Daytona
Beach Historical Sites
Birthplace
of Speed Park
S.R. A1A
and Granada Blvd.
Ormond Beach
(386) 676-3216
This oceanfront park
commemorates the first automobile race held on the adjacent beach in 1903. Picnic
area. Restrooms. Dune walkover. Open daily runrise to sunset. Admission: free.
Bulow
Plantation Ruins State Historic Site
Old Dixie Highway, north of Ormond
Beach
(386) 517-2084
Founded in 1821, "Bulow Ville" plantation
was destroyed in the Seminole Indian War. Ruins and open-air museum. Picnic facilities
and canoe rentals. Hours are 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. daily.
The
Casements
25 Riverside Drive
Ormond Beach
(386) 676-3216
Former winter home of John D. Rockefeller. Contains Rockefeller period room and
other exhibits. Tours are offered 10 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday; and
10 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. on Saturday.
Debary
Hall Historic Site
210 Sunrise Blvd.
Debary, FL 32713
(386) 688-3840
Once the retreat of the rich and famous, this public site now offers a window
on the history of the St. Johns River.
Dummett
Sugar Mill Ruins
Bulow Creek State Park
Old Dixie Highway north of
Ormond Beach
(386) 676-4050
Located on what was known as the Dummett Plantation,
these ruins are of what is believed to be the first steam-powered sugar mill in
Florida. Admission: free.
Fairchild
Oak
Bulow Creek State Park
Old Dixie Hightway north of Ormond Beach
(386) 676-4050
This centuries-old tree is one of the largest Live Oaks in
the southern U.S. Admission: free.
Freemanville
Historic Site
3431 Ridgewood Ave.
Port Orange
(386) 756-5201
A state historic marker was unveiled in February 2003 recognizing this historic
community settled by free slaves after the Civil War in 1867. Two of the community's
original buildings remain.
Howard
Thurman Home
614 Whitehall Street
Daytona Beach
(386) 258-7514
Childhood home of Dr. Howard Thurman, mentor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Listed
on the National Register of Historic Places. Included on the Florida Black Heritage
Trail.
Jackie Robinson
Ballpark and Statue
105 E. Orange Ave.
Daytona Beach
(386) 257-3172
This active Class A affiliate ballpark remains much the same as it was on March
17, 1946 when Jackie Robinson played in the first integrated Major League Baseball
spring training game.
Mary
McLeod Bethune Home & Gravesite
Bethune-Cookman College, Bethune Foundation
640 Mary McLeod Bethune Blvd., Daytona Beach
(386) 481-2200
Former home
of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, civil rights leader, educator, and founder of Bethune-Cookman
College. National Historic Landmark. Hours: 9 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Monday - Friday.
Weekend tours by appointment. Admission: free.
Daytona
Ghost Walk
Main Street & Peninsula Drive
Daytona Beach
(386)
253.6034
An entertaining journey blending history, scientific data and haunting
tales.
Tours begin at 7:30pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Tickets are $8. Children
under 6 are free. Reservations required.
"New
Deal" Permanent Exhibit
Bethune-Cookman College, Carl S. Swisher
Library
640 Mary McLeod Bethune Blvd., Daytona Beach
(386) 481-2200
Established by Smithsonian Institute. Showcases contributions of FDR's "Black
Cabinet." Hours are subject to the academic calendar, including holidays,
and semester breaks.
Old
Daytona
Beach Street and surrounding area
Daytona Beach
Sleepy
tree-lined streets where the town began in the early 1870s. Downtown Halifax Historic
Museum. Live Oak Inn. Riverfront park contains Burgoyne and Brownie the town dog
memorials.
Ormond Tomb
Park
3268 Old Dixie Hwy, Ormond Beach
(386) 257-6000, ext. 5953
www.volusia.org/parks
13 acres with nature trails and historic markers. Picnic
Area. Playground. Restrooms. Volleyball. Open daily sunrise to sunset. Admission:
free.
Pioneer Settlement
for the Creative Arts
Two blocks west of the intersection of U.S. Highway
17 and State Road 40
Barberville
(386) 749-2959
Ten-acre area contains
exhibits depicting lifestyle of early settlers. Folk crafts. Open Monday - Friday,
9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Saturday, 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. Adult admission: $2.50. Children 5 -
12: $1.50
Ponce de Leon
Inlet Lighthouse
4931 S. Peninsula Drive
Ponce Inlet
(386) 761-1821
More than 100 years old, the 175-foot lighthouse is the second tallest lighthouse
in the United States. Museum displays. Rare Fresnel Lens exhibit. Gift shop. 203-step
climb to the top. Open daily 10 am - 5 p.m. (fall/winer), 10am-9pm (Memorial Day
till Labor Day). Adult admission: $5. Children: $1.50
Rosewood
Exhibit
Bethune-Cookman College, Carl S. Swisher Library
640 Mary
McLeod Bethune Blvd., Daytona Beach
(386) 255-1401, ext. 321
Depicts
life in the community of Rosewood, Florida from 1845 to the infamous Rosewood
Massacre of January 1, 1923. Open Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Speeding
Through Time
Daytona Beach Boardwalk, Daytona Beach
Granite blocks
built into the boardwalk chronicle the history of racing in the Daytona Beach
area up to 1959 when the Daytona International Speedway opened.
Sugar
Mill Botanical Gardens
950 Old Sugar Mill Road
Port Orange
(386)
767-1735
English sugar mill ruin. Botanical gardens. Life-size concrete dinosaur
statues. Human sundial. Open daily from dawn to dusk. Admission: free.
