Daytona Beach is historically known for its beach, where motorized vehicles are permitted on some hard-packed sand beaches.[7] Motorsports on the beach became popular, and theDaytona Beach and Road Course hosted races for over 50 years, replaced in 1959 byDaytona International Speedway. The city is the headquarters ofNASCAR.
ApalisadedTimucua villageDaytona Beach in 1924Daytona Beach in 1932Daytona Beach in 1932
At the time of European contact, the area where Daytona Beach is located was inhabited by theFreshwater people, a branch of theTimucua. The town ofNocoroco in what is nowTomoka State Park was the most important in the region. The villages of Caçaroy and Cicale were a short distance south of there. The southernmost Timucua town was Caparaca, in present-dayNew Smyrna Beach. There were only small hamlets between Cicale and Caparaca.Turtle Mound, 14 miles (23 km) south of New Smyrna Beach, was the site of the town of Surruque, belonging to theSurruque people, whose territory extended south toCape Canaveral.[8] Like other Indigenous peoples in Florida, the Freshwater Timucua and Surruque were nearly exterminated by contact with Europeans through war, enslavement (the Spanish enslaved some Surruque war captives in 1598[9]), and disease and became extinct as racial entities throughassimilation andattrition during the 18th century. TheSeminole Indians, descendants ofCreek Indians fromGeorgia andAlabama, frequented the area prior to theSecond Seminole War.
During the era of British rule of Florida between 1763 and 1783, theKing's Road passed through present-day Daytona Beach. The road extended fromSaint Augustine, the capital ofEast Florida, toAndrew Turnbull's experimental colony inNew Smyrna. In 1804, Samuel Williams received a land grant of 3,000 acres (12 km2) from theSpanish Crown, which had regained Florida from the British after theAmerican Revolutionary War. Thisland grant encompassed the area that would become Daytona Beach. Williams built a slave labor-based plantation to growcotton,rice, andsugar cane. His son Samuel Hill Williams abandoned the plantation during theSecond Seminole War, when theSeminoles burned it to the ground.
The area now known as the Daytona Beach Historical District was once the Orange Grove Plantation, a citrus andsugarcane plantation granted to Samuel Williams in 1787. The plantation was situated on the west bank of the tidal channel known as theHalifax River, 12 miles north ofMosquito Inlet. Williams was a British loyalist from North Carolina who fled to the Bahamas with his family until the Spanish reopened Florida to non-Spanish immigration. After his death in 1810, the plantation was run by his family until it was burned down in 1835. In 1871, Mathias Day Jr. of Mansfield, Ohio, purchased the 3,200-acre tract of the former Orange Grove Plantation. He built a hotel around which the initial section of town arose. In 1872, due to financial troubles, Day lost title to his land; nonetheless, residents decided to name the city Daytona in his honor, and incorporated the town in 1876.[10][11]
In 1886, the St. Johns & Halifax River Railway arrived in Daytona. The line was purchased in 1889 byHenry M. Flagler, who made it part of hisFlorida East Coast Railway. The separate towns of Daytona, Daytona Beach, Kingston, andSeabreeze merged as "Daytona Beach" in 1926, at the urging of civic leader J. B. Kahn and others. By the 1920s, it was dubbed "the World's Most Famous Beach".
Daytona's wide beach of smooth, compacted sand attracted automobile and motorcycle races beginning in 1902, as pioneers in the industry tested their inventions.[12] It hostedland speed record attempts beginning in 1904, whenWilliam K. Vanderbilt set an unofficial record of 92.307 mph (148.554 km/h).[13] Land speed racers fromBarney Oldfield toHenry Segrave toMalcolm Campbell would visit Daytona repeatedly and make the 23 mi (37 km) beach course famous.[14] Record attempts, including numerous fatal endeavors such asFrank Lockhart (Stutz Black Hawk, 1928) andLee Bible (Triplex Special, 1929), would continue until Campbell's March 7, 1935 effort, which set the record at 276.816 mph (445.492 km/h) and marked the end of Daytona's land speed racing days.[15]
The city of Daytona Beach made national headlines in 2005, when it designated the several–mile radius around Main Street on thebarrier island portion of the city as a blighted area and has targeted it for redevelopment by private developers. This follows theSupreme Court decision of theeminent domain case inKelo v. City of New London, which upheld the right of municipalities to use eminent domain totake private property for redevelopment by private entities.[16]
Daytona BeachDaytona Beach, "beachside" on left (east) of the Halifax River, mainland on right (west)
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 64.93 sq mi (168 km2), of which 6.25 sq mi (16 km2) (9.6%) are covered by water.
