Ormond Beach sits at the north end of the Daytona Beach area on Florida's Atlantic coast, where the Halifax River runs behind the barrier island. It is quieter and more residential than Daytona itself — beach driving is not permitted north of Granada Boulevard, which keeps the northern strand in better shape — and it has a legitimate claim to being a place of historical importance in its own right rather than simply Daytona's northern neighbour.
The town called itself the Birthplace of Speed long before Daytona built its oval. From 1902 to 1935, the hard-packed Atlantic sand between Ormond and Daytona was the premier land speed record venue in the world. Ransom E. Olds set the first record here in 1902; Malcolm Campbell's Bluebird hit 276 mph on the same beach in 1935. The Ormond Garage on East Granada Boulevard, where racing cars were housed and prepared, still stands as the town's oldest building and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Oil baron John D. Rockefeller wintered here from 1918 until his death in 1937, and The Casements — his cottage on the Halifax River — is now a free museum and cultural centre. The Ormond Memorial Art Museum and Gardens on West Granada Boulevard offers botanical gardens and a collection of Florida-themed art in a Spanish Mission Revival cottage. At the northern end of town, Tomoka State Park preserves 2,000 acres of coastal hammock and river landscape, best explored by kayak on the slow, tree-lined Tomoka River.
The beachfront is wide, car-free, and genuinely uncrowded compared to Daytona, with good shorebird populations and reliable Atlantic swimming from May through October.