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City of DeLand

Incorporated 1882

Earliest human habitation in DeLand
An aboriginal campsite believed to have been occupied sometime between 800 – 1500 A.D. was discovered on the shore of Lake Winnemissett.
Source: Florida Master Site File.

Origin of city name:  
The city is named after Henry DeLand, a chemical manufacturer from Fairport, New York who first visited the area in March, 1876. He was the major benefactor in the community’s formative years donating land and funds for the construction of the town’s first school, church, public building and landscaped boulevard (Woodland Boulevard). When settlers of the area gathered December 6, 1876 to discuss the idea of incorporating as a town, they voted to reward Mr. DeLand for his generosity by naming the community after him. He continued his civic-building efforts in the years following relocating of the county seat to DeLand and founding of Stetson University. 
Source: Volusia The West Side 

Former name: 
Persimmon Hollow, was the first name for the settlement before DeLand was chosen as the town’s name. Wild persimmon trees once grew in a natural depression located where downtown DeLand now stands.

First Post Office established: 1877

Highest land elevation
A small rise located east of Blue Lake Avenue and south of Nutmeg Circle is 107 feet above sea level. Source: U.S. Geological Survey  

Why here?
The well-drained pinelands of the DeLand Ridge provided Nineteenth Century settlers an escape from one fever and cultivated another. East Florida Yellow Fever epidemics in 1877 and 1888 killed several people and panicked thousands to flee established waterside communities such as Jacksonville, Fernandina Beach and Enterprise. Locations for new settlements were sought further away from bodies of water like the St. Johns River. The other fever was not a life-threatening malady, but a boon to the economy. “Orange fever” took the nation by storm. The taste for citrus in northern urban markets grew immensely after the Civil War, creating a large demand for its cultivation in Florida. A family of modest background could make a good living by clearing and planting a small grove on homesteaded land provided by the government, or on plots acquired from land speculators.

The pinelands of west Volusia County were ideal for citrus cultivation since the soils were well drained and clearing land was less difficult. Periodic wildfires kept the land beneath the pines open and nutrient-rich.

Oldest buildings still standing: 
Since the demise of the John Rich cabin (constructed in 1876) it’s been a toss up! Several frame buildings that still stand today are depicted in the 1884 "Bird’s-Eye View of DeLand", a lithograph published by J.J. Stoner of Madison, Wisconsin. Among these buildings are DeLand Hall on the Stetson University campus (1883), the original portion of St. Barnabas Episcopal Church (1883); and the following residences, constructed some time between 1877 and 1883: the old Voorhis home at 302 West Howry, the old Wright home at 425 South Woodland, 109 South Delaware, 426 West New York, 319 West Wisconsin, 425 South Woodland, 235 North Woodland, and two homes in the “Garden District”. 
Source: Historic Properties Survey of the City of DeLand, Florida.

U.S. Census

• Population (1890): 1,113 
  (the 15th largest city in Florida in 1895)
• Population (1900): 1,449
• Population (1910):  2,812 
• Population (1920): 3,324        
• Population (1930): 5,246 
• Population (1940): 7,041 
• Population (1950): 8,652 
• Population (1980): 15,354 
• Population (2000): 20,904
  (5th largest of 16 Volusia cities)

Famous people from DeLand:  

Charles Bailey Sr., 
Second Lieutenant with the Tuskegee Airmen

Bridgette Gordon,
Olympic basketball champion

Terrence Trent D’Arby, 
Musician

Snowbirds that stayed in DeLand: 
John B. Stetson, Philadelphia hat manufacturer 

Year of Municipal Incorporation: 1882 

 

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