Halcyon Hotel

History of the Halcyon Hotel

The Halcyon Hotel was constructed in the early 1900s by the Bunnell Development Company. The company arranged trips for potential buyers from northern cities, such as Chicago, to Bunnell. The hotel was built to accommodate the influx of visitors to the area. The story of the Halcyon Hotel coincides with the early history and development of Bunnell, and although it still stands today, it is but a shadow of its former self and awaits demolition.

George W. Deen and St. Johns County Turpentine Business

George W. Deen was born on March 12, 1855, in Appling County, Georgia, about five miles south of Holmesville, the former county seat. He was the son of James Deen and Hulda Gray Melton. When George’s parents died in 1863, he and his siblings continued to live at the family homestead under the guardianship of an uncle. As the older children married and left home, George reached the age of 23 and decided to seek his own prospects in 1878. He secured work on the farm of Isaac I. Moody, earning the equivalent of $6 per month, paid in gold. By the end of his first year, he had saved $55.

In 1880, Deen found work as a clerk in a drug store, and the following year, he became a co-partner in the business. By 1884, he had entered the mercantile trade with his brother, Columbus Deen. He later ventured into the turpentine business in the town of Beach, Georgia, alongside W.W. Beach and John R. Young, eventually buying out his partners and establishing his own turpentine operation in Nicholls, Georgia. In 1892, he moved to Waycross, Georgia, and by 1887 had organized the Excelsior Medicine Company there.

By 1898, Deen had expanded into Florida, operating a turpentine and naval stores business three miles east of Barberville, Volusia County, with David F. Morrison. He also owned extensive turpentine interests in what is now Flagler County, Florida. Several men from Appling County relocated to Florida with their families to operate turpentine stills for Deen, either on lease or under his management. Among these were his brothers Daniel Martin Deen and James Monroe Deen, his nephew James Emmett Deen, and Isaac I. Moody, Jr., son of George’s former employer.

Isaac Moody Jr. worked as a woodsman for Deen, and his roommate, James Frank “Major” Lambert, served as a bookkeeper and distiller at one of Deen’s stills.

“Bunnell Stop” and Its Namesake, Alvah Bunnell

In the early 1890s, there was no town—just pine forest, turpentine stills, and a flag stop on the Jacksonville–St. Augustine & Halifax River Railway. Official records show that Alvah Alonzo Bunnell was appointed as postmaster for “Bunnell Stop” on October 5, 1892. It was known as Bunnell Stop, simply so that the mail and passengers could identify the location. After petitioning with St. Johns County, a small rural school was established there in 1894. By 1897, Alvah Bunnell had set up a cypress shingle mill and a small store beside the tracks.

Alvah Bunnell’s Later Years in Miami

Alvah Bunnell, like many Floridians at the time, moved down to the fledgling city of Miami, where he purchased an interest in the Miami Real Estate firm of Carroll & Amason. In November 1906, he went into the machine shop business with W. A. Lofton, where, in addition to running the shop, they were agents for Reo Automobiles and Auto Supplies. He bought out Lofton’s interest in the business the following month.

1910 census records show that Alvah Bunnell served as manager of the Bunnell Brothers Cigar Factory. His sons, Gilbert and Gus, were working as mechanics in a garage, and his son Emmett was a salesman at an auto store, likely owned by their father. Bunnell also served as a policeman and a sanitary engineer for the city of Miami. He died in 1944 and is buried at Miami Memorial Park Cemetery.

Moody Jr. and Lambert Partnership

In 1903, Moody formed a partnership with Lambert, and together they purchased Bunnell’s shingle mill. Two years later, Moody and Lambert became aware of a 30,000-acre tract of land on which they could start their own turpentine business and purchased the tract. Moody’s brothers, Robert and George, moved their families down to Florida to help with the thriving operations.

