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At the turn of the century, it was not considered polite for women to be present while business was conducted.  The men stood in the outer lobby (previous page), smoking cigars and taking their turns in the business office while the women went into the feminine salon and visited while waiting for them.

To left, the intricate ceiling;
to right, note the
close-up of the P d L for the Ponce de Leon Hotel.

Flagler donated the money for a new Baptist church but with one condition, that they not put a bell in their tower.  Today there is still no bell in the tower.  The reason for the stipulation is that the Henry Flagler Memorial Presbyterian Church (below) has a 5,000 pipe organ and he wanted no confusion or competition of church bells playing.  Flagler had the Presbyterian church built in memory of his wife and his daughter Jenny Louise Benedict who died five weeks after giving birth to a daughter who also passed away.  Less than a year after Jenny died, this church was completed and opened.  The Presbyterian church is patterned after St. Marks in Venice, Italy.  The building is shaped like a cross with a big Venetian dome in the middle.  Including the cross on the dome, the church is about 120 feet high. 

Burial site of Flagler and his second wife inside the church.  The mirror at the foot of their crypt reflects the dome with stained glass above the chamber.