Daytona Beach is a coastal

resort city A resort town, resort city or resort destination is an urban area where tourism or vacationing is the primary component of the local culture and economy. A typical resort town has one or more actual resorts in the surrounding area. Sometimes ...

in Volusia County, Florida, United States. Located on the

East Coast of the United States The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the region encompassing the coast, coastline where the Eastern United States meets the Atlantic Ocean; it has always pla ...

, its population was 72,647 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach metropolitan area, and is a principal city of the Fun Coast region of Florida. Daytona Beach is historically known for its beach, where motorized vehicles are permitted on some hard-packed sand beaches. Motorsports on the beach became popular, and the

Daytona Beach and Road Course The Ormond Beach and Road Course was a motorsport race track that was instrumental in the formation of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. It originally became famous as the location where 15 land speed record, world land ...

hosted races for over 50 years, replaced in 1959 by

Daytona International Speedway Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, Daytona Beach, Florida, United States, about north of Orlando, Florida, Orlando. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race ...

. The city is the headquarters of

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

. Daytona Beach hosts large groups of tourists, and notable events include

Speedweeks Daytona Speedweek presented by AdventHealth is a series of racing events that take place during January and February at Daytona International Speedway. Traditionally leading up to the Daytona 500, in 2021 it concluded with the 2021 O'Reilly Auto ...

which attracts 200,000 visitors to the

Daytona 500 The Daytona 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series motor race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is the first of two Cup races held every year at Daytona, the second being the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and one of three ...

. Other events include the NASCAR

Coke Zero Sugar 400 The Coke Zero Sugar 400 is an annual NASCAR Cup Series stock car racing, stock car race at Daytona International Speedway. First held in 1959, the event consists of 160 laps, , and is the second of two major stock car events held at Daytona on ...

, Daytona Beach Bike Week, Biketoberfest, and the

24 Hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car racing, sports car Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Flo ...

endurance race. The city is also a hub of higher education, home to over 20,000 students across three institutions: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Bethune-Cookman University, and Daytona State College.

History

At the time of European contact, the area where Daytona Beach is located was inhabited by the Freshwater people, a branch of the

Timucua The Timucua were a Native American people who lived in Northeast and North Central Florida and southeast Georgia. They were the largest indigenous group in that area and consisted of about 35 chiefdoms, many leading thousands of people. The va ...

. The town of Nocoroco in what is now Tomoka State Park was the most important in the region. The villages of Caçaroy and Cicale were a short distance south of there. The southernmost Timucua town was Caparaca, in present-day New Smyrna Beach. There were only small hamlets between Cicale and Caparaca. Turtle Mound, south of New Smyrna Beach, was the site of the town of Surruque, belonging to the Surruque people, whose territory extended south to

Cape Canaveral Cape Canaveral () is a cape (geography), cape in Brevard County, Florida, in the United States, near the center of the state's Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. Officially Cape Kennedy from 1963 to 1973, it lies east of Merritt Island, separated ...

. Like other Indigenous peoples in Florida, the Freshwater Timucua and Surruque were nearly exterminated by contact with Europeans through war, enslavement (the Spanish enslaved some Surruque war captives in 1598), and disease and became extinct as racial entities through assimilation and attrition during the 18th century. The

Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, ...

Indians, descendants of Creek Indians from

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

and

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, frequented the area prior to the

Second Seminole War The Second Seminole War, also known as the Florida War, was a conflict from 1835 to 1842 in Florida between the United States and groups of people collectively known as Seminoles, consisting of Muscogee, Creek and Black Seminoles as well as oth ...

. During the era of British rule of Florida between 1763 and 1783, the King's Road passed through present-day Daytona Beach. The road extended from

Saint Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berbers, Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia (Roman province), Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced th ...

, the capital of

East Florida East Florida () was a colony of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain from 1763 to 1783 and a province of the Spanish Empire from 1783 to 1821. The British gained control over Spanish Florida in 1763 as part of the Treaty of Paris (1763), Tre ...

, to Andrew Turnbull's experimental colony in New Smyrna. In 1804, Samuel Williams received a land grant of from the

Spanish Crown The monarchy of Spain or Spanish monarchy () is the constitutional form of government of Spain. It consists of a Hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarch who reigns as the head of state, being the highest office of the country. The Spanish ...

