A. Historical Context Volusia County
Volusia County is located in the east-central part of the U.S. state of Florida, stretching between the St. Johns River and the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2020 census, the county was home to 553,543 people, an increase of 11.9% from the 2010 census. It was founded on December 29th, 1854, from part of Orange County, and was named for the community of Volusia, located in northwestern Volusia County. Its first county seat was Enterprise. Since 1887, its county seat has been DeLand.
Is part of the Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach metropolitan statistical area, as well as part of the larger Orlando–Deltona–Daytona Beach Combined statistical area. Was named after its largest community, Volusia, when the Florida Legislature created it by dividing Orange County on December 29th, 1854. At the time, Volusia County had about 600 residents.
The origins of the word “Volusia” are unclear, though several theories exist: The name came from a word meaning “Land of the Euchee”, from the Euchee Indians who migrated into the area after the Timucua Indian cultures declined in the early 1700s. The Euchees (or Uchees) lived in the area of Spring Gardens, about 10 miles south of Volusia. The second theory says it was named after a British settler named Voluz, who owned a plantation located on the St. Johns River in the late 1700s. Another one refers that the name originated from the Veluche, the surname of a French or Belgian owner of the trading post in Volusia. According to some, this was during the British regime, and according to others, it was around 1818. Over time, the name Veluche became anglicized to Volusia. Some says that the town was established by and named for Jere Volusia. And finally, the settlement was named by the Spanish after the celebrated Roman jurist Volusio, who wrote 30 books and tutored Marcus Aurelius, the Roman emperor and philosopher.
The land area of present-day Volusia County was long inhabited by the indigenous Timucua and Mayaca peoples. Neither historic group exists today as distinct ethnic tribes, having been decimated by disease and war in the decades after contact with European traders and settlers. The large shell middens at Tomoka State Park and other evidence of their historic habitation can still be seen in various areas of Volusia County. During the British occupation of Florida, a colony known as New Smyrna was started in southeast Volusia County by Andrew Turnbull. This colony was connected to St. Augustine, the capital of East Florida, via the Kings Road. After the failure of the colony the settlers, many of whom were ethnic Menorcan and Greek, traveled the 70 mi (110 km) to move to St. Augustine. The Seminole Indians, descendants of the Creek tribe of Alabama and Georgia who resisted forced relocation to Indian Territory, also camped in various parts of Volusia County. During the Second Seminole War (1836–1842), the Seminole burned a large sugar plantation in what is today the city of Daytona Beach. On the east shore of the St. Johns River in Volusia, in present-day DeBary, General Winfield Scott established a fort/depot in 1836 named Fort Florida. 23
