A man by the name John Anderson immigrated to
Florida in the 1800s and made a home called Trappers Lodge on the
peninsula across from the mainland on the Halifax River. If you recall I
wrote a little piece on Anderson when we investigated the Ormond Tomb
Park. Anderson erected a plantation on the Halifax called Santa Lucia
which is a famous Italian melody.
But at one time the colony in the area was
named New Britain but when Anderson, Bostrom and James Ormond all became
friends they all visited a plantation in the area called Bosarve. At that
point they decided on renaming New Britain Ormond to honor the Ormond
family. They pursued a group of people the McNary family and the Dix
sisters that the town should be incorporated with James Ormond's name. They
used the banana tree as the city's emblem. This took place fairly close to
The Casements where at the time sailboats and ferry's had to cross the
Halifax River to get to the mainland or back.
In 1888 Anderson and a man by the name of J.D.
Price bought part of the Bostrom peninsula homestead and built the first
wing of the Ormond Hotel something we talked about in the Cassen Park
Prologue page. It opened on New Years Eve fairly close to the Casements
where today just a parking lot and green grassy park now stand.
Henry Flagler was responsible for increasing
railroad lines sizes in the area and coordinated a rail system in various
parts of Florida. He wanted to incorporate hotels along these railroad
lines. So he enlarged the Ormond Hotel to accommodate 600 guest and made
it into a resort for winter guest. They also ran the Tomoka River
Cruises nearby the dock still stands today where the ferry's departed.
Furthermore Volusia Counties most famous
residents lived just a few hundred yards away from the hotel eventually. A
man by the name John D. Rockefeller an oil entrepreneur wanted to live
longer so he very much was into all the healthy lifestyles, exercise,
certain nature foods etc. He wanted to live to be a century old so
this is the reason for healthy living. He was a very wealthy man had
employees which he asked them to find the most polluted free place in the
country so he could spend his winters there. Ormond Beach was chosen.
In 1914 Rockefeller arrived at the Ormond
Hotel and always rented the entire floor for himself and employees. He
spent about four winter seasons here eventually purchasing the home near
the hotel built by Reverend Harwood Huntington who's wife was the daughter
of the creator of the Pullman Train Car Company.
Some say the reason for his purchase was
because he had a dispute with the hotel employees and so he purchased this
winter cottage called The Casements. Of course if you were to see this
place The Casements look more like a giant three floor mansion. Apparently
he was being charged more then other guest at the hotel. The home
built in the early 1890s had a Shingle style architecture built by the
Episcopal minister himself.
Over the years many famous visitors had stayed
at The Casements visiting the Worlds Richest Man. Some of them were The
Prince Of Wales, Henry Ford, and even Will Rogers. Each year a giant
Christmas Party was held at The Casements and many locals attended just to
sit around the tree exchanging gifts.
As time passed on Rockefeller would live to
the ripe age of 97 years old. He died in 1937 and did not make it to 100
yrs. old. He made this his home for over 19 years eventually to die in his
sleep. The Rockefeller family sold the house after his death around 1939.
After this The Casements had changed ownership many times such as it was a
girls preparatory school, a home for the elderly then eventually it was
owned by The Ormond Hotel. Through them years The Casements suffered a
couple fires, vandalism and neglect. But they still survived.
In 1973 the city purchased The Casements and
it was restored back to the originally look which now serves as a cultural
and community center. It was placed on the National Register Of Historic
Places in 1972. It was called the Casements because of the many hand-cut
casement windows in the living room. The Casements contain many
Rockefeller Memorabilia, exhibits from early local Ormond History, Art,
and Boy Scouting.
For quite sometime I wanted to investigate
this place just never had the chance. After all the research I did on it
realizing it was an elderly home and that Rockefeller died here the
possibility of a ghost wandering its grounds or halls did not seem so
outrageous after all. How I would describe this place is alive. Every room
almost at night is lit up including most of the grounds. It almost seems
like a party is going on that you cannot see and so I bring to you the
world beyond our eyes.
© By
Rick-AngelOfThyNight
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