Ormond Beach's history can be traced back to English settlers and the Timucua Indians. Over the years the state had been claimed by many European nations and finally became part of the United States in 1819. In the 1700s and early 1800s, the area around the Halifax and Tomoka Rivers was occupied by large sugar mill plantations. The second Seminole War (1835-1842) put an end to the plantations. After Florida entered the Union and Volusia County was created in 1854, there were some 20 families living in the entire county. A few families from Georgia and the Carolinas started the Tomoka Settlement, which was at the west end of the present city limits. Their orange groves were destroyed in the big freeze of 1895-96.
Meanwhile, a group of families from New Britain, Connecticut,, started a retirement colony on the west bank of the Halifax River. They were former employees of the Corbin Lock Company and they called their new home New Britain Connecticut until they incorporated a city and named it Ormond in 1880. Two of the early colonists, John Anderson and Joseph Downing Price, built the Hotel Ormond, which opened its doors January 1, 1888. Henry Flagler bought the hotel in 1890, retaining Anderson and Price as managers, and also purchased the railroad, which had been brought into Ormond by Utley J. White. A bridge for rails and carriages was erected across the Halifax River so that Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway could discharge passengers at the entrance of the Hotel Ormond. Early in the 1900s, a visitor at the hotel discovered that the newfangled motor car could drive on the sands of the beach. In 1902, Ransome E. Olds and Henry Winton staged an unofficial race on the beach at Ormond. The following year the American Automobile Association brought in its timing equipment and Ormond Beach became the Birthplace of Speed.
Many famous and well-known men and women stayed during the winter months at the Hotel Ormond, including Flagler's friend, John D. Rockefeller. After a few seasons, however, Rockefeller bought a house across the street from the hotel, called "The Casements," and lived there until his death in 1937 at the age of 97. The Casements is now a cultural center for the city.
Ormond Beach has continued to grow. It now boasts some 35,000 residents and has expanded to the west and north. While continuing to recognize its heritage, Ormond Beach has become one of the state's finer communities in which to live.
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