Prior to European contact, the Timucuan Indians inhabited the land in and around the Daytona Beach area. Predominately farmers of maize (corn), beans, and squash, the Timucuans lived in villages encircled by fortress walls of vertical wooden posts. Their dwellings were constructed out of small logs with palm-thatched roofs. Known historically for their height, the six- to seven-foot-tall Timucuans towered over their European counterparts who averaged five feet in height. Spain claimed Florida in the early 1500s and due to disease and the effects of forced labor, the Timucuan Indians were eventually absorbed under Spanish colonization.
In the mid 1800s, permanent settlers began to enter our area. In 1870, Mathias Day, Jr., an inventor and newspaper publisher from Mansfield, Ohio, purchased 2,144 acres of property on the Halifax River. On this property, Day built a hotel around which a small community arose. Though he lost his land in 1872 due to financial troubles, Day stuck in the minds of the residents. Incorporated in 1876, the residents named this adjacent city 'Daytona.'
By 1890, Henry Flagler, the Standard Oil and railroad tycoon, created a railroad network that ran through Daytona. The area experienced considerable growth and other small settlements grew up around the Daytona area. In 1926, Daytona and two settlements on the other side of the Halifax River, Seabreeze and Daytona Beach, joined to form the city of Daytona Beach.
Daytona Beach Shores was formed by a group of moteliers who called themselves '2000 Cottages.' It was incorporated Apirl 22, 1960.
At the same time people were discovering the beauty of our beaches and wildlife, a new spirit of excitement was surfacing in Daytona Beach; it was racing. The hard-packed sand of the beaches provided the perfect setting for people to test just how fast these new automobiles could go. In 1907, just 11 years after Henry Ford built the first automobile with a top speed of 20 mph, Fred Marriott set a land-speed record crashing his car at 197 mph. Amazingly, he was not injured. Yet, it was a young Englishman by the name of Malcolm Campbell who came to characterize Daytona racing. In his car, the Bluebird, Campbell broke the land-speed record four times. In his final race in Daytona in 1935, Campbell reached 277 mph. Beach racing continued in Daytona Beach, until, in 1959, under the planning of Bill France, a world-class racetrack called the Daytona International Speedway held the first Daytona 500.
At Max Samuely Park (adjacent to the Daytona Beach Shores Chamber of Commerce), near the gazebo is Sir Malcolm Campbell's Bluebird Memorial. Here the Living Legends of Auto Racing and the Daytona Beach Shores Chamber of Commerce have a racing walk of fame with memorial bricks for drivers, mechanics, and others associated with racing.
Daytona Beach not only inspired those who wanted to test the limits of speed, but also those who desired to test the limits of society. Daytona Beach's role in the history of civil rights is significant. On March 17, 1946, Jackie Robinson played in the first integrated spring training baseball game with the Montreal Royals, a farm team of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Later he became the first African-American to play in the Major Leagues. Today, Robinson's name identifies the stadium in Daytona Beach and a life-size statue of him has been cast at the entrance.
Another important civil rights figure in Daytona Beach was Dr. Mary McLeodethune, founder of Bethune-Cookman College. McLeodethune, who was later appointed to government positions by Calvin Coolidge, Franklin Roosevelt, and Harry Truman. In 1904, she established a school to educate the daughters of African-American workers on the railroads. Today the school has an enrollment of 2,300 students, and visitors can learn about Dr. McLeod ethune's life achievements at her former home, now a museum on the Bethune-Cookman campus.
We have also been an influential setting for many authors and their works. Based on his real shipwreck experience off our coast, Stephen Crane, author of The Red Badge of Courage, wrote his famous short story, 'The Open Boat.' On the steamship Commodore, Crane was attempting to run arms to Cuba for an insurrection against the Spanish. When the ship capsized due to fierce weather, he was forced into a dinghy. It was the Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse that guided Crane to shore after 30 hours at sea and was the model for the fictional lighthouse described in 'The Open Boat.' We are also home to such greats as Zora Neale Hurston and Robert Wilder.
Today Daytona Beach Shores possesses the same beauty and spirit that attracted settlers and tourists one hundred years ago. Whether visiting historic homes and gardens, the race track or simply relaxing on the beach, you will enjoy Daytona Beach Shores.
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