Daytona Beach has ahumid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classificationCfa), which is typical of the Gulf and South Atlantic states. As is typical of much of Florida, two seasons are seen in Daytona Beach - the warmer, wetter season (late May through October) and the cooler and drier season (November through April).
In summer, temperatures are relatively stable with an average of only 8 days annually with a maximum at or above 95 °F (35 °C); the last 100 °F (38 °C) reading was seen on August 2, 1999. The Bermuda High pumps hot and unstable tropical air from the Bahamas and Gulf of Mexico, resulting in daily, but brief thundershowers. This results in the months of June through September accounting for most of the average annual rainfall of 51.25 in (1,302 mm).
In winter, Daytona Beach has weather conditions typical of other cities on theFlorida peninsula. On average, the coolest month is January, with a normal monthly mean temperature of 58.8 °F (14.9 °C). It is the only month where the average high temperature falls below 70.0 °F (21.1 °C). Occasional cold fronts can bring freezes, which from 1991 to 2020 were seen on an average of 3.0 nights annually; however, minima below 25 °F (−4 °C) are very rare, and were last seen on December 28, 2010. Like much of Florida, Daytona Beach often can be very dry in late winter and early spring, and brush fires and water restrictions can be an issue.
Official record temperatures range from 15 °F (−9 °C) onJanuary 21, 1985, up to 102 °F (39 °C) on July 15, 1981, and June 24, 1944; the record cold daily maximum is 33 °F (1 °C) on Christmas Day 1983, while, conversely, the record warm daily minimum is 82 °F (28 °C) on September 1 and 10–11, 2008, and August 25, 2020. Annual rainfall has ranged from 31.36 in (797 mm) in 2006 and 1956, up to 79.29 in (2,014 mm) in 1953. The most rainfall to have occurred in a calendar day was 12.85 in (326 mm) on October 10, 1924, which contributed to 24.82 in (630 mm) of rain that fell that month, the most of any calendar month.
As of 2000, 18.0% had children under 18 living with them, 30.1% were married couples living together, 14.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 51.6% were not families. Of all households, 39.4% were made up of individuals, and 14.4% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.06 and the average family size was 2.77.
In 2000, 17.6% of the population was under 18, 16.6% was from 18 to 24, 25.6% from 25 to 44, 20.5% from 45 to 64, and 19.7% was 65 or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.5 males.
In 2000, themedian income for a household in the city was $25,439, and for a family was $33,514. Males had a median income of $25,705 versus $20,261 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,530. 23.6% of the population and 16.9% of families were below the poverty line. Of the total population, 34.9% of those under 18 and 12.1% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.
As of 2000, English spoken as a first language accounted for 90.37% of all residents, and 9.62% spoke other languages as their first language. Spanish speakers made up 4.01% of the population; French was the third-most spoken language, which made up 0.90%; German was at 0.86%; andArabic was at 0.66% of the population.[29]
TheMuseum of Arts and Sciences is the primary cultural facility for Daytona Beach and Volusia County. Other museums located in the city include theSoutheast Museum of Photography and theHalifax Historical Museum. The Museum of Arts and Sciences is actually a collection of museums and galleries, and includes the Klancke Environmental Complex, the Cuban Museum, the Root Family Museum featuring one of the largest Coca-Cola collections in the world, the Dow American Gallery, and the Bouchelle Center for Decorative Arts, which together form what is probably one of the finest collections of furniture and decorative arts in theSoutheast. It also includes the Cici and Hyatt Brown Museum of Art, which houses the largest collection of Florida art in the world. The exhibitions change often, and a children's science center opened in 2008. Since 1952, the nonprofit Daytona Beach Symphony Society has sponsored performances by U.S. and international orchestras, opera, and dance companies each season at thePeabody Auditorium.[31]
Flock of seagulls gathered near the shoreline in Daytona Beach (December 2022)
Spring break (date varies, usually the first and second week of March)
During motorcycle events (Bike Week and Biketoberfest), several hundred thousand bikers from all over the world visit the greater Daytona Beach area. The city is also often associated withspring break, though the efforts of the local government to discourage rowdiness, combined with the rise of other spring-break destinations, have affected Daytona's preeminence as a spring-break destination. It is the destination of Dayton 2 Daytona, an annual event that draws over 3,000University of Dayton college students since 1977.
