When visiting St. Augustine, Florida, prepare for an experience that transcends a typical museum tour at Ripley’s Believe It or Not Odditorium. This iconic destination, housed within a magnificent historic building, invites visitors to explore a world where the strange and unbelievable come to life, promising both intriguing history and unparalleled curiosities.
The story of the St. Augustine Ripley’s Believe It or Not Odditorium is deeply intertwined with the city’s rich past, beginning with the structure itself. The building, a striking example of Moorish Revival architecture, was originally constructed in 1887 as a lavish winter residence for William G. Warden, a prominent industrialist from Philadelphia. Warden, a partner alongside Henry Flagler and John D. Rockefeller in the powerful Standard Oil Company, held significant influence in St. Augustine. He also served as President of the St. Augustine Gas and Electric Light Company and Financial Director of the St. Augustine Improvement Company, making his home a bustling hub of winter social activity and one of the most imposing private residences in the city.
From Grand Residence to Historic Hotel
The stately ‘castle’ home remained in the Warden family for many decades until 1941, when it was purchased by Norton Baskin and transformed into the Castle Warden Hotel. Baskin and his wife, the celebrated author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (famous for her classic novel The Yearling), resided in an apartment on the top floor. During its relatively brief tenure as a hotel, it attracted numerous distinguished guests, including a roster of renowned writers and notable personalities. Among its esteemed visitors was none other than Robert Leroy Ripley, the very man whose name would one day grace the building’s facade.
Robert Ripley: The Visionary of the Unbelievable
Born in Santa Rosa, California, around 1890, Robert Ripley’s journey to becoming a global phenomenon began early. He left high school to support his family, quickly finding his calling as a cartoonist. By the age of 16, he was illustrating sports cartoons for San Francisco newspapers, eventually moving to New York City in 1913. It was at the New York Globe in 1918 that Ripley originated his groundbreaking ‘Believe It or Not!’ cartoon feature, initially showcasing peculiar sports facts. The public’s overwhelming fascination with the bizarre and extraordinary propelled it to become a daily fixture. By 1929, King Features Syndicate distributed his cartoon to nearly 300 newspapers nationwide, cementing his reputation.
Ripley’s insatiable curiosity and passion for the unusual led him to travel extensively, claiming to have visited an astonishing 198 countries. He meticulously documented