Tomoka
Mounds and Middens
Tomoka State Park
2099 N. Beach St.
Ormond
Beach
(386) 676-4050
This archaelological site is a large complex of burial
mounds and shell middens that comprise one of the earliest Native American settlements
on the Central East Coast of Florida. Admission.
New Smyrna History
New Smyrna is the second
oldest settled city in Florida offering visitors several historical sites and
museums.You can visit the Eldora House, New
Smyrna Museum of History, Sugar Mill Ruins, Turnbull
Ruins and the Turtle Mounds .
Long before Juan
Ponce de Leon sailed Florida's east coast in 1513 searching for a "Fountain of
Youth," Timucuan Indians lived in the New Smyrna Beach area. Nomadic hunters and
gatherers, they inhabited this area 10,000 year ago. But Timucuans disappeared
within 200 years of Ponce de Leon's landing, victims of European infections and
slavery. Only their shell mounds survived. Dr. Amos W. Butler, an Indian archaeologist,
identified 22 mounds between Port Orange and Oak Hill in his "Observations on
Some Shell Mounds on the Eastern Coast of Florida," published in 1917. Nearly
all 22 were destroyed for use as road material.
The Florida State Historical
Society saved Turtle Mound in 1924, purchasing Canaveral National Seashore for
$8,000. Today it is a designated State Historic Memorial. Visible seven miles
out to sea, Turtle Mound has been a navigational aid since the 1500s.
Preparations had been made for about 500 colonists, not 1,200 plus. This made
New Smyrna the largest British attempt at colonization in the New World, nearly
three times larger than Jamestown, Virginia. As an economic enterprise, New Smyrna
succeeded, perhaps the most lucrative of all New World colonies.
The
rich history of Southeast Volusia, especially New Smyrna, makes it Florida's third
most important historical area. The New Smyrna Beach area provides a union of
history and nature. Visitors can explore a mix of historic ruins, waterways, a
national park and landmarks serving as bridges to the past.
TIME
LINE OF NEW SMYRNA'S PAST
BC
15,000 - 500
Pre-Columbian Period - first
evidence of man in the New
Smyrna area
__________________________
AD
1492 Columbus
discovers the New
World
1513 Ponce de Leon discovers "La
Florida"
1565 - 1763 First Spanish Period
1763 Timucuan Indian Period ends
1764 - 1783 British Colonial Period
1768 New Smyrna Founded
1776 The Revolutionary War begins
1777
Turnbull's New Smyrna colony
ends
1784 - 1821 Second Spanish Period
1821 - 1845 Territorial Period
1835
- 1842 Seminole Indian War - New
Smyrna burned by Indians
1845 Florida becomes a state
1861 - 1865 The War Between the States
HISTORICAL SITES
New
Smyrna Museum of History
120 Sams Ave. New Smyrna
Beach, FL 32168 Local Phone: 386-478-0052 New Smyrna Beach the Museum's main exhibit
features the Turnbull Colony with additional exhibits from the Pre-Columbian era,
Spanish Periods, British Period, Seminole Wars, Civil War, Railroad Era and the
20th Century. Built in 1901, The Connor Library originally served as the area's
local library and was donated to the city in 1924. Today, The Connor Library Museum,
the oldest municipal building in New Smyrna Beach, serves as a museum of local
history.
Turtle Mound
Dating back to
2000 BC, the Timucuan Indian civilization created Turtle Mound over a period of
several hundred years. A kitchen midden made up of oyster and shellfish remains,
Turtle Mound is seen seven miles out at sea and resembles the shape of a turtle.
The highest point of elevation in the New Smyrna Beach area, Turtle Mound stands
50 feet tall and covers two acres. Located in Canaveral National Seashore Park,
a trail to its peak leads to a spectacular panoramic view of the Intracoastal
Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean. Directions: Located south on A1A in Canaveral
National Seashore.
Turnbull Ruins
This coquina block foundation represents the colonization by Dr. Andrew Turnbull
from 1766-1777. It's believed that he attempted to build his personal mansion
on these coquina remains. Although the origination of the ruins is unknown, it's
theorized that they may be the remnants of a pre-colonial fort or a colonial church.
Sugar Mill Ruins
This once highly functional
sugar mill was built during the uprisings of the Native Americans in the early
1800s. The mill, the sugar plantations and all the buildings in New Smyrna were
destroyed during the war between the Seminole Indians and the United States.
Eldora House
In 1877 property was purchased
for the creation of Eldora, a small community situated on the southern inland
waterway. The exact population of early Eldora was not known, deeds and tax records
indicate 50-75 people. The agricultural community thrived since travel along the
waterway was faster and safer than the ocean. Their Eldora's decline began after
three freezes during the late 1880's and 1890's destroying the citrus crops. After
1900 - After 1910, the Eldora "State" House, a large home on the water's edge
was built. It has a Dutch Colonial design with plain, yet graceful features such
as a gambrel roof and columns surrounding the front porch. The style is open and
airy; they have full use of the attic and a widow's walk. Today, two buildings
remain: the Eldora "State" House and a post office/citrus packinghouse. Directions:
It is located in the North District of Canaveral National Seashore, south of New
Smyrna Beach on A-1A. From the district's Parking #8, a short walk will take park
visitors to the edge of Mosquito Lagoon and remains on the Eldora Community.