1882 Florida

VOLUSIA COUNTY

Area, 1,340 square miles or 857,600 acres.
Population in 1860, 1,158; in 1870, 1,723; in 1880, 3,294.
Number of public schools, 31; school lands unsold, 19,504 acres; children of school age, 1,143; white, 967; colored, 176; school attendance, 740; improved land, 6,517 acres.
Horses and mules, 517; cattle, 13,636; sheep, 559; hogs, 2,515.
Assessed value of property in 1881, $926,790.
The following article has been presented by General John K. Stillman :

ENTERPRISE The county site of Volusia county, is situated on Lake Monroe, contains the celebrated Brock House, noted for its mineral springs and is an attractive winter resort, near which is the celebrated groves and winter residence of Count DeBarry. The village contains two churches, three stores, one drug store, post-office, one newspaper, the Enterprise Herald, two hotels, one school-house, one livery-stable, several boardinghouses and three law-offices. The scenery on the lake is beautiful. The country around is adapted to agriculture and orange-culture. A railroad is projected to Titusville, the survey of which has been made and its early completion anticipated.

ORANGE CITY was established in 1876 by six men from Wisconsin, is in the centre of the orange belt, and now contains two hotels, several boarding-houses, five general stores, one drug store, two livery stables, two dentists, two physicians, two law-offices, one millinery shop, one carriage factory, one blacksmith-shop, one saw, plaining and shingle mill, Southern Express office, one church, one school-house, with high school privileges, one money-order post-office, with daily mail, one newspaper, the South Florida Times, with temperance and literary societies established, two free libraries, one brass band, eight pieces.

We boast of 100 houses and a population of 500. It is estimated that there are within a radius of two and a half miles from the centre of the city, 1,100 acres of orange trees, besides lemons, limes, plums, grapes, guavas, figs, peach, pine-apple, bananas and other semi-tropical fruits. The junction of the B. O. C. & A. R. R. with the Palatka & Indian River Railroad, of which surveys have been made, is within a few rods of the hotels and post-office.

We need skilled labor and invite foreign immigration. Twenty-five common laborers, as such, could find employment here. Common laborers command $1.25 per day; carpenters, $2; domestic labor, $2 per week. Many young orange groves are just coming into bearing. Pine lands in their virgin state are plentiful, and can be had at reasonable rates. The city is two and a half miles from Blue Spring Landing, between which good conveyances are in attendance to meet the boats. Our unprecedented growth is sufficient evidence of the quality of our land and the healthfulness of our location.

DELAND is located five miles east of its landing on the St. Johns river. It was established by H. A. DeLand, of Fairport, New York, about five years ago. It is in the centre of the orange belt, and contains three general stores, one drug store, one furniture store, a post-office, with daily mail, several commodious boarding-houses, telephone to landing, one church, one school-house, one livery stable, one newspaper, the Florida Agriculturist, two physicians, two dentists, two lawyers, one millinery store, two saw mills, one wagon factory, one blacksmith-shop, library and literary society. The junction of the Orange Ridge and Atlantic Railroad with the Palatka and Indian River Railroad, of which surveys have been made, is within a few rods of the hotel and post-office. The lands are adapted to the successful cultivation of the orange and other semi-tropical fruits. There are several hundred acres of young orange trees within a radius of a few miles from the centre, some of which are just coming into bearing, which, with lands in their virgin state, can be had at reasonable rates, and offer inducements to the immigrant and settler.

DAYTONA is situated twelve miles north of the mouth of the Halifax river, on a high elevation, and on one the most beautiful sites in the county. It is one mile from the ocean on the west bank of the river, and on a shell hammock with its houses resting under the shadow of live oaks. The town was laid out by Mr. Day, of Dayton, Ohio, in 1871, and contains about 300 inhabitants, with three general stores, one dry goods store, one drug store, one furniture store, one hotel, two boarding houses, a post-office, one schoolhouse, one seminary for young ladies, one saw-mill, one blacksmith-shop, one dentist, two physicians, one Masonic lodge, two church services each Sabbath. This place is supplied with water from flowing wells. The surrounding lands is principally hammock, and is well adapted to the cultivation of the orange and other semi-tropical fruits.

HOLLEY HILL is situated equi-distant between Ormund and Daytona; has a post-office, one store, one school-house and about fifty inhabitants. It is situated on high hammock land, is well adapted to the cultivation of the orange and other semi-tropical fruits, and offers special inducements to the immigrant and settler.

BLAKE is situated equi-distant between Daytona and Port Orange, on the west bank of the Halifax river; has a post-office, school-house and about fifty inhabitants. It is situated on good hammock land, well adapted to the cultivation of the orange and other semi-tropical fruits, and offers rare inducement to those wishing to make investments.

PORT ORANGE is situated about seven miles from the mouth of the Halifax; has two stores, two school-houses, one hotel, one cigar manufactory and about one hundred inhabitants. In the vicinity are several large bearing orange groves. The surrounding lands are mostly hammock, and are well adapted to farming and the cultivation of the orange and other semi-tropical fruits. There are special inducements here to the tourist in the way of boating and fishing, and with an abundance of oysters make it a very desirable winter resort.