, which had regained Florida from the British after the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. This

land grant A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...

encompassed the area that would become Daytona Beach. Williams built a slave labor-based plantation to grow

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

, and

sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

. His son Samuel Hill Williams abandoned the plantation during the

, when the Seminoles burned it to the ground. The area now known as the Daytona Beach Historical District was once the Orange Grove Plantation, a citrus and

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

plantation granted to Samuel Williams in 1787. The plantation was situated on the west bank of the tidal channel known as the

Halifax River The Halifax River is part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, located in northeast Volusia County, Florida. The waterway was originally known as the North Mosquito River, but was renamed after George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax (for ...

, 12 miles north of Mosquito Inlet. Williams was a British loyalist from North Carolina who fled to the Bahamas with his family until the Spanish reopened Florida to non-Spanish immigration. After his death in 1810, the plantation was run by his family until it was burned down in 1835. In 1871, Mathias Day Jr. of Mansfield, Ohio, purchased the 3,200-acre tract of the former Orange Grove Plantation. He built a hotel around which the initial section of town arose. In 1872, due to financial troubles, Day lost title to his land; nonetheless, residents decided to name the city Daytona in his honor, and incorporated the town in 1876. In 1886, the St. Johns & Halifax River Railway arrived in Daytona. The line was purchased in 1889 by Henry M. Flagler, who made it part of his

Florida East Coast Railway The Florida East Coast Railway is a Class II railroad operating in the U.S. state of Florida, currently owned by Grupo México. Built primarily in the last quarter of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century, the FEC was a p ...

. The separate towns of Daytona, Daytona Beach, Kingston, and Seabreeze merged as "Daytona Beach" in 1926, at the urging of civic leader J. B. Kahn and others. By the 1920s, it was dubbed "the World's Most Famous Beach". Daytona's wide beach of smooth, compacted sand attracted automobile and motorcycle races beginning in 1902, as pioneers in the industry tested their inventions. It hosted

land speed record The land speed record (LSR) or absolute land speed record is the highest speed achieved by a person using a vehicle on land. By a 1964 agreement between the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and Fédération Internationale de M ...

attempts beginning in 1904, when William K. Vanderbilt set an unofficial record of . Land speed racers from

Barney Oldfield Berna Eli "Barney" Oldfield (January 29, 1878 – October 4, 1946) was a pioneer American racing driver. His name was "synonymous with speed in the first two decades of the 20th century". He was the winner of the inaugural List of American ope ...

to Henry Segrave to Malcolm Campbell would visit Daytona repeatedly and make the beach course famous. Record attempts, including numerous fatal endeavors such as Frank Lockhart ( Stutz Black Hawk, 1928) and Lee Bible ( ''Triplex Special'', 1929), would continue until Campbell's March 7, 1935 effort, which set the record at and marked the end of Daytona's land speed racing days. On March 8, 1936, the first

stock car Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses. It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It originated in the southe ...

race was held on the

Daytona Beach Road Course The Ormond Beach and Road Course was a motorsport race track that was instrumental in the formation of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. It originally became famous as the location where 15 world land speed records were set. ...

, located in the present-day Town of Ponce Inlet. In 1958,

William France Sr. William Henry Getty France (September 26, 1909 – June 7, 1992) was an American businessman and racing driver. He was also known as Bill France Sr. or Big Bill. He is best known for founding and managing NASCAR, a sanctioning body of US-based s ...

and

created the

to replace the beach course. Automobiles are still permitted on most areas of the beach, at a maximum speed of . The city of Daytona Beach made national headlines in 2005, when it designated the several–mile radius around Main Street on the

barrier island Barrier islands are a Coast#Landforms, coastal landform, a type of dune, dune system and sand island, where an area of sand has been formed by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of an ...

portion of the city as a blighted area and has targeted it for redevelopment by private developers. This follows the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

decision of the

eminent domain Eminent domain, also known as land acquisition, compulsory purchase, resumption, resumption/compulsory acquisition, or expropriation, is the compulsory acquisition of private property for public use. It does not include the power to take and t ...

case in '' Kelo v. City of New London'', which upheld the right of municipalities to use eminent domain to

take A take is a single continuous recorded performance. The term is used in film and music to denote and track the stages of production. Film In cinematography, a take refers to each filmed "version" of a particular shot or "setup". Takes of each ...

private property for redevelopment by private entities.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , of which (9.6%) are covered by water. The city of Daytona Beach is split in two by the

lagoon, part of the

Intracoastal Waterway The Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) is a Navigability, inland waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the United States, running from Massachusetts southward along the Atlantic Seaboard and around the southern tip of Florida, the ...

