 With the opening of the Ponce de Leon in 1888, St. Augustine became the winter resort of American high society for a few years.When Flagler's Florida East Coast Railroad was extended southward to Palm Beach and then Miami in the early 20th century, the wealth stopped in St. Augustine en route to the southern resorts.Wealthy vacationers began to customarily spend their winters in South Florida, where the climate was warmer and freezes were rare.