City of DeLand, Florida seal
    Historic DeLand
    Historic DeLand Florida timeline header showing Stetson Mansion, Athens Theatre, and downtown

    DeLand, Florida Historical Timeline

    Quick answer: DeLand, Florida was founded on December 6, 1876, by New York hat-and-bonnet manufacturer Henry Addison DeLand on land known for millennia as the home of the Mayaca and other Indigenous peoples. The full timeline spans 12,000+ years of human habitation on the St. Johns River.

    Pre-contact Florida (before 1513)

    1. ~12,000 BCE — present. Human habitation along the St. Johns River, including shell middens on Hontoon Island. [S52]

    2. ~3,000 years ago — 1700s. Mayaca people inhabit Hontoon Island and the upper St. Johns River valley. [S52]

    3. 1500s. The Timucua cultural region (of which the Mayaca were a distinct group) covers northeastern Florida.

    Deep links:Hontoon Island tourDeLeon Springs tour

    Spanish and British colonial period (1513–1821)

    1. 1513. Juan Ponce de León lands in Florida and claims the peninsula for Spain.

    2. 1565. Pedro Menéndez de Avilés founds St. Augustine.

    3. 1763–1783. British occupation of Florida. William Beresford receives a 22,000-acre English plantation grant covering what is now Lake Beresford and much of West Volusia. [S48]

    4. 1783–1821. Spain regains control in the Second Spanish Period.

    5. 1804. William Williams is granted land at the site of today's DeLeon Springs State Park and establishes Spring Garden Plantation, the first European plantation in the region. [S55]

    Deep links:Lake Beresford tourDeLeon Springs tour

    American Territory and Civil War (1821–1865)

    1. 1821. Florida becomes a U.S. territory.

    2. 1823–1830. The Woodruffs acquire the Spring Garden Plantation; by 1830 the land passes to Colonel Orlando Rees, who builds Florida's only water-powered sugar mill. [S54, S55]

    3. 1835. Second Seminole War begins; Seminoles burn plantation buildings at DeLeon Springs. Zachary Taylor is sent to restore order. [S55]

    4. 1845. Florida enters the Union as the 27th state.

    5. 1856. Louis Thursby purchases land at Blue Spring. [S61]

    6. 1864. Union troops dismantle the DeLeon Springs sugar mill and burn Confederate supplies. [S55]

    Deep links:DeLeon Springs tourBlue Spring + Thursby House tour

    Founding era — Persimmon Hollow becomes DeLand (1870s)

    1. 1872. Louis Thursby builds the two-story Thursby House at Blue Spring atop a pre-Columbian shell midden. [S61]

    2. 1876, December 6. Henry Addison DeLand — a New York hat-and-bonnet maker — meets with local settlers and proposes to fund a post office, school, and town if residents change the name of Persimmon Hollow to DeLand. The community agrees. [S01, S02, S03]

    3. Late 1870s. Henry DeLand funds the first post office, school, and citrus plantings. He envisions DeLand as the "Athens of Florida." [S03]

    Deep links:Persimmon HollowHenry A. DeLandFounding December 6, 1876

    The Stetson era (1883–1894)

    1. 1883, November 5. DeLand Academy opens — the institution that will become Stetson University, Florida's oldest private college. [S19, S20]

    2. 1884. DeLand Hall is completed — the first building in Florida continuously used for higher education. [S19]

    3. 1886. Henry A. DeLand House is built at 137 W Michigan Ave. [S23, S24]

    4. 1886. John B. Stetson, the Philadelphia hat-manufacturing magnate, makes his first large donation to DeLand Academy. [S20]

    5. 1889. DeLand Academy is renamed John B. Stetson University in recognition of Stetson's sustained philanthropy. [S19, S20]

    6. 1886. The Stetson Mansion is completed at 1031 Camphor Lane — Florida's first luxury estate, said to be the oldest house in DeLand. [S05, S06, S07]

    Deep links:John B. StetsonStetson MansionStetson UniversityDeLand House Museum

    The Great Freeze and recovery (1894–1900)

    1. 1894–1895. The Great Freeze destroys Florida's citrus industry virtually overnight. Henry DeLand personally reimburses citrus growers who had bought land on his word. He loses his fortune but keeps his reputation. [S16, S17]

    2. Late 1890s. DeLand's economy shifts from citrus to education, services, and trade. Stetson University becomes the anchor institution.

    Deep links:The Great Freeze page

    Gilded Age and early 20th century (1900–1940)

    1. 1900s. The DeLeon Springs sugar mill is reconstructed as a milling building. [S55]

    2. 1921. The Athens Theatre opens on Florida Avenue — a 1,200-seat vaudeville/silent-film palace. [S31]

    3. 1920s. Downtown DeLand builds out its brick commercial core — the blocks of Woodland Boulevard and New York Avenue now recognized on the National Register.

    4. 1982. That brick core is formally designated the Downtown DeLand Historic District on the National Register. [S29]

    Deep links:Athens TheatreDowntown Historic District

    World War II and the Naval Air Station (1942–1946)

    1. 1942. NAS DeLand is commissioned; the airfield trains dive-bomber pilots (SB2C Helldiver) for Pacific carrier operations. [S42]

    2. 1946. The naval air station is decommissioned; the airfield becomes DeLand Municipal Airport.

    Deep links:NAS DeLand / Skydive DeLand

    Post-war to modern (1950–2000)

    1. 1961. Peter and Marjorie Schwarze save the DeLeon Springs sugar mill building from demolition and convert it into the Old Spanish Sugar Mill pancake restaurant, now a DeLeon Springs State Park institution. [S55, S56, S57]

    2. 1972. Blue Spring State Park is established to protect the manatee population — fewer than 40 animals over-winter there that first year. [S59]

    3. 1982. DeLeon Springs State Park is created when Florida and Volusia County purchase the land. [S55]

    4. 1983. Skydive DeLand is founded at the former naval airfield; it grows into one of the world's top-three skydiving centers. [S43]

    5. 1991. The Cassadaga Historic District is listed on the National Register. [S65]

    6. 1994. The African American Museum of the Arts (AAMA) is founded in DeLand. [S63]

    7. Late 1990s. DeLand enters Florida Main Street and begins the downtown revitalization that leads to a decade of awards. [S10, S27]

    Deep links:Blue Spring + Thursby tourDeLeon Springs tourNAS / Skydive DeLandCassadagaAfrican American Museum of the Arts

    The Main Street era (2000–2024)

    1. 2017. DeLand is named "Best Main Street in America" by Parade Magazine. [S10]

    2. Mid-2010s onward. Artisan Alley transforms from a forgotten service lane into a nationally noticed arts district; Erica