The surrounding area offers many opportunities for outdoor recreation; these include fishing, sailing, motorboating, golfing, and hiking. Visitors participate in water sports of all kinds, including swimming, scuba diving, kitesurfing, and surfing. In July 2009, New Smyrna Beach was ranked number nine on the list of "best surf towns" in Surfer.[5] It was recognized as "one of the world's top 20 surf towns" by National Geographic[6] in 2012. It has also been dubbed "The Shark Bite Capital of the World."[7]
The area was first settled by Europeans in 1768, when Scottish physician Dr. Andrew Turnbull, a friend of James Grant, the governor of British East Florida, established the colony of New Smyrna. Dr. Turnbull had married Gracia Dura Bin (some sources give her name as Maria Gracia Rubini),[8] the daughter of a Greek London merchant from the Ottoman city of Smyrna (modern-day İzmir in Turkey) and named the settlement in honor of his wife's birthplace,[9] and the homeland of some of those in his future labor force who were Greek from the Mani peninsula.[10][11] No one had previously attempted to settle so many people at one time in a town in North America.[12]
Turnbull recruited about 1,300 settlers, intending for them to grow hemp, sugarcane, and indigo, as well as to produce rum, at his plantation on the northeastern Atlantic coast of Florida. The majority of the colonists came from Menorca (historically called "Minorca" in English), one of the Mediterranean Balearic Islands of Spain,[13] and were of Catalan culture and language.[14] Around 500 or so came from the Mani peninsula of Greece.
Although the colony produced relatively large amounts of processed indigo in its first few years of operation,[15] it eventually collapsed after suffering major losses due to insect-borne diseases and Indian raids, and growing tensions caused by mistreatment of the colonists on the part of Turnbull and his overseers.[16] The survivors, about 600 in number, marched nearly 70 miles north on the King's Road and relocated to St. Augustine,[17] where their descendants live to this day.[18] In 1783, East and West Florida were returned to the Spanish, and Turnbull abandoned his colony to retire in Charleston, South Carolina.[19][20][21]
The St. Photios Greek Orthodox National Shrine on St. George Street in St. Augustine honors the Greeks among the settlers of New Smyrna; they were the first Greek Orthodox followers in North America. The historical exhibit adjoining the chapel tells the story of their plight, with accompanying exhibits, and of their contributions to the city.[22][23]
Central Florida remained sparsely populated by white settlers well into the 19th century, and it was frequently raided by Seminole Indians trying to protect their territory. United States troops fought against them in the Seminole Wars, but they were never completely dislodged.
In 1887, when New Smyrna was incorporated, it had a population of 150. In 1892, Henry Flagler provided service to the town via his Florida East Coast Railway. This led to a rapid increase in the area's population. Its economy grew as tourism was added to its citrus and commercial fishing industries.
During Prohibition in the 1920s, the city and its river islands were popular sites for moonshine stills and hideouts for rum runners, who came from the Bahamas through Mosquito Inlet, now Ponce de León Inlet. "New Smyrna" became "New Smyrna Beach" in 1947, when the city annexed the seaside community of Coronado Beach. Today, it is a resort town of over 20,000 permanent residents.
Like St. Augustine, established by the Spanish, New Smyrna has been under the rule of four "flags": the British, Spanish, United States (from 1821, with ratification of the Adams–Onís Treaty), and the Confederate Jack. After the end of the Civil War in 1865, it returned with Florida to the United States.
Geography
New Smyrna Beach's motto is cygnus inter anates, which is Latin for "a swan among ducks."[26] The city is located in the so-called "Fun Coast" region of the state of Florida, a regional term created by the Daytona Beach/Halifax area Chamber of Commerce. This coincides with the local area code, 386, which spells FUN on touchtone phones. According to the United States Census Bureau, it has a total area of 37.8 square miles (98.0km2); 34.6 square miles (89.7km2) of it are land, and 0.31 square miles (0.8km2) of it (8.46%) is covered by water.[27] It is bordered by the city of Port Orange to the northwest, unincorporated Volusia County to the north, the census-designated place of Samsula-Spruce Creek to the west, and the cities of Edgewater and Bethune Beach and the Canaveral National Seashore to the south. Bounded on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, New Smyrna Beach is on the Indian River. The city is connected to other parts of the state by Interstate 95, U.S. Route 1, and State Road 44.
