Flagler Beach Historical Museum

10/24/2026

10/24/2026

Who will win this year’s City of Flagler Beach scarecrow contest? 👻🎃

10/24/2026

Heading back to the Museum this morning and tomorrow morning to see how it works as Sweetie is getting better in rehab. For now, I'm just doing the morning shift and then heading down to Daytona to be with her.
James

10/22/2026

Our two newest board members attended their first Museum Board meeting last night!

Sean Baker - a local video producer + filmmaker (left), and Caleb Hathaway - a Florida author, historian, and environmental science student.

And yes, we already captured the most “museum” moment possible: Sean taking a closer look at Caleb’s book… which we proudly carry in the Museum.

We’re excited to have both of you on board and can’t wait for what’s ahead for the Flagler Beach Historical Museum!

10/20/2026

It's a busy weekend in Flagler Beach! If you are a local, you know all about the Tommy Tant Memorial Surf Classic. If you’re visiting, you won’t want to miss this Flagler Beach tradition. Come enjoy the surf, the community vibe, and a full weekend of fun on the sand, and of course stop by the Museum and browse - FREE admission!

Two weeks out. Friday, October 23, The Tommy kicks off!

The weekend always opens with a night that feels more like a homecoming than anything. Whether you've been part of the Tommy for years or you're walking in for the first time, this is the night we come together. We're celebrating true friendships, the surf we love, and the next generation coming up.

This year it means a little more. In our 24th year, we’re throwing the first kickoff in our new home across the street.

Here's the night: an acoustic set by Timing Belt, ice-cold Pacifico and other drinks, and a great lineup of goods and services up for grabs, all donated to the cause. Keep an eye out this week for some sneak peeks!

Friday, Oct 23 · 7 pm · Craeft Surf Studio, across from the Flagler Beach Pier.

Craeft Surf Studio
Pacifico B**r

10/20/2026

10/18/2026

From other posts, you are likely aware that the front of the building hosting Attorney and Flagler Beach City Commissioner Scott W. Spradley’s law offices at the southeast corner of Central Avenue and South 3rd Street was impacted by an automobile this past Friday, October 16. Unfortunately, this incident structurally damaged a 101-year-old historic building dating from the year of Flagler Beach’s incorporation as a town, the 1925 Holden’s Pharmacy. The first photo shows the building in its condemned state following the Friday incident, courtesy of Mr. Spradley, and the second photo shows the building right after completion in 1925, courtesy of the Flagler Beach Historical Museum.

George Moody (1879-1967), Flagler Beach’s founder, and Oscar Jay Gude Jr (1890-1944) built the two-story pharmacy building in 1925 for Tom Edward Holden (1892-1974). They constructed it using “Lamore Quadruple Interlocking Cement Tile”, highlighted in a June 25, 1925, ad published in The Flagler Tribune, posted here as the third image. It was evidently a quality construction technique, as, until now, the building survived the ravages of hurricanes and the passage of time.

When it opened for business on July 30, 1925, this building hosted Flagler Beach’s first pharmacy and Tom Holden’s second, as he already operated one in Bunnell. After the Moody Hotel opened in 1927, Holden moved his pharmacy to the northeast corner on the ground floor of the hotel. From 1939 to 1957, Mariel Marie Ranger Mosby (1907-1994) and her husband Richard Randall “Dick” Mosby (1898-1980) operated a grocery store in the former 1925 Holden’s Pharmacy building. They lived in the apartment above. For many years, it was the only grocery store in Flagler Beach.

Hopefully, the building can be saved, as it is one of the few surviving structures from Flagler Beach’s earliest days. There are cracks and separations evident all the way to the roofline, so it is a grievous injury.

10/13/2026

We are looking forward to seeing the creativity come alive in this year's Flagler Beach businesses Scarecrow Contest!

City of Flagler Beach

10/11/2026

That 21-year-old rural mail carrier in Bartow, Florida, on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle, is Claude Grady Varn (1890-1979), a man whom Flagler County and Flagler Beach would later come to know and celebrate. The image is circa 1911, courtesy of Florida Memory, a digital outreach program of the State Library and Archives of Florida. The colorized image precedes the original unaltered photo. Within a year, young Claude Varn would attend law school at Stetson University. After graduating in 1914, he was admitted to the State Bar and began practicing law in DeLand before moving to Bunnell in 1917. There, he became the local attorney for the Florida East Coast Railway. When Flagler County was founded later in 1917, the governor appointed him attorney for the Flagler County Board of County Commissioners, a position he served in from 1917 to 1926.

Claude Varn was a prime mover in creating Ocean Shore Boulevard, now State Road A1A and the Jimmy Buffett Memorial Highway. He drafted the legislation to create the Ocean Shore Development District, advocated for the bill in the Legislature, and traveled to Tallahassee to secure the Governor's signature in 1923. He also prepared subsequent legislation that extended the project to the north Flagler County line. Then Mr. Varn formed the St. Johns County Bridge Company, of which he was president, to construct the final link in the coastal highway connecting St. Augustine with Flagler Beach and on south to Ponce Inlet. That final link was the Matanzas Inlet Bridge, a creosote wooden toll bridge that began construction in the fall of 1925 and opened on March 20, 1927. Many technical challenges arose from the treacherous, shifting channel and unusually high storm tides. Pilings supporting the bridge in and near the channel were 80 feet long. The third image is a colorized photo of that 1927 toll bridge, followed by the original, unaltered newsprint photo that appeared in The St. Augustine Record on March 15, 1964. An ad in The Daytona Beach News-Journal on August 12, 1927, posted here as the fifth image, noted that travel from St. Augustine to Daytona Beach over the new Ocean Shore Boulevard and its bridges was 22 miles shorter than using the Old Brick Road through Hastings. The final image is a schedule of tolls for the Matanzas Inlet Bridge, published in The St. Augustine Record on August 3, 1930.

On Wednesday, March 11, 1964, the State of Florida dedicated a new concrete bridge that replaced the original wooden bridge over the Matanzas Inlet as the “Claude G. Varn Bridge”, honoring the man so instrumental in linking the beach communities from Jacksonville to Ponce Inlet with the coastal highway that became State Road A1A. Mr. Varn attended the dedication ceremony along with his extended family.

In a life full of accomplishments, Claude Varn is also the founder of Beverly Beach, located about three miles north of Flagler Beach along Ocean Shore Boulevard. Beverly Beach incorporated as a municipality on June 23, 1955, and Mr. Varn served as town attorney.

10/10/2026

🛺🌴 **THREE STOPS. ONE UNFORGETTABLE EVENING!**

Picture this: A parade of decorated golf carts cruising through Flagler Beach, stopping for cocktails, dinner, and dessert. 🍹🍽️🍰

Sounds like a great evening, right? **But the REAL reason we're celebrating is right here in these photos!** ❤️

These young explorers are discovering the history, people, and stories that make Flagler Beach special through the Museum's hands-on educational programs.

And **EVERY dollar raised** through the Coastal Cart Caravan supports our Youth Explorer Program, helping us create more experiences just like these!

🎟️ **Tickets are VERY LIMITED, and we're just TWO WEEKS away!** Don't miss your chance to be part of this exclusive coastal adventure.

📅 Thursday, October 22 | 5–8 PM

🛺 No golf cart? Cart-pool with friends!

❤️ **Come for the fun. Do it for the kids!**

🎟️ Get your tickets: https://givebutter.com/fbhmsponsorships