Volusia County
Part of the FLGenWeb Project
Volusia county has an area of 1,256 square miles. Its population in 1890 was 8,467, in 1900 it was
10,000 and in 1910 it Avas 16,510.
The St. Johns river extends the entire length of its western boundary, and the Halifax and
Hillsborough rivers border it on the east. These are separated from the ocean by a narrow strip of
land, and form an important link in the Inland Waterway that stretches from Norfolk to Key West.
Volusia county is historic in the fact that at New Smyrna was located, in 1767, the famous colony
brought from Minorca and the islands of the Mediterranean by Dr. Andrew Turnbull. This was the
earliest land development proposition undertaken in Florida. Thousands of acres were drained by a
system of canals which exist to-day. Miles of good road were built which after one hundred and fifty
years of use are in good condition. The remains of old Spanish missions, of the foundations of Dr.
Turnbull’s castle, of the old sugar mills and indigo stills are found scattered through the woods.
To the student of history there is here a rich field not only in these remains of the eighteenth
century, but in the numerous relics left by the Indian tribes which roamed this section before Ponce
de Leon landed on Florida’s soil. De Land is the county seat and its population in 1910 approximated
3,000. It is a charming town, the home of many influential and refined people who have been brought
here by the John B. Stetson University, one of the largest colleges in the south and with a
reputation second to none.
The area of Volusia county is more uniformly settled than that of any other county of its size
in Florida. It is traversed along its eastern border by the Florida East Coast Railway, and the
Atlantic Coast Line extends the length of the county near the western side. Among the beautiful
cities along the coast is Ormond, where is located one of the famous hotels of the Flagler system,
and the finest golf links in the south. Directly south are Seabreeze, Daytona and Daytona Beach,
clustered on both sides of the Halifax river, which are famous for their natural beauty, for the
magnificent beach on which the fastest automobile records have been made, and for the magnificent
hotels and winter homes that bring each season thirty thousand visitors. Port Orange, Coronado, New
Smyrna, Hawks Park, Osteen, Enterprise, Orange City, Lake Helen, Beresford, De Land, Highland Park,
Glenwood, Spring Garden, De Leon Springs, Pearson, Seville, Hammond, Emporia and Jaffrey are a few
of the more prominent and beautiful towns scattered through this county.
Extracted 14 Sep 2019 by Norma Hass from Florida, 1513-1913, Past and Future; Four Hundred Years of Wars and Peace and Industrial Development, by George Chapin, published in 1914, pages 623-624.
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