Climate
New Smyrna Beach
Like the rest of Florida north of Lake Okeechobee, New Smyrna Beach has a humid subtropical (KöppenCfa) climate characterized by hot, humid summers and warm, mostly dry winters. The rainy season lasts from May until October, and the dry season, from November to April. New Smyrna averages only about two freezes per year, and many species of subtropical plants and palms are grown in the area. The city has recorded snowfall only three times in its 250-year history. The summers are long and hot, with frequent severe thunderstorms in the afternoon, as central Florida is the lightning capital of North America.[28] Winters are pleasant with frequent sunny skies and dry weather.[29]
Weather hazards include hurricanes from June until November, though direct hits are rare.[citation needed]Hurricane Charley exited over New Smyrna Beach on August 13, 2004, after crossing the state in a northeastern direction from its initial landfall in Punta Gorda. The storm caused extensive damage to the beachside portion of the city and toppled many historic oak trees in the downtown area and along historic Flagler Avenue.[citation needed]
Climate data for New Smyrna Beach, Florida (Marine Discovery Center), 1991–2020 normals, extremes 2001–present
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 30,142 people, 13,223 households, and 7,653 families residing in the city.[35]
As of 2013, the population continues to increase with new condominium development.[36]
As of the 2010 United States census, there were 22,464 people, 10,754 households, and 6,422 families residing in the city.[37]
As of the census of 2010, the population density was 724.1 inhabitants per square mile (279.6/km2). The 16,647 housing units averaged 491.9 per square mile (189.9/km2).
Of the 11,074 households in 2010, 14.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.1% were married couples living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.9% were not families. About 35.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.01 and the average family size was 2.54.
In 2010, in the city, the population was distributed as 13.9% under the age of 18, 3.6% from 20 to 24, 17.9% from 25 to 44, 31.3% from 45 to 64, and 31.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 54.3 years. Females were 52.1% of the population, and males were 47.9%.
In 2010, the median income for a household in the city was $49,625, and for a family was $62,267. Males had a median income of $38,132 versus $32,087 for females. The per capita income for the city was $31,013. About 10.9% of families and 13.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.9% of those under age 18 and 8.3% of those aged 65 or over.
Named one of "America's Top Small Cities for the Arts",[38] New Smyrna Beach is home to the Atlantic Center for the Arts, an artists-in-residence community and educational facility, the Harris House, the Little Theatre, and a gallery of fine arts, Arts on Douglas. Arts shows featuring visual and performing arts occur throughout the year.
According to the International Shark Attack File maintained by the University of Florida, in 2007, Volusia County had more confirmed shark bites than any other region in the world.[39] Experts from the university have referred to the county as having the "dubious distinction as the world's shark-bite capital".[40] The trend continued in 2008, when the town broke its own record, with 24 shark bites.[41] An Orlando Sentinel photographer shot a picture of a four-foot spinner shark jumping over a surfer, a reversal of "jumping the shark".[42][43] Sharks bit three different surfers on September 18, 2016, in the span of a few hours at the same beach.[44] Very few of the shark bites are fatal.[45]
Government
Elected city government officials include:
Fred Cleveland – Mayor
Valli Perrine – Zone 1 commissioner
Lisa Martin – Zone 2 commissioner
Jason McGuirk – Zone 3 commissioner
Randy Hartman – Vice Mayor and Zone 4 commissioner
Wes Chandler, University of Florida alumnus, and professional football player in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons during the 1970s and 1980s
St. Johns County is a county in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 273,425. The county seat and largest incorporated city is St. Augustine, although the largest community, St. Johns, is much larger. St. Johns County is part of the Jacksonville metropolitan area.
Volusia County is located in the east-central part of the U.S. state of Florida 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 29, 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.
Daytona Beach, or simply Daytona, is a coastal resort city in the U.S. state of Florida. Located on the eastern edge of Volusia County near the Atlantic coastline, its population was 72,647 at the 2020 census. Daytona Beach is approximately 42 miles (67.6 km) northeast of Orlando, 90 miles (144.8 km) southeast of Jacksonville, and 231 miles (371.8 km) northwest of Miami. It is part of the Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach metropolitan area which has a population of about 600,000 and is also a principal city of the Fun Coast region of Florida.
DeBary is a city in Volusia County, Florida, United States, on the eastern shore of the St. Johns River near Lake Monroe. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 20,696. It is part of the Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach, FL metropolitan statistical area, which was home to 553,284 people in 2019.
DeLand is a city in and the county seat of Volusia County, Florida, United States. The city sits approximately 34 miles (55 km) north of the central business district of Orlando, and approximately 23 miles (37 km) west of the central business district of Daytona Beach. It is a part of the Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 37,351.
Port Orange is a city in Volusia County, Florida. The city's population was estimated at 64,842 in 2019 by the U.S. Census Bureau.
El Camino Real is the name that the Spanish gave to a trail they cleared in the 1680s, mostly over the traditional trails of Native Americans, from St. Augustine westward to the Spanish missions in north Florida. Before this time, transpeninsular traffic in La Florida between the western mission settlements and the capital depended on water routes from Apalachee to St. Augustine. Agricultural commodities produced in Apalachee were carried by canoes to the Gulf of Mexico and southward on the coast to the mouth of the Suwanee River, then upriver to a location on the Santa Fe River. There they were loaded onto pack animals or the backs of Indian burderners (porters) for the remainder of the overland trip. Provisions and funds from the real situado were sent on the same route in reverse.