Under Daytona Beach's commission-manager form of government, voters elect acity commission, which consists of seven members who serve four-year, staggered terms. Six are elected by district, the mayor is elected citywide.
The city commission establishes ordinances and policies for the city. It also reviews and approves the city budget annually. The commission appoints acity manager, who carries out the will of the commission and handles day-to-day business.
Daytona Beach is part ofFlorida's 6th congressional district.[34] It is part of Florida's 25th and 26th State House of Representatives Districts and the 6th and 8th State Senate Districts.
Florida's 6th congressional district, which extends from the southern Jacksonville suburbs toNew Smyrna Beach and includesSt. Augustine and Daytona Beach.
Public primary and secondary education is handled byVolusia County Schools. Daytona Beach has two traditional public high schools, two middle schools, and six elementary schools. Some of the larger private schools includeFather Lopez Catholic High School.
Law enforcement in Daytona Beach is provided by the 241-memberDaytona Beach Police Department (DBPD) headed by police chief Craig Capri. In a unique and controversial program to help fund thePolice Explorer program, run by a subsidiary of theBoy Scouts of America, T-shirts with the wordsScumbag Eradication Team:Not in Our Town are sold at the police headquarters.[37]
The T-shirts contain a caricature of retired Chief Chitwood standing next to a toilet bowl with the legs of multiple individuals sticking out. The T-shirt has been cited in at least one lawsuit against the DBPD allegingpolice brutality; the lawyer in the case in which the client sustained broken ribs and a fractured eye socket during an arrest for an open container of beer, claims the T-shirt shows the DBPD condones violence.[38]
The Volusia County Sheriff's Office, headed by Mike Chitwood, is a county-wide law enforcement agency with 446 sworn positions, 438 civilian employees, 300 volunteers, and an annual operating budget of $73 million that has jurisdiction in unincorporated areas of Volusia County and provides additional law enforcement support to Daytona Beach during such events as the Daytona 500 and aids in joint investigations of certain crimes.[39]
The Volusia County Beach Patrol provides law enforcement andEMT services along Volusia County beaches, including the beaches in the city of Daytona Beach.[40]
Healthcare in Daytona Beach is dominated byHalifax Health (formerly known as Halifax Hospital). The Halifax Hospital Taxing District was established in 1927 by an act of the Florida Legislature as a public hospital district.[41] Dozens of individual practitioners and professional associations are in the Daytona Beach area.
Spectrum andAT&T networks are Daytona Beach's local cable providers.
AT&T (formerlyBellSouth) is Daytona Beach's local phone provider.
The city has a successfulrecycling program with separate pickups for garbage, yard waste, and recycling. Collection is provided by several private companies under contract to Volusia County.
Aerial view of Daytona Beach International Airport
Passenger airline services are located atDaytona Beach International Airport (DAB), which is centrally located within the city adjacent toDaytona International Speedway. The site was first used as an airport with terminals being constructed in 1952 and 1958. The present facility was constructed in 1992 at the cost of $46 million, and includes both a domestic terminal and an International terminal. Despite the new facilities, DAB has found difficulty in attracting and retaining carriers;Continental Airlines,AirTran Airways, andUnited Airlines discontinued flights to Daytona in 2007 and 2008.[42] LTU and American Airlines also serviced Daytona Beach during the 1980s and 1990s, both of which ended all flights in 1994 and 1997, respectively.
The Volusia County Parking Garage in Daytona Beach provides a place for visitors to park and walk around.
Daytona Beach is served byGreyhound Bus Lines, which has a terminal located at 138 South Ridgewood Avenue (US 1). The Greyhound routes from Daytona Beach connect with hubs inJacksonville andOrlando.
Votran is the local bus service provided by Volusia County.
Daytona Beach is easily accessible byI-95 that runs north and south andI-4 connecting Daytona Beach withOrlando andTampa.US 1 (Ridgewood Avenue) also passes north–south through Daytona Beach. Connecting I-4 and US1 is SR 400.US 92 (International Speedway Boulevard) runs east–west through Daytona Beach.SR A1A is a scenic north–south route along the beach.
The Volusia County Parking Garage is located at 701 Earl Street at North Atlantic Avenue (SR A1A). The garage is strategically located, next to theOcean Center,Daytona Lagoon, and across the street from theHilton Hotel andOcean Walk Shoppes. Over 1000 parking spaces are available inside the garage, which also houses an intermodal transfer station for VoTran.
Four bridges cross over theHalifax River (andIntracoastal Waterway) at Daytona Beach. They include (starting from furthest downstream) the Veterans Memorial Bridge (which carries CR 4050 traffic), theBroadway Bridge (which carriesUS 92 traffic), the Main Street Bridge (which carries CR 4040 traffic), and the Seabreeze Bridge (which carriesSR 430 traffic). All four bridges charge notoll to traffic.[44] In June, 2016, the Veterans Memorial Bridge was closed as part of a three-year project to demolish the drawbridge and replace it with a high span bridge.[45]
Last Cruise of the Nightwatch (1956) by Howard Broomfield
Kick of the Wheel (1957) by Stewart Sterling
Several movies have been based on Daytona Beach, usually with a racing theme. The most recent example was the 1990 hitDays of Thunder, parts of which were filmed in Daytona Beach and nearby DeLand.Chris Rea wrote the song "Daytona", which was in his 1989 albumThe Road to Hell.Suzi Quatro's song "Daytona Demon" is often believed to refer to the city.[59] Also, about half of the video for the song "Steal My Sunshine" byLen was filmed at Daytona Beach.
^Hann, John H. (1996).A History of the Timucua Indians and Missions. Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida. pp. 170–171.ISBN0-8130-1424-7.
^Milanich, Jerald T. (2006).Laboring in the Fields of the Lord: Spanish Missions and Southeastern Indians. University Press of Florida. p. 107.ISBN0-8130-2966-X.
^Cardwell, Harold D.; Cardwell, Priscilla D. (2004).Historic Daytona Beach. Arcadia Publishing.ISBN0-7385-1675-9.
^Dickens, Bethany (October 1, 2014)."Episode 27 Leather Cap and Goggles".A History of Central Florida Podcast.Archived from the original on March 4, 2021. RetrievedJanuary 27, 2016.
^Kettlewell, Mike. "Daytona", in Northey, Tom, ed.World of Automobiles (London: Orbis, 1974), Volume 5, p.501.
^Kettlewell, pp.501–2; Northey, Tom, "Land-speed record: The Fastest Men on Earth", in Northey, Tom, ed.World of Automobiles, Volume 10, pp.1161–1165.
^Mean monthly maxima and minima (i.e. the highest and lowest temperature readings during an entire month or year) calculated based on data at said location from 1991 to 2020.
^abDaytona Beach Area Convention & Visitors Bureau (2017)."The Beach".Archived from the original on August 23, 2017. RetrievedAugust 23, 2017.Our 23 miles of sandy, white beaches are open to pedestrians 24/7 with free access! Cars are permitted in designated areas of the beach from sunrise to sunset, tidal conditions permitting.
^Daytona Beach Area Convention & Visitors Bureau (2017)."Beachfront Parks in Daytona Beach".Archived from the original on August 23, 2017. RetrievedAugust 23, 2017.Highlights include Lighthouse Point Park and Smyrna Dunes Park on opposite sides of Ponce Inlet offering a combined 125 acres of fun with some areas welcoming pets for a walk, run or a swim. Topping out at 40 acres in Ormond Beach is Michael Crotty Bicentennial Park with areas for favorite sports – football, baseball, basketball, soccer, tennis and volleyball.
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