Henry Flagler’s steam yacht Alicia, 160’ long at the waterline, custom built in 1890 by Harlan and Hollingsworth of Wilmington, Delaware. Library of Congress.
The Amazing Story of Henry Flagler’s Yacht, Alicia What do bananas, the overthrow of a government, and Henry Flagler have in common? The answer: Henry Flagler’s yacht Alicia. With the America’s Cup race just months away, and the Museum’s Fall Exhibition on the history of yacht racing during the Gilded Age about to open, it seems like the perfect time to tell the amazing story of one of Henry Flagler’s yachts, the Alicia. Like other titans of America’s Gilded Age, Henry Flagler enjoyed yachting and was a member of many yacht clubs, including the New York Yacht Club, where he registered his private signal flag or burgee. Flagler purchased Eclipse, his first yacht, around 1883, but he owned it only briefly. Eclipse was built by C.A. Willis in 1881 and its overall length was about 55 feet. Flagler’s second yacht, the schooner Columbia, was purchased in 1884. Built in 1871 for Franklin Osgood, Columbia became world famous when in that same year she successfully defended the America’s Cup, along with Sappho. Columbia was about 108 feet long with a beam of about 25 feet. She drew just over eight feet and displaced just over 100 tons. In 1890 Henry Flagler decided to build his own new yacht, which he named Alicia, after his wife Alice. It would be,
by far, his largest yacht. Harlan and Hollingsworth of Wilmington, Delaware received the commission to build a two-masted schooner, with a three-cylinder steam engine. Alicia’s overall length was 180ft, her length along its waterline was 160ft, its displacement was just over 300 tons, its beam was 24ft, and its draft was 9ft 6in. At a cost of about $113,000 (about $3,000,000 in today’s money), Alicia was a substantial investment. Flagler must have been proud of Alicia, as it was the only one of his yachts for which he commissioned a painting. Like Columbia, the Alicia was involved in an America’s Cup race, but in Alicia’s case not as a competitor, but as a patrol or committee boat. Henry Flagler and the Alicia were chosen to serve as a captain and patrol vessel during the 1895 America’s Cup race, when an American Lapel pin of sloop designed by the legendary yacht Alicia’s Nathanael Herreshoff named personal signal Defender successfully defended the flag, or burgee. Cup by defeating the British cutter Flagler Museum Valkyrie III. To commemorate the Collection. occasion and thank Flagler for