top of page
Don Schueler

About

My name is Don Schueler, and I grew up in Bellevue, Ohio. A few years ago, I developed a keen interest in the history and architecture of The Gilded Age. I also discovered that hometown Bellevue itself was once home to influential entrepreneurs and philanthropists from the Gilded Age, such as the Harkness and Flagler families. These families have historical roots in Bellevue, Florida, New York, and beyond.

 

I started pulling together as much information as I could about the Harkness and Flagler stories. I also had the privilege of engaging in conversations with notable Bellevue historian Bill Oddo, members of the Harkness family, as well as archivists at Harkness House in New York and The Flagler Museum in Florida. I have made significant contributions to the research by providing updates and creating Wikipedia pages for the Harkness and Flagler families. 

​

And now I have pulled this all together on this website. I hope you enjoy the content and kindly share it with others if you find it valuable. If you come across any inaccuracies or have additional comments or questions, please feel free to leave them in the comments section of the associated article.

​

Locations

During my research, I had the chance to visit various locations related to the Harkness and Flagler families in the US, England, and Scotland. Thanks to personal and business travels, I made it a point to include these sites whenever possible. Here are some of the places I visited:

Harkness and Flagler - locations visited

  1. Bellevue, Ohio

    1. Bellevue Cemetery

    2. Amos Garage (Flaglers Gingerbread home carriage house)

    3. Harkness Memorial Church (unfortunately outside only)

  2.  Cleveland, Ohio

    1.  The Union Club

    2.  The Cleveland Arcade

    3. Lakeview Cemetery

    4. Harkness Memorial Chapel

  3. New York, New York

    1. Harkness House and Carriage House

    2. New York Yacht Club

    3. Willam Harkness House

    4. Metropolitan Museum

    5. Woodlawn Cemetery

    6. Kykuit - JD Rockefeller's home

  4. England

    1. Highclere Castle (of Downton Abbey Fame)

  5. St. Andrews, Scotland

    1. St. Salvatore's Hall, University of St. Andrews

    2. St. Salvatore's Chapel

  6. Toronto, Canada

    1. Art Gallery of Ontario, scale model of Gunilda yacht

  7. Jekyll Island, Georgia

    1. Jekyll Island Club

  8. Newport, Rhode Island

    1. Pembroke Jones Cottage - Flagler and Mary Lily connection

    2. Ivy Lodge - Charles W. Harkness stayed at this cottage

  9. Pebble Beach, California

    1. Cottage of Myrtle Harkness and A. Kingsley Macomber

  10. Connecticut

    1.  Yale University - Harkness Quadrangle

    2.  Eolia Mansion

  11. Knoxville, Tennessee

    1. ​Old Smoky Railway Museum - Myrtle Harkness and King Macomber Pullman car Seminole 

  12. Charleston SC

    1. Yeamans Hall - Harkness Cottage

  13. St. Augustine, Florida

    1. Ponce de Leon Hotel now Flagler College

    2. Alcazar Hotel - now Leightner Museum

    3. Casa Monica Hotel

    4. Memorial Presbyterian Church (aka Flagler Memorial, where he is interred)

  14. Palm Beach, Florida

    1. Whitehall Flagler Museum

    2. The Breakers Hotel

bottom of page