, and sits on the Atlantic Ocean. It is bordered on the north by Holly Hill and Ormond Beach and on the south by Daytona Beach Shores, South Daytona, and Port Orange. Notable weather events that have caused damage or injury in Daytona Beach include

Hurricane Donna Hurricane Donna, known in Puerto Rico as Hurricane San Lorenzo, was the strongest hurricane of the 1960 Atlantic hurricane season, and caused severe damage to the Lesser Antilles, the Greater Antilles, and the East Coast of the United States, ...

in 1960, the 1998 Kissimmee tornado outbreak, and Hurricane Charley in 2004. In 1992, a long

rogue wave A rogue wave is an abnormally large ocean wave. Rogue wave may also refer to: * Optical rogue waves, are rare pulses of light analogous to rogue or freak ocean waves. * Rogue Wave Software, a software company * Rogue Wave (band), an American in ...

with a high crest hit Daytona Beach, causing property damage and 75 reported injuries.

Climate

Daytona Beach has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Cfa''), which is typical of the Gulf and South Atlantic states. As is typical of much of Florida, two seasons are seen in Daytona Beach - the warmer, wetter season (late May through October) and the cooler and drier season (November through April). In summer, temperatures are relatively stable with an average of only 8 days annually with a maximum at or above ; the last reading was seen on August 2, 1999. The Bermuda High pumps hot and unstable tropical air from the Bahamas and Gulf of Mexico, resulting in daily, but brief thundershowers. This results in the months of June through September accounting for most of the average annual rainfall of . In winter, Daytona Beach has weather conditions typical of other cities on the Florida peninsula. On average, the coolest month is January, with a normal monthly mean temperature of . It is the only month where the average high temperature falls below . Occasional cold fronts can bring freezes, which from 1991 to 2020 were seen on an average of 3.0 nights annually; however, minima below are very rare, and were last seen on December 28, 2010. Like much of Florida, Daytona Beach often can be very dry in late winter and early spring, and brush fires and water restrictions can be an issue. Official record temperatures range from on January 21, 1985, up to on July 15, 1981, and June 24, 1944; the record cold daily maximum is on Christmas Day 1983, while, conversely, the record warm daily minimum is on September 1 and 10–11, 2008, and August 25, 2020. Annual rainfall has ranged from in 2006 and 1956, up to in 1953. The most rainfall to have occurred in a calendar day was on October 10, 1924, which contributed to of rain that fell that month, the most of any calendar month.

Demographics

2010 and 2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, 72,647 people, 28,763 households, and 14,607 families resided in the city. As of the 2010 United States census, 61,005 people, 25,093 households, and 12,234 families lived in the city.

2000 census

As of 2000, 18.0% had children under 18 living with them, 30.1% were married couples living together, 14.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 51.6% were not families. Of all households, 39.4% were made up of individuals, and 14.4% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.06 and the average family size was 2.77. In 2000, 17.6% of the population was under 18, 16.6% was from 18 to 24, 25.6% from 25 to 44, 20.5% from 45 to 64, and 19.7% was 65 or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.5 males. In 2000, the

median income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of unde ...

for a household in the city was $25,439, and for a family was $33,514. Males had a median income of $25,705 versus $20,261 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,530. 23.6% of the population and 16.9% of families were below the poverty line. Of the total population, 34.9% of those under 18 and 12.1% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

Languages

As of 2000, English spoken as a first language accounted for 90.37% of all residents, and 9.62% spoke other languages as their first language. Spanish speakers made up 4.01% of the population; French was the third-most spoken language, which made up 0.90%; German was at 0.86%; and

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

was at 0.66% of the population.