Patrick Tonyn (1725–1804) was a British General who served as the last British governor of East Florida, from 1774 to 1783. His governorship lasted the span of the American Revolution. East Florida was a Loyalist colony during the war.
Andrew Turnbull was a Scottish physician and diplomat who served as the British consul at Smyrna, Ottoman Empire. In 1768, he founded the colony of New Smyrna, Florida, named in honor of his wife's birthplace, the ancient Greek city of Smyrna on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Turnbull was married to Gracia Dura Bin, the daughter of a Greek merchant from Smyrna. His colony was located in the province of British East Florida, and encompassed some 101,400 acres (410 km2); it was nearly three times the size of the colony at Jamestown.
Joseph Marion Hernández was an American slave-owner, politician and military officer. He was the first delegate from the Florida Territory and the first Hispanic American to serve in the United States Congress. A member of the Whig Party, he served from September 1822 to March 1823.
The Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area is a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in central and the north portions of Florida consisting of Volusia and Flagler counties in the state of Florida. As of 2013, it is the 88th-largest MSA in the United States, with a census-estimated population of 600,756.
U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) in Florida runs 545 miles (877 km) along the state's east coast from Key West to its crossing of the St. Marys River into Georgia north of Boulogne and south of Folkston. US 1 was designated through Florida when the U.S. Numbered Highway System was established in 1926. With the exception of Monroe County, the highway runs through the easternmost tier of counties in the state, connecting numerous towns and cities along its route, including nine county seats. The road is maintained by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT).
The datil is a very hot pepper, a variety of the species Capsicum chinense.
Evan Geiselman has been a competing surfer since the age of seven. He has won 12 East Coast Championship titles. He is the younger brother of professional surfer Eric Geiselman. He has been trying to be part of the ASP World Championship Tour for three years now, but the Qualification Series are competitive. He didn't get the results he was hoping for on the 2014 WQS. At the beginning of 2014, he moved from San Clemente, California back home, to New Smyrna Beach, Florida.
The King's Road was a road built by the British in their colony of East Florida. It stretched from the St. Marys River, the border between East Florida and Georgia, to south of New Smyrna, and was mostly completed by 1773.
Antonia Paula de la Resurreccion Bonelly (1786-1870), was a colonial woman of Spanish East Florida who was captured by Miccosukee Indians in 1802 and held captive for twenty-two months. Her rescue and ransom involved many of the major power players that defined relations in this period between the Florida tribes and the nations of Britain, Spain, and the United States.
The Triay House is a historic property located at 31 St. George Street in St. Augustine, Florida. It is a reconstruction of the First Spanish Period structure that stood on the site.
The Pellicer-De Burgo House is located at 53 St. George Street in St. Augustine, Florida. It is a reconstruction of two connected houses built during the British Period (1763-1783) of East Florida.
The Minorcans of Florida are an ethnically diverse group of people that settled in St. Augustine, Florida in the late 18th century.
↑ Surfer (April 5, 2009). "Best Surf Towns: No. 9 New Smyrna, Florida". Surfer Magazine. GrindMedia. Archived from the original on March 28, 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2013. Smyrna Inlet is easily the most consistent break along Florida's 1,200+ miles of surfable coastline, and likely the most performance-friendly.
↑ National Geographic Magazine. "World's 20 Best Surf Towns". National Geographic Adventure Trips. National Geographic Society. Archived from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
↑ Coles, David J. (1988). Fretwell, Jacqueline K. (ed.). Civil War times in St. Augustine. Port Salerno, Fla.: Florida Classics Library. p.78. ISBN0912451238.
↑ ISAF 2007 Worldwide Shark Attack Summary (2007). "Death Total Lowest in Two Decades". International Shark Attack File. Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida. Archived from the original on October 7, 2013. Retrieved November 10, 2013.
↑ Cathy Keen; George Burgess (February 12, 2008). "Human deaths from shark attacks hit 20-year low last year"(PDF). University of Florida News. University of Florida. Archived from the original(PDF) on January 14, 2009. Retrieved November 10, 2013. Within Florida, Volusia County continued its dubious distinction as the world's shark bite capital with 17 incidents, its highest yearly total since 2002, Burgess said.
Grange, Roger. "Saving Eighteenth-Century New Smyrnea: Public Archaeology in Action." Present Pasts vol 3 #1 (2011). online
Panagopoulos, Epaminondas P. "The Background of the Greek Settlers in the New Smyrna Colony." Florida Historical Quarterly 35.2 (1956): 95–115. in JSTOR
Panagopoulos, Epaminondas P. New Smyrna: An Eighteenth Century Greek Odyssey (University of Florida Press, 1966)
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