Early Daytona Beach Area History

The history of Daytona Beach and its surrounding sister cities began at least 4,000 years ago when the area was inhabited by aboriginal Indians. Their descendants, the Timucua Indians had several villages in this area when the Spanish arrived.

Written records about life in Florida began with the arrival of the Spanish explorer and adventurer Juan Ponce de Leon in 1513. Although some Spanish families were given large tracts of land in the present Daytona Beach area, it was not until after 1763, when the British and Spanish exchanged Cuba with Florida, that any serious efforts were made to colonize.

In 1768, Dr. Andrew TurnBull and 1400 Greek and Minorcan colonists founded New Smyrna and began growing indigo and other crops. This settlement failed, however, within 10 years. At about the same time, Richard Oswald was starting indigo and rice plantations on a land grant at the intersection of the Tomoka and Halifax River basins. Other plantations were also being developed. Some of them, like James Moncrieff's at the head of the Halifax River, were abandoned when Florida was ceded back to Spain in 1783.

In the early 1800's, there was a great influx of planters into the Halifax River area and a thriving community prospered from the successful cultivation of cotton, rice, indigo, corn and sugarcane. However, political problems between Spain and America, and domestic violence by criminals and other unsavory characters in the guise of liberating the province from Spanish rule led to the abandonment of nearly all of these plantations by 1812.

After several official and unofficial U.S. military expeditions into the territory, Spain formally ceded Florida to the United States in 1821, according to terms of the Adams-Onís Treaty. On one of those military operations, in 1818, General Andrew Jackson made a foray into Florida. Jackson’s battles with Florida’s Indian people later would be called the First Seminole War.

In the curly 1820's, wealthy planters such as Bulow, Dummett, Joseph Hernandez, and Orlando Rees, resettled property in the area, imported slaves, and began a sugarcane empire. But in 1835, the Seminole Indians were threatened with emigration from Florida and went on a rampage. There was a battle at the Dunlawton plantation in January 1836, which Coacoochee's warriors won and within the next few weeks, most of the plantations were in ruins. It was reported that all houses south of St. Augustine had been burned to the ground.

As the Second Seminole War (1835-42) came to a close, most of the Daytona Beach area was uninhabited. Florida became the twenty-seventh state in the United States on March 3, 1845. Florida, a slavery state, seceded from the Union on January 10, 1861. Florida joined other southern states to form the Confederate States of America. There were two important activities taking place here during the Civil War however. Salt works were operated at Dunlawton and Mosquito Inlet (now Ponce de Leon inlet) was used by the Confederate blockade runners to bring goods from the Bahamas.

After the war, Yankees looking for a new location, Southerners looking for new homes as far as possible from the conquerors, and ex-slaves promised land streamed into Florida. In 1871, Mathias Day purchased land and laid out the town of Daytona. Blake (now South Daytona) was plotted and named in 1876. New Britain began in 1873 and the name was changed to Ormond in 1880. Holly Hill's first building was erected in 1877. The settlement at Port Orange was named in 1867.

In the 1880's, the railroad reached Daytona, bringing wealthy Northern tourists to enjoy the Sunshine and mild temperatures. One of these visitors, James Hathaway was responsible for suggesting the first automobile race to be held in this area, which was scheduled for March 1903. Ransom Olds and Alexander Winston, pioneer automobile manufacturers, precipitated the event with their own beach race in April 1902, and both of their automobiles were clocked at the unheard of speed of fifty-seven miles per hour.

In 1903, the Florida East Coast Automobile Association was formed to promote local beach racing. For the next 30 years, world land speed records were set on the beach. In 1935, Sir Malcolm Campbell set the record of 276 mph. In 1938 Bill France began his Daytona Beach racing career with the establishment of NASCAR speed weeks.

On January 4, 1926, the cities of Daytona, Daytona Beach, and Seabreeze consolidated to form the present day City of Daytona Beach.

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