Economy

Tourism is a major part of the Daytona Beach economy, with over 8 million visitors in 2004. Other sources of revenue include manufacturing, and Daytona Beach has industrial sites within an

enterprise zone An urban enterprise zone is an area in which policies to encourage economic growth and development are implemented. Urban enterprise zone policies generally offer tax concessions, infrastructure incentives, and reduced regulations to attract invest ...

and sites within a foreign trade zone adjacent to Daytona Beach International Airport. Companies and organizations that have their

corporate headquarters Corporate headquarters is the part of a corporate structure that deals with tasks such as strategic planning, corporate communications, taxes, law, books of record, marketing, finance, human resources, and information technology. Corporate headqu ...

or a major presence in the area include: * Brown & Brown * Halifax Health * Halifax Media Group * International Speedway Corporation * Gambro-Renal Products * Ladies Professional Golf Association *

* Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Shopping

* Volusia Mall, the largest shopping mall in Daytona Beach * Ocean Walk Shoppes, an open-air shopping center * Tanger Outlets, a retail center

Top employers

According to the City's 2019 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:

Arts and culture

The Museum of Arts and Sciences is the primary cultural facility for Daytona Beach and Volusia County. Other museums located in the city include the Southeast Museum of Photography and the Halifax Historical Museum. The Museum of Arts and Sciences is actually a collection of museums and galleries, and includes the Klancke Environmental Complex, the Cuban Museum, the Root Family Museum featuring one of the largest Coca-Cola collections in the world, the Dow American Gallery, and the Bouchelle Center for Decorative Arts, which together form what is probably one of the finest collections of furniture and decorative arts in the

Southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, ...

. It also includes the Cici and Hyatt Brown Museum of Art, which houses the largest collection of Florida art in the world. The exhibitions change often, and a children's science center opened in 2008. Since 1952, the nonprofit Daytona Beach Symphony Society has sponsored performances by U.S. and international orchestras, opera, and dance companies each season at the Peabody Auditorium. DAYTONABEACKFLOCKOFSEAGULLS

Special events

The city attracts over 8 million tourists each year. Special events that draw visitors to Daytona Beach include: *

(

race, Rolex 24 sports car race, and others) *

, NASCAR race held on the first Saturday of July (formerly called the Pepsi 400 and the Firecracker 400) * Daytona Beach Bike Week

Daytona 200 The Daytona 200 is an annual motorcycle road racing competition held in early spring at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, Daytona Beach, Florida. The race was founded in 1937 when it was sanctioned by the American Mo ...

motorcycle races, bike shows, and biker reunion in March *

Spring break Spring break is a vacation period at universities and schools that includes the Easter holiday, and takes place in early Northern Hemisphere spring. Introduced in the U.S. during the 1930s, spring break has been observed in Europe since t ...

(date varies, usually the first and second week of March) During motorcycle events ( Bike Week and Biketoberfest), several hundred thousand bikers from all over the world visit the greater Daytona Beach area. The city is also often associated with

spring break Spring break is a vacation period at universities and schools that includes the Easter holiday, and takes place in early Northern Hemisphere spring. Introduced in the U.S. during the 1930s, spring break has been observed in Europe since t ...

, though the efforts of the local government to discourage rowdiness, combined with the rise of other spring-break destinations, have affected Daytona's preeminence as a spring-break destination. It is the destination of Dayton 2 Daytona, an annual event that draws over 3,000

University of Dayton The University of Dayton (UD) is a Private university, private, Catholic research university in Dayton, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1850 by the Society of Mary (Marianists), Society of Mary, it is one of three Marianist universities in the U ...

college students since 1977.

National Historic Places

Daytona Beach looking north near Ormond Beach border

Other points of interest

* Daytona 500 Experience *

* Daytona Beach Boardwalk * Daytona Lagoon Water Park * Halifax Historical Museum * Jackie Robinson Ballpark * Main Street Pier * Mary McLeod Bethune Performing Arts Center and Visual Arts Gallery * Museum of Arts and Sciences * News Journal Center * Southeast Museum of Photography * The Ocean Center

Sports

Motorsports

Annual races at

include

and

Baseball

The

Daytona Tortugas The Daytona Tortugas are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Minor League Baseball#Single-A, Single-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Daytona Beach, Florida, and play their home games at Jackie R ...

, a minor league baseball team of the Low-A Southeast, play at Jackie Robinson Ballpark. Established in 1993, the team has won six championships.

Parks and recreation

Beaches and parks

Daytona Beach has over of public beaches, and more than ten waterfront parks. Cars can be driven on some of the beaches. Notable golf courses include Daytona Beach Golf Course, established in 1922, and LPGA International.

Government

Local government

Under Daytona Beach's commission-manager form of government, voters elect a city commission, which consists of seven members who serve four-year, staggered terms. Six are elected by district, the mayor is elected citywide. The city commission establishes ordinances and policies for the city. It also reviews and approves the city budget annually. The commission appoints a

city manager A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city in the council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are referred to as the chief executive officer (CEO) or chief administ ...

