Volusia County, FLGenWeb Project, Inc.

I am Fran Smith, county coordinator for Volusia Co. If you have time on your hands and would enjoy helping transcribe documents, photograph tombstones, etc. please let me know.
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A Bit about Volusia

In 1884 when the Volusia County area was separated from Orange County, river travel deigned where the greatest population would be. The town of Volusia began as a trading post in the early 1800's as it was situated on an Indian trail as well as being located on the eastern side of the St. Johns where Hwy. 40 crosses it. The area became a supply depot for military goods during the 1884-1885 Second Seminole War.

It's banks made easy landing for steamboats. People disembarked, liked what they saw and stayed. The whole of Volusia County had a population of around 600 people at its birth. The largest group resided in the town of Volusia. The town grew and had it's own post office, one of only four in the county. With the coming of the railroads in the 1880's the tracks didn't come through Volusia. Now it is a small unincorporated area.

There are three theories of the meaning of the word Volusia. Timucuan Indians died out leaving the area uninhabited in the early 1700's.
The next tribe to inhabit the area were the Euchee who migrated from South Carolina. The word might have come from their word meaning "Land of the Euchee". It might have come from the name of a plantation along the river or it might have come from changes in the last name of an employee of the trading post, Veluche, perhaps of French descent whose name was pronouced Va-loo-shay. The man was so well liked that people referred to the post office as "Veluche's Place".

During the time the British occupied Florida, a new settlement was begun in southeast Volusia County. It was connected to St. Augustine by the Kings Road. Many of these settlers were Minorcan and moved to St. Augustine, 70 miles north.

Another group of Indians settled in several parts of Volusia. These became the Seminole Tribe. They were descendants of Creek's from Georgia and Alabama who would not abide by the forced relocation instead moving to Florida. A large sugar plantation located in what became Daytona Beach was burned by the Seminole's in the Second Seminole War (1836-1842).

Today evidence of the Timucua can be seen in various areas around Volusia. There are large shell middens at Tomoka State Park. These are large dumps of domestic waste containing many mollusk shells as well as tools of the time and remnants of the food the inhabitants ate. In some areas each home had their own mimdden rather than utilizing a community wide one.

Source: Information compiled from commentary by Tom Schofield and Wikipedia.

Cities

Daytona Beach
Daytona Beach Shores
DeBary
DeLand
Deltona
Edgewater
Holly Hill
Lake Helen
New Smyrna Beach
Oak Hill
Orange City
Ormond Beach
Port Orange
South Daytona

Towns

Pierson
Ponce Inlet

Our Neighbors

Brevard
Flagler
Lake
Marion
Putnam
Seminole

Unincorporated

Alabama
Ariel
Bakerstown
Barberville
Benson Junction
Beresfrod
Bethune Beach
Blake
Blue Springs Landing
Bluffton
Boden
Cassadaga
Connersville
Conrad
Cow Creek
Creighton
Cypress Lake Estates
Daisy Lake
Daytona Highridge Estates
Daytona Park Estates
Deadman Landing
Deland Highlands
DeLand Southwest
DeLeon Springs
DeLeon Springs Heights
Edgewater Junction
Eldora
Eldridge
Ellinor Village
Emporia
Enterprise
Farmton

Glencoe
Glenwood
Halifax Estates
Harbor Oaks
Hucomer
Isleboro
Kalamazoo
Lake Ashby Shores
Lemon Bluff
Maytown
Mission City
Mound Grove
National Gardens
North DeLand
Orange City Hills
Ormond-By-The-Sea
Ortona
Osteen
Packwood Place
Pennichaw
Riverside
Samsula
Seabreeze
Senyah
Seville
Stone Island
Sugar Mill Estates
Tallahassee Yuchi
Valdez
Volusia
West DeLand
Wilbur By-The-Sea

What's there to See and Do in Volusia?

Bethune Beach
Bethune-Cookman University, Daytona Beach
Blue Spring State Park
Bulow Creek State Park
Canaveral Nationa Seashore
Daytona Beach
Daytona Beach Speedway
Daytona State College
DeLeon Springs State Park
Dunlawton Sugar Mill Gardens, Port Orange
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona
Highbridge
Hontoon Island State Park, off Hwy 44 w of DeLand
Jackie Robinson Ballpark, Daytona Beach
Keiser University, Daytona Beach
Lake George State Forest, Hwy 17
Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge, by DeLeon Spgs
Marine Science Center, Marineland
New Smyrna Beach

North Peninsula State Park
The Ocean Center (convention center) Daytona Beach
Old Sugar Mill ruins, New Smyrma
Ormond Beach
Ormond Beach MeThe Ocean Center
Old Sugar Mill ruins, New Smyrma
morial Art Museum & Gardens
Palmer College of Chiropractic
Ponce de Leon Light & Museum, Ponce Inlet
Pioneer Settlement, Barberville Hwy. 17 & 40 $
Samsula Race Track
Speedway Skating, DeLand
Stetson College, DeLand Hwy 17
Tiger Bay State Forest, Hwy 92
Tomoka State Park, North of Ormond Beach
University of Central Florida (Daytona Bch branchCampus)
Volusia County Fair and Expo Center, November
Volusia Speedway Park, Barberville
Wilbur By-The-Sea, South Volusia

Events

#1 FSGS Florida Pioneer Descendants Committee

Do you have an ancestor who lived in the territory of Florida before
1845 statehood? The Florida Pioneer Descendants Certification
Committee would like to hear from you.

And if your pioneer was born in any county area before it was officially
formed and named, a county award may also be waiting for you.

Certificates are presented annually at the Florida State Genealogical
Society's Pioneer Banquet each Fall in conjunction with yearly
Conference events. Your application is an excellent way to honor
those folks who braved hardships to settle previously unknown areas.

For additional information, see the website of Florida State
Genealogical Society at http://www.flsgs.org/
and click on "Florida Pioneer" at top of page.

Don't put it off much longer! The deadline for submission of your
application and documents will be June 30, 2010.

We look forward to celebrating your Florida ancestry with you.

Volusia County, Florida