History of the Ormond Beach Area
 

Date/Time: Saturday, September 9, 2023 @ 10:00 am

Place: Anderson-Price Building - 42 North Beach Street, Ormond Beach, FL 32174

 

Presented by: Randy Jaye

Free Admission: (Open to the Public)

 

Learn about the interesting history of the Ormond Beach area. This journey starts with the indigenous people who settled in the area for thousands of years before the European invasion began in 1513.

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The journey then explores the colonial Spanish and English settlers, businessmen and governmental officials who established plantations, some large and technologically advanced. These plantations were built and worked by slave labor (mostly Blacks of African origin).

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Other major historical events and topics such as the disastrous Second Seminole War (1835-1842) which decimated the area and destroyed the majority of the plantations and infrastructure and chased most people away, post-American Civil War settlement, establishment of New Britain (now Ormond Beach), “Birthplace of Speed,” the Jim Crow Era, industrialist Henry Flagler and his Florida East Coast Railway, the Ormond Hotel, John D. Rockefeller and his modest ‘Casements’ mansion, World War II and Florida’s U-boat War, and how Ormond Beach has evolved into a commuter town, bedroom community, and family vacation destination will all be included in this insightful journey through the area’s rich local history.

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Randy Jaye has recently researched and nominated 4 properties that have been successfully added onto the National Register of Historic Places. He is the author of the recent books: Flagler County, Florida: A Centennial History; Perseverance: Episodes of Black History from the Rural South and Jim Crow Era Propaganda, Artifacts and Upheavals in Florida. He also writes articles for historical journals, local newspapers, magazines, online publications, and has appeared on several radio shows and PBS documentaries. He earned both a Master’s degree and a Bachelor’s degree from California State University.

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