, who carries out the will of the commission and handles day-to-day business.

Federal, state, and county representation

The

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...

operates a post office at 500 Bill France Boulevard in Daytona Beach. The Daytona Beach Armed Forces Reserve Center is home of the

Florida Army National Guard The Florida Army National Guard is Florida's component of the United States Army and the United States National Guard. In the United States, the Army National Guard comprises approximately one half of the federal army's available combat forces ...

1st Battalion, 265th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, Battery D. Daytona Beach is part of Florida's 6th congressional district. It is part of Florida's 25th and 26th State House of Representatives Districts and the 6th and 8th State Senate Districts. Florida's 6th congressional district, which extends from the southern Jacksonville suburbs to New Smyrna Beach and includes St. Augustine and Daytona Beach.

Education

Primary and secondary schooling

Public primary and secondary education is handled by Volusia County Schools. Daytona Beach has two traditional public high schools, two middle schools, and six elementary schools. Some of the larger private schools include Father Lopez Catholic High School.

Elementary schools

* Beachside Elementary * Champion Elementary * Palm Terrace Elementary * R.J. Longstreet Elementary * Turie T. Small Elementary * Westside Elementary

Middle schools

* Campbell Middle School * David C. Hinson Middle School

High schools

Mainland High School Mainland High School is a public high school located in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. It is attended by 1,979 students of grades nine through twelve. The mascot is a Buccaneer and strongly resembles the old logo of the Tampa Bay Buccanee ...

* Seabreeze High School

Colleges and universities

* Bethune–Cookman University * Daytona State College *

Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) is a private university focused on aviation and aerospace programs based in Daytona Beach, Florida, and Prescott, Arizona, United States. It is the largest accredited university system specializing in ...

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in unincorporated area, unincorporated Orange County, Florida, United States. It is part of the State University System of Florida. ...

, Daytona Beach Campus

Vocational schools

* The Airline Academy offers flight training for pilots and other airline professionals. * Keiser College * Phoenix East Aviation offers flight training for pilots. * WyoTech (formerly AMI) offers motorcycle repair and marine repair training.

Media

Newspapers

* '' The Daytona Beach News-Journal'' – daily newspaper covering the

Halifax area The Halifax area or simply Daytona is a region of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the area around Daytona Beach. It is roughly coextensive with the Daytona Beach metropolitan area and Volusia County. There have been a number of attempts ...

* ''Hometown News'' – weekly newspaper covering the greater Daytona Beach area * ''East Coast Current'' – community newspaper covering Volusia County * ''

Orlando Sentinel The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida region, in the United States. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company. The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by pare ...

'' – newspaper and news site based in

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

, with a bureau covering Daytona Beach and Volusia County * '' The Avion Newspaper'' – student college publication of

in Daytona Beach. * '' The Daytona Times'' – Black newspaper covering Daytona Beach metropolitan area * ''HeadlineSurfer.com'' – Internet-only newspaper covering the greater Daytona Beach - Orlando area

Radio

AM * WNDB, 1150 AM, Daytona Beach,

news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the te ...

/ Talk/

Sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

* WROD, 1340 AM, Daytona Beach,

classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

* WMFJ, 1450 AM, Daytona Beach, religious * WDJZ, 1590 AM, Daytona Beach,

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

/news/talk FM * WHOG-FM, 95.7 FM, Ormond Beach,

* WCFB, 94.5 FM, Daytona Beach,

urban adult contemporary Urban adult contemporary, often abbreviated as urban AC or UAC, (also known as adult R&B,) is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have hip hop music on ...

* WJHM, 101.9 FM, Daytona Beach,

classic hip hop Classic hip hop is a music radio format focusing primarily on hip hop music from the 1980s, 1990s, and the early to mid-2000s. Although stations with such a format date back as far as 2004, the format was first popularized in October 2014, after ...

* WIKD-LP, 102.5 FM, Daytona Beach, campus radio ofEmbry–Riddle Aeronautical University *W231CN, 94.1 FM, Daytona Beach,

urban contemporary Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contemporary r ...

"HOT 94.1"

Television

* WESH, Channel 2,

digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Businesses *Digital bank, a form of financial institution *Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) or Digital, a computer company *Digital Research (DR or DRI), a software ...

channel 11,

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

* WDSC-TV, Channel 15,

channel 24,

educational Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education also fol ...

