Great Floridians 2000

Robert L. Ripley

(1893 - 1949)

Mr. Ripley was an eccentric who traveled the world, 198 countries altogether, looking for the strange and unusual to enlighten and amuse people world-wide. He was a Florida resident who owned three homes, one of which was located in Palm Beach, a winter residence called Hi-Mount.

Although Ripley never lived in St. Augustine, he often passed the Castle Warden building and spoke of it as an ideal showplace. After his death in 1949, the Castle Warden building became the home of the world’s most unique collection of art objects, oddities and curiosities, the first permanent Ripley’s Believe or Not Museum.

Marker location
Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum, 19 San Marco Avenue

Website for Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum
http://www.ripleys.com/sta.htm

 

 

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