NEW SMYRNA is situated four miles south of the inlet on the Hillsborough river. It is the oldest settlement south of St. Augustine, and has one of the best harbors on the coast. It is situated on hammock land, and is surrounded by excellent lands for settlement, which can be had at reasonable rates. It has two stores, post-office, church, hotel, school-house and about one hundred inhabitants. It offers special inducements to the pleasure -seeker in fish and oysters.

OAK HILL is situated about twenty miles south of New Smyrna, on the Lagoon, on hammock land, and is within a few miles of the celebrated. Dumraitt grove. It has a store, post-office, school-house and about fifty inhabitants. It offers special inducements to the pleasure-seeker in fish and oysters, and is near a good cattle range.

ORMUND is situated eighteen miles from the mouth of the Halifax river, half a mile from the ocean. The town was laid out six years ago by Wilson & Willard, of New Britain, Connecticut. There are in the place two boarding houses, one store, one palmetto mattress factory, one school-house, a post-office and tri-weekly mail. Its healthfulness is unsurpassed. Surf-bathing and beautiful drives are attractions here for the tourist and pleasure-seeker. The surrounding lands are of a good quality of hammock, and are well adapted to agriculture and the cultivation of semi-tropical fruits.

BERESFORD is situated on a lake of that name 165 miles from Jacksonville, in one of the most beautiful sites on the St Johns river, is surrounded by excellent lands for orange-culture, which can be had at cheap rates, and offers special inducements to the immigrant and settler. It contains one general store, one saw-mill, one hotel, school-house, church and several boarding houses, and about fifty inhabitants.

PREVATT is situated about six miles from Orange City, is upon a fine quality of high pine land. It contains a store, post-office, .school-house and about fifty inhabitants. It is noted for containing one of the oldest and best groves in the State.

SPRING GARDEN, Volusia, Seville and Clifton, embrace the north end of the county, Seville being situated in the extreme northwest portion, on the east shore of Lake George, and within two miles of the line dividing Volusia and Putnam counties.

VOLUSIA, the first permanent landing on the upper St. Johns, is an enterprising place, receiving an impetus from late immigration and the building of the Lake Eustis and St. Johns Railway depot on the opposite side of the river. It has one hotel, two stores, one real estate office, several boarding houses, and school and church privileges.

SPRING GARDEN is situated south of the last named place, near the famous "Spring Garden Springs," noted for their medicinal properties, and to which many invalid tourists and pleasure-seekers flock during the winter travel in Florida. It lies east from the river about eight miles. Spring Garden Creek being its outlet, and on which plies the steamer Daylight, carrying the U. S. mail, passengers, goods, &c., for that section. Within one mile from the spring is one of the largest orange groves in the State owned by Mr. George A. Norris, formerly of Chicago, and from which city cars are chartered to Jacksonville to transport fruit from his one hundred-acre grove, yielding the present year it is estimated 1,000,000 oranges. The place contains about 200 inhabitants, with the usual appliances of a modern town.

CLIFTON is more of a settlement than a village and is in close proximity to the finest stock range in the county. The two latter places are nearly centrally located on the same high, rolling pine ridge that Orange City and DeLand are situated on, and the fine orange groves brought into bearing by the pioneer settlers are evidences of the superiority and adaptability of the soil for the successful cultivation of that fruit. From two to three miles back from Seville and Volusia is a continuation of this same ridge running parallel with the St. Johns river. This whole ridge is interspersed with numerous crystal lakes in which abound innumerable quantities of the finny tribe, such as bass, trout, bream, &c., which can be caught at any season of the year. The country around Seville, Spring Garden and Volusia is high pine, and of a rich quality, well adapted to farming, as the rich plantations of the early settlers abundantly testify.

The St. Johns river runs the entire length of the western border and the Halifax and Hillsborough rivers or lagoons traverse the entire eastern boundary, with only a narrow strip of land, formed by the winds and waves of the ocean, extending between them and the ocean. It is one of the most progressive and thriving counties in the State.

The lands along the west bank of the Halifax and Hillsborough rivers, four or five miles wide, are the richest hammocks, and were cultivated in sugar-cane at a very early period by the English and Spaniards, the remains of whose extensive works still exist. It is said that four hogsheads of sugar per acre have been and can be still produced on these lands. West of this is a belt of prairie, interspersed with pine and cabbage-palmetto, extending the entire length of the county, and affording magnificent grazing for stock. Next, further west, extending from the northern end of the county south about thirty miles, and varying in width from two to six or seven miles, is a high, rolling pine country, considered by many the best for orange-culture, on which are hundreds of beautiful young groves: from this, southward, is a high, rolling pine scrub, until the St. Johns is reached with its varying banks of rich hammock and savanna. Springs, lakes and ponds abound all through the county. Enterprise, on Lake Monroe, is the county seat.

Any information in regard to Volusia county can be obtained by writing to J. A. Austin, Secretary of the Volusia County Immigration Society. Orange City, Florida.

Extracted 14 Sep 2019 by Norma Hass from Florida: A Pamphlet Descriptive of Its History, Topography, Climate, Soil, Resources and Natural Advantages, published in 1882, pages 182-185.