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

* Spectrum News 13, Spectrum Cable, cable channel 13

Infrastructure

Law enforcement

Law enforcement in Daytona Beach is provided by the 241-member Daytona Beach Police Department (DBPD) headed by police chief Craig Capri. In a unique and controversial program to help fund the Police Explorer program, run by a subsidiary of the

Boy Scouts of America Scouting America is the largest scouting organization and one of the largest List of youth organizations, youth organizations in the United States, with over 1 million youth, including nearly 200,000 female participants. Founded as the Boy Sco ...

, T-shirts with the words ''Scumbag Eradication Team'': ''Not in Our Town'' are sold at the police headquarters. The T-shirts contain a caricature of retired Chief Chitwood standing next to a toilet bowl with the legs of multiple individuals sticking out. The T-shirt has been cited in at least one lawsuit against the DBPD alleging

police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or Public order policing, a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, b ...

; the lawyer in the case in which the client sustained broken ribs and a fractured eye socket during an arrest for an open container of beer, claims the T-shirt shows the DBPD condones violence. The Volusia County Sheriff's Office, headed by Mike Chitwood, is a county-wide law enforcement agency with 446 sworn positions, 438 civilian employees, 300 volunteers, and an annual operating budget of $73 million that has jurisdiction in unincorporated areas of Volusia County and provides additional law enforcement support to Daytona Beach during such events as the Daytona 500 and aids in joint investigations of certain crimes. The Volusia County Beach Patrol provides law enforcement and EMT services along Volusia County beaches, including the beaches in the city of Daytona Beach.

Healthcare

Healthcare in Daytona Beach is dominated by Halifax Health (formerly known as Halifax Hospital). The Halifax Hospital Taxing District was established in 1927 by an act of the Florida Legislature as a public hospital district. Dozens of individual practitioners and professional associations are in the Daytona Beach area.

Utilities

Basic utilities in Daytona Beach (water and sewer) are provided by the city government. * Florida Power & Light is Daytona Beach's local electric power provider. * TECO/People's Gas is Daytona Beach's natural gas provider

* Charter Spectrum, Spectrum and

AT&T AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...

networks are Daytona Beach's local cable providers. * AT&T (formerly

BellSouth BellSouth, LLC (stylized as ''BELLSOUTH'' and formerly known as BellSouth Corporation) was an American telecommunications holding company based in Atlanta, Georgia. BellSouth was one of the seven original Regional Bell Operating Companies after ...

) is Daytona Beach's local phone provider. The city has a successful

recycling Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. This concept often includes the recovery of energy from waste materials. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the propert ...

program with separate pickups for garbage, yard waste, and recycling. Collection is provided by several private companies under contract to Volusia County.

Transportation

Airports

Passenger airline services are located at Daytona Beach International Airport (DAB), which is centrally located within the city adjacent to

. The site was first used as an airport with terminals being constructed in 1952 and 1958. The present facility was constructed in 1992 at the cost of $46 million, and includes both a domestic terminal and an International terminal. Despite the new facilities, DAB has found difficulty in attracting and retaining carriers;

Continental Airlines Continental Airlines (simply known as Continental) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1934 until it merged with United Airlines in 2012. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers. Continen ...

AirTran Airways AirTran Airways was a low-cost airline in the United States that operated from 1993 until it was acquired by Southwest Airlines May 2, 2011. Headquartered in Orlando, Florida, AirTran Airways was established in 1993 as Conquest Sun Airlines b ...

, and

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois that operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and six ...

discontinued flights to Daytona in 2007 and 2008. LTU and American Airlines also serviced Daytona Beach during the 1980s and 1990s, both of which ended all flights in 1994 and 1997, respectively. Current passenger airlines serving DAB include

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, operating nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its ...

(with nonstop service to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

) and

American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...

(with nonstop service to Charlotte). Both carriers offer connecting service from those cities to destinations worldwide. International flights from DAB fly to destinations in

the Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of ...

through

air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. History The concept of air taxis existed as early as the 1910s. This concept goes back as early as 1917 with Glenn Curtiss’ prototype, the auto-plane. Furthermor ...

and charter services Airgate Aviation and IslandPass; non-stop flights are available from DAB to Marsh Harbour, Treasure Cay, and

North Eleuthera North Eleuthera is one of the districts of the Bahamas, on the island of Eleuthera. It has a population (2010 census) of 3,247. The Bluff, Lower Bogue, Current and Upper Bogue are the main settlements. Sweetings Pond in North Central Eleuthe ...

