Ormond Beach is a city located in Volusia County, just north of Daytona Beach. Timucuan Indians frequented the area, but it was not settled until 1643, when a group of Quakers arrived after being blown off course. Although relations were originally friendly, Timucuan chief Oseanoha led a raid of the Quaker encampment in 1704, obliterating the population. By 1708, the Spanish settled in the area, until the British took control. The city was named after James Ormond I, an Ango-Irish-Scottish sea captain responsible for transporting Franciscan settlers to Florida on behalf of King Ferdinand VII of Spain. In 1821, the U.S. acquired Florida from Spain, but settlement was delayed by the Second Seminole War.

Following the American Civil War, the area became a popular tourist destinating for wealthy travelers. In 1875, settlers from New Britain, Connecticut, founded the city as New Britain, but the city was incorporated in 1880 as Ormond. The St. Johns & Halifax Railroad arrived in 1886 and the Ormond Hotel was constructe in 1888. The first automobile races were held on a track of beach from Ormond south to Daytona Beach in 1902. As a result, Ormond Beach is nicknamed “The Birthplace of Speed.”

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