions in Lightner Museum's East Room Gallery |url=https://pontevedrarecorder.com/stories/local-painters-invited-to-apply-for-solo-exhibitions-in-lightner-museums-east-room-gallery,11851 |website=The Ponte Vedra Recorder |date=14 January 2021 |language=en}}</ref> The Lightner is a member of Culture Builds Florida, the Division of Arts and Culture for the state of Florida, as well as the St Johns Cultural Council. In 2021, the museum completed improvements to its storage facilities using a $162,000 grant award from the [[Institute of Museum and Library Services]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Lightner Museum Announces Successful Completion of IMLS-funded Improvements to its Collection Storage |url=https://lightnermuseum.org/2022/02/13/imls/ |website=Lightner Museum |date=14 February 2022}}</ref>
==Gallery== <gallery> File:Lightner Museum - Tower Detail.JPG|Tower detail of the Lightner Museum File:Taxidermic Bird - Lightner Museum.JPG|Taxidermic bird (detail) at the Lightner Museum File:Shrunken Head - Lightner Museum.jpg|Shrunken head exhibited at the Lightner Museum File:Tiffany Window of St Augustine - Lightner Museum.jpg|[[Louis Comfort Tiffany]] stained-glass window of [[Augustine of Hippo|St. Augustine]], exhibited at the Lightner Museum File:Alcazar Hotel, St. Augustine, FL, US (14).jpg|Historical marker File:Pedro Menéndez de Avilés Statue.jpg|alt=|Pedro Menéndez de Avilés Statue - May 2019 File:Alcazar Hotel Historic Marker.jpg|alt=|Alcazar Hotel Historic Marker File:Alcazar Hotel Courtyard 1.jpg|alt=|Courtyard - May 2019 File:Alcazar Hotel Courtyard 2.jpg|alt=|Courtyard Koi Pond - May 2019 File:Lightner Courtyard.jpg|Lightner Courtyard </gallery>
==See also== *[[National Register of Historic Places listings in St. Johns County, Florida]]
==References== * Ossman, Laurie; Ewing, Heather (2011). ''Carrère and Hastings, The Masterworks''. Rizzoli USA. {{ISBN|9780847835645}}. {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{Commons category-inline|Lightner Museum}} *{{Official website |http://www.lightnermuseum.org/}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20050318042715/http://www.gainesvilletoday.com/2003/12/visit_saint_augustine.html "Florida's Smithsonian"] *{{HABS |survey=FL-168 |id=fl0197 |title=Alcazar Hotel, 75 King Street, Saint Augustine, St. Johns County, Florida |photos=8 |data=6 |cap=1}}
{{St. Augustine, Florida}} {{National Register of Historic Places in Florida}} {{Carrère and Hastings}} {{authority control}}
[[Category:Hotel buildings completed in 1887]] [[Category:Museums in St. Augustine, Florida]] [[Category:Art museums and galleries in Florida]] [[Category:Decorative arts museums in the United States]] [[Category:History museums in Florida]] [[Category:National Register of Historic Places in St. Johns County, Florida]] [[Category:Historic American Buildings Survey in Florida]] [[Category:Carrère and Hastings buildings]] [[Category:Spanish Revival architecture in Florida]]