Sunwing Airlines Sunwing Airlines Inc. was a Canadian low-cost airline headquartered in Toronto, Ontario with its main bases at Montréal–Trudeau International Airport and Toronto Pearson International Airport. From 2023 onwards, it was a subsidiary of W ...

also operates seasonal flights from

Toronto Pearson International Airport Toronto Pearson International Airport is an international airport located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It is the main airport serving Toronto, its metropolitan area, and the surrounding region known as the Golden Horseshoe. Pearson is the ...

. DAB is also heavily used for

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...

, largely due to Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University, whose campus is located at the airport. Larger airports nearby are

Orlando International Airport Orlando International Airport is the primary international airport located southeast of downtown Orlando, Florida. In 2024, it had 57,211,628 passengers, making it the busiest airport in the state and ninth busiest airport in the United St ...

and Jacksonville International Airport, each of which is about 90 minutes away.

Buses

* Daytona Beach is served by Greyhound Bus Lines, which has a terminal located at 138 South Ridgewood Avenue (US 1). The Greyhound routes from Daytona Beach connect with hubs in Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville and

. * Votran is the local bus service provided by Volusia County.

Automobiles

Daytona Beach is easily accessible by Interstate 95 in Florida, I-95 that runs north and south and Interstate 4, I-4 connecting Daytona Beach with

and Tampa, Florida, Tampa. U.S. Route 1 in Florida, US 1 (Ridgewood Avenue) also passes north–south through Daytona Beach. Connecting I-4 and US1 is SR 400. U.S. Route 92, US 92 (International Speedway Boulevard) runs east–west through Daytona Beach. Florida State Road A1A, SR A1A is a scenic north–south route along the beach. The Volusia County Parking Garage is located at 701 Earl Street at North Atlantic Avenue (SR A1A). The garage is strategically located, next to the Ocean Center, Daytona Lagoon, and across the street from the Hilton Hotel and Ocean Walk Shoppes. Over 1000 parking spaces are available inside the garage, which also houses an intermodal transfer station for VoTran.

Bridges

Four bridges cross over the

(and

) at Daytona Beach. They include (starting from furthest downstream) the Veterans Memorial Bridge (which carries CR 4050 traffic), the Broadway Bridge (Daytona Beach), Broadway Bridge (which carries U.S. Route 92, US 92 traffic), the Main Street Bridge (which carries CR 4040 traffic), and the Seabreeze Bridge (which carries Florida State Road 430, SR 430 traffic). All four bridges charge no Road pricing, toll to traffic. In June, 2016, the Veterans Memorial Bridge was closed as part of a three-year project to demolish the drawbridge and replace it with a high span bridge.

VMB(DB)-0794.JPG, Veterans Memorial Bridge BB(DB) broad4sm.jpg, Broadway Bridge (Daytona Beach), Broadway Bridge MSB(DBF) 0806.JPG, Main Street Bridge SB-0877.JPG, Seabreeze Bridge ISS067-E-174830 Daytona Beach, Florida.jpg, Bridges over the Halifax River on ; taken from the International Space Station

Rail

Passenger railroad service to Daytona Beach was established no later than 1889 by the Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Halifax River Railway, predecessor of the Florida East Coast Railroad . Long-distance trains such as the ''City of Miami'' and the ''South Wind (train), South Wind'' (both from Chicago), ''Champion (train), East Coast Champion'' (from New York City) and the ''Havana Special'' (New York City) made stops at Daytona Beach. Long distance routes were diverted to Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and Seaboard Air Line Railroad routes on the Florida interior south of the Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center, Jacksonville Union Station, following the beginning of a labor dispute on the FEC in 1963. Passenger trains continued calling at Daytona Beach until July 31, 1968, when the FEC terminated passenger operations system-wide. The FEC currently operates freight trains through Daytona Beach. Daytona Beach is served by Amtrak by way of an Amtrak Thruway connection between the beachside and Amtrak's DeLand station, to the west. There, the service connects northbound with train 92, the ''Silver Star (Amtrak train), Silver Star'', and train 98, the ''Silver Meteor''. Southbound connections from Daytona Beach are limited to ''Silver Meteor'' southbound train 97. The DeLand, Florida, DeLand – Daytona Beach service is Amtrak's only Florida Amtrak Thruway route provided by a taxicab, rather than a bus.

