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If you're curious about Volusia County, its history, people and unique features, here's a good place to start. This section of the web site offers an overview of our community, from information on our history of auto racing to demographics, schools and employment.

Volusia County: An introduction

More than 500,000 people call Volusia County home. Situated on the east coast of Central Florida, our 47 miles of Atlantic Ocean beaches are a world-class playground, with beachfront cities including Daytona Beach, Ormond Beach and New Smyrna Beach.

Water sports are plentiful, but Volusia's oceanfront communities are most famous for land sports. Early automotive pioneers such as Louis Chevrolet and Henry Ford enjoyed their leisure time in the sun and found that the hard-packed sand, gentle slope and wide expanse of Volusia's beach was the perfect proving ground for early auto racing. Ormond Beach, in fact, is known as the "Birthplace of Speed."

The racing tradition continues today at Daytona International Speedway, one of the world's finest racing facilities and the home of the world-famous Daytona 500, an event larger than the Super Bowl.

The scenic St. Johns River, famed for its bass fishing, links magnificent parks with wildlife preserves along the County's western border. True southern charm can be found in DeLand, the county seat. This unique city features an award-winning downtown filled with antique shops and quaint restaurants, surrounded by stately historic homes and buildings.

Volusia-based companies include Hawaiian Tropic sun care products and Boston Whaler boats. Our institutions of higher learning -- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Stetson University, Bethune-Cookman University, Daytona State College and the University of Central Florida -- have a national reputation for excellence.

Volusia County also is the headquarters of the Ladies Professional Golf Association, the summer home of the London Symphony Orchestra, and the winter refuge of the endangered Florida manatee. Volusia County is about an hour's drive north of Disney World and the Kennedy Space Center. It's also within a few hours drive of other major Florida communities, such as Tampa (139 miles), Miami (253 miles), or Jacksonville (89 miles).

Volusia County consists of 1,207 square miles. Elevation begins at sea level and rises to a high elevation of 110 feet.

Climate

Volusia County's average summer temperature is 81. The average winter temperature is 61.5, and the average rainfall is 48.46. Look below for the current weather conditions, daily beach report and additional Volusia County area weather links.

Origins Of Volusia

Volusia County is named after the community of Volusia, which today is a tiny, unincorporated community on the east bank of the St. Johns River where State Road 40 crosses. However, when Volusia County was carved from Orange County by the Florida legislature in 1854, the community was a prosperous steamboat landing and the largest town in the County. Keep in mind that the entire population of Volusia County barely exceeded 600 people!

The community of Volusia began as a trading post sometime in the first or second decade of the 1800s. It was located where an Indian trail intersected with the St. Johns River. This location was later developed as an important supply depot for the military during the Second Seminole War in 1834-35. When commercial steamships started to travel up and down the St. Johns, the community grew and was listed as one of four post offices in the County. With the introduction of regional railroad systems in the 1880s, the community of Volusia was bypassed, and thus, its era of prosperity ended.

The origins of of the word "Volusia" is of some debate. Despite serious effort by amateur and professional historians, no one has ever discovered a historic document which has provided the definitive answer.

There are three theories:

• The name derives from a word meaning "Land of the Euchee." When the Timucuan Indian cultures died out in the early 1700s, the land in the area was uninhabited until some of the Indian tribes to the north began to migrate into the area (much like the people that have become known as Seminoles). The Euchee Indians were a tribe originally from an area in South Carolina.

• The name was taken from the name of a British plantation which was located on the St. Johns River in the late 1700s. However, no one has explained where the plantation owner came up with the name.

• The name is derived from the last name of one of the employees at the trading post. He is described as being well-liked and of Belgian or French descent. The story goes that his name was something like "Veluche," which was pronounced "Va-loo-shay." The post became known as "Veluche's Place," hence the eventual creation of "Volusia.