Tell us why this building is of importance. It serves as our Mystery Photo for today. Send your answer to ebrack2@gmail.com and include your hometown.
Allan Peel of San Antonio, Texas, gave us information on the previous mystery. “One could easily jump to the conclusion that the dome in today’s mystery photo was from a historical Capitol building, church, or temple, but none of these assumptions would be correct. Instead, the ornate and gilded dome of today’s mystery photo was originally part of a luxurious resort hotel, the Hotel Ponce de Leon, that was built in 1888 by railroad magnate Henry Morrison Flagler (1830–1913). Today, this 86-foot-high, three-and-a-half-story dome is above the grand lobby of the Ponce de Leon Hall at Flagler College in the Historic District of St. Augustine, Fla.” The photo came from Chuck Paul of Norcross.
“The Hotel Ponce de Leon was designed in the Spanish Renaissance style by New York architects John Carrère (1858–1911) and Thomas Hastings (1860–1929). It was completed and opened in 1888 and is historically significant in that it was one of the first major cast-in-place concrete structures in the United States, and the hotel was one of the first buildings in the country to be powered by electricity, installed under the supervision of Flagler’s friend, Thomas Edison (1847–1931).
“The stunningly beautiful murals were created by the American painter and muralist George Maynard (1843–1923). Look closely at the mystery photo, and you will see seven of the eight standing goddesses, four of which represent the four primordial elements of Earth, Water, Air, and Fire, and the remaining four representing the stages and timeline of Spain’s expansion into the New World, namely … Adventure, Discovery, Conquest, and Civilization.”
Recognizing the photo were George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; Jay Altman of Columbia, S.C.; Susan McBrayer of Sugar Hill; and Stew Ogilvie of Rehobeth, Ala.
- Share a Mystery Photo: If you have a photo that you believe will stump readers, send it along (but make sure to tell us what it is because it may stump us too!) Click here to send an email and please mark it as a photo submission. Thanks.