Notable people

* Duane Allman and Gregg Allman, musicians * Perry Baker (rugby union), Perry Baker, rugby player for the United States national rugby sevens team, U.S. national team * Fulgencio Batista, 19th President of Cuba * Pete Carr, musician * Vince Carter, basketball player, eight-time NBA All-Star * Ed Charles, Major League Baseball player * J. A. Coburn, blackface minstrel troupe manager, theater company owner * Dimitri Diatchenko, actor * John Flemm, businessman * Bill France Sr., founder of NASCAR * Roland G. Fryer Jr., economist, in 2007 at age 30, he became the youngest African American to be given tenure at Harvard University. *Michael Greenbaum, rabbi and Vice Chancellor of The Jewish Theological Seminary. * Kenneth C. Griffin, hedge-fund manager, entrepreneur, investor * Lee H. Hamilton, U.S. congressman representing Indiana * Danielle Harris, actress * Carrenza Howard, baseball pitcher * Zora Neale Hurston, writer, anthropologist * Alex Kinsey, singer * E. J. Kuale, professional football player *Henry Lehmann (1929–2000), General Manager of General Electric's military systems operations, and philanthropist * Gary Russell Libby, art historian, curator, and director of the Museum of Arts and Sciences * Ryan Lochte, swimmer, winner of 12 Olympic medals including six gold * Martin Mayhew, pro football player and executive * Mary McLeod Bethune, educator and civil-rights activist * Walter M. Miller Jr., author of ''A Canticle for Leibowitz'' * Jane Morgan, singer * Blackbear (musician), Matthew Tyler Musto, musician * Kevin Nash, professional WWE wrestler * No Kum-sok, North Korean defector * Ransom Eli Olds, automobile pioneer * Pavlina Osta, radio host * Josef Papp, engineer * Kitty Pryde (rapper), Kitty Pryde, rapper * Fireball Roberts, Glen "Fireball" Roberts, NASCAR driver * Bob Ross, artist and television host * Galen Seaman, lawyer, Wisconsin state assemblyman, and mayor of Daytona Beach * David Sholtz, 26th governor of Florida * Mike Skinner (racecar driver), Mike Skinner, NASCAR driver * Lindsey Snell, journalist * Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté, painter * Howard Thurman, author and theologian * Denzel Washington, actor * Eric Weems, professional football player * T. K. Wetherell, president of Florida State University *Leonard Williams (defensive end), Leonard Williams, NFL defensive lineman for Seattle Seahawks * Jacob Winchester, award-winning composer, writer, voice actor, and director * Robert Wright (writer), Robert Wright, musical-theater writer * Aileen Wuornos, serial killer executed in 2002 * Smokey Yunick, mechanic and motor-racing innovator

In popular culture

Novels set in Daytona Beach include: * ''Day Number 142'' (1974) by Edgar A. Anderson * ''Last Cruise of the Nightwatch'' (1956) by Howard Broomfield * ''Kick of the Wheel'' (1957) by Stewart Sterling Several movies have been based on Daytona Beach, usually with a racing theme. The most recent example was the 1990 hit ''Days of Thunder'', parts of which were filmed in Daytona Beach and nearby DeLand. Chris Rea wrote the song "Daytona", which was in his 1989 album ''The Road to Hell''. Suzi Quatro's song "Daytona Demon" is often believed to refer to the city.Ausländer, Phillip; ''Performing Glam Rock: Gender And Theatricality in Popular Music''; p. 210. Also, about half of the video for the song "Steal My Sunshine" by Len (band), Len was filmed at Daytona Beach.

References

Citations

General sources

* Kettlewell, Mike. "Daytona", in Northey, Tom, ed. ''World of Automobiles'', Volume 10, pp. 501–503. London: Orbis, 1974. * Northey, Tom, "Land-speed record: The Fastest Men on Earth", in Northey, Tom, ed. ''World of Automobiles'', Volume 10, pp. 1161–1166. London: Orbis, 1974.

External links

City of Daytona Beach

Daytona Beach Chamber of Commerce

Daytona Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau

A History of Central Florida Podcast
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{{Authority control Daytona Beach, Florida, 1876 establishments in Florida Beaches of Florida Beaches of Volusia County, Florida Cities in Florida Cities in Volusia County, Florida Populated coastal places in Florida on the Atlantic Ocean Populated places established in 1876 Seaside resorts in Florida