The St. Johns Development Company and Its Influence

In late 1908, the St. Johns Development Company was established with George Deen on the board of directors, having deeded all his land—25,000 acres—to the company for the development. In January 1909, the St. Johns Development Company entered into a contract with the Ben Levin Advertising Agency of Chicago to promote its land holdings, offering both town lots and small agricultural tracts for sale. Their campaign targeted northern newspapers with the enticing slogan: “Five Dollars Down and Five Dollars a Month.” As a result, a considerable amount of land was sold by mail order, often in 25-acre parcels.

To support this new settlement, the company undertook several major improvements. A three-story frame hotel was constructed on a five-acre waterfront park, accompanied by an administration building, a two-story general store, and a post office. The company operated regular boat service for both passengers and freight, using two vessels, The McNeil and The Crescent, which made scheduled stops at Dead Lake. These boats brought in settlers, mail, prospectors, and construction supplies, while returning northward with freshly harvested farm products from the new colony.

The Bunnell Development Company

Their success did not escape the attention of the Moody brothers and Lambert, who owned substantially more land, and formed the Bunnell Development Company in 1909 with Isaac Moody Jr. as president; J. R. Sloan and Claude F. Steward as vice-presidents; and James Frank Lambert as secretary and treasurer.

Taking cues from the St. Johns Development Company, the Bunnell Development Company had real estate offices in Bunnell and Chicago, the latter of which published a periodical titled “The Bunnell Home Builders,” with the slogan, “The Truth about Florida.” The publication was sent to all Bunnell-Dupont Colony land owners and others who were interested in “securing homes in the Sunny Southland.” Land promoters used certain sales tactics, such as promising three harvests a year, no snow or ice, and perfect farming conditions, all available for just $35 an acre.

Some of these editions were also targeted specifically at newly arrived Polish immigrants living in Chicago, Detroit, and other northern cities, written in the Polish language. Many Poles made the trek down and settled six miles south of Bunnell, founding the small community of Korona.

The Bunnell Development Company used a special chartered train called “The Dixie Flyer” to arrange regular trips for potential buyers via the Florida East Coast Railway. The round-trip from Chicago to Bunnell was around $41.89, according to Flagler County researcher Sisco Deen. It should be noted that, unlike later developers, the Bunnell Development Company did not own the train and simply arranged the trips.

The town of Bunnell was incorporated in 1913 in St. Johns County, as Flagler County had not yet been created. That would not happen until April 1917, when Isaac Moody Jr. and members of a local delegation successfully convinced the state Senate and House Representatives to establish a new county. There was a proposal to name this county Moody County, but he declined having the county named after him and suggested the name of Flagler County in honor of Henry Morrison Flagler.

The Halcyon Hotel

A hotel was built to accommodate these potential buyers, named the Bunnell Hotel, and later known as the Halcyon Hotel. The building still stands at the corner of Railroad and Lambert Streets, across from the home of J. F. Lambert, who was also the proprietor of the Halcyon. The hotel offered accommodations for up to 75 guests at a rate of $3 per day. Those of couldn’t afford that could find lodging at the Pine Grove Inn, located at the northeast corner of Church Street and Moody Boulevard, now a vacant lot.

For more than 30 years, city commissioner and state House representative for Flagler County, Frank L. Byrd, and his wife Pearl Graham, owned the Halycon Hotel, which they had owned since at least 1918. Frank Byrd was born in Crescent City but spent much of his youth in Georgia. He arrived in Bunnell 38 years ago, coming from Hastings, where he had served as a bank cashier.

From the time he became a resident, Byrd was deeply involved in the political life of Flagler County. He served multiple terms as mayor of Bunnell and went on to represent the county in the Florida House of Representatives in 1923, 1925, 1927, and 1933. He died on June 21, 1949, and according to an obituary, his funeral was “held from his home in Halcyon Hotel.”

The hotel later changed hands, operated for some time as the Carriage Apartments, and its history seemingly ends there. According to locals, the building, having sat abandoned for several years, awaits demolition to be replaced with apartments.

Photo Gallery