Lightner Museum
The Lightner Museum offers visitors an immersive experience of art, architecture, and history.
Founded by Chicago Publisher Otto Lightner in 1948, the museum presents compelling exhibitions and programs as well as Lightner's unique collection of Americana, fine and decorative art, and natural history specimens.
The museum is housed in the former Alcazar Hotel. Constructed in 1888 by Henry Flagler, the Alcazar was the railroad magnate's second grand hotel in St. Augustine. Designed by Carrère and Hastings, the Spanish Renaissance Revival hotel hosted thousands of guests who enjoyed its remarkable recreation facilities — including the world's largest swimming pool, Turkish and Russian steam baths, tennis courts, and a gymnasium. The Alcazar closed during the Depression, and in 1947 Otto Lightner purchased the museum and gifted it to the city. Lightner transformed the former Gilded Age resort hotel into an eclectic museum to house and show the art and artifacts he had collected for years.