The History of Daytona Beach

Daytona Beach bills itself as “The World’s Most Famous Beach”. All of what we now know as Florida was acquired from Spain by the United States in 1821. The area where Daytona Beach is was inhabited by Timucuan Indians tribes before that time. These tribes lived in villages that were fortified. Because of war and disease introduced by Pone Deleon and his men the tribe vanished. Settlement of the area didn’t actually begin, though, until 1842 after the Second Seminole War was over.

It wasn’t until after our own civil war that Daytona became a tourist attraction. Daytona was founded in 1870. It was named after Matthias Day who was the founder. There were actually three towns that merged to become what we know now as Daytona Beach. The three towns were Daytona, Daytona Beach and Seabreeze. In 1920 it began calling itself the world’s most famous beach and the name stuck.

The wide beach that was made up of hard packed sand was a natural attraction for automobile and motorcycle racers, of course. In the early 1900’s, Daytona Beach was where the fledgling automobile manufacturers tested their products. The area became known as ‘The birthplace of speed”.

In 1936 on March 8^th, the first stock car races were held on the Daytona Beach Road Course. The Daytona Beach Road Course was responsible for the formation of NASCAR.

In the early days John D. Rockefeller and his rich playboy friends liked to hang out and race their shiny new horseless carriages. There is an exhibit on Daytona Beach that consists of granite blocks that are built into the board walk that detail the history of automobile racing up until 1959. The Daytona International Speedway opened in 1959.

Florida became the twenty-seventh state in 1845. That was after the second Seminole War and most of what is now Daytona Beach was virtually uninhabited. Florida was a ‘slave’ state and seceded from the United States in 1861. Because of its location so close to the Bahamas, the Confederates were able to bring in goods as well as weapons.

After the civil war was over, many Southerners were looking for new homes as far away from the conquering Northern states as possible and former slaves were promised free land in Florida so there was a huge influx of people. The Yankees saw Florida as a land of opportunity so they also came to Florida.

The railroad finally reached Florida in 1880 and provided a way for Northerners who were sick of the cold and snow with relatively easy access to the warm southern climate and the beautiful white sandy beaches. Those who could well afford it came and they came in droves.

One of these wealthy visitors was a man by the name of James Hathaway is given the credit for initiating the first automobile race on the beach and the rest, as they say, is history.

Daytona Beach bills itself as The World’s Most Famous Beach and as The Birthplace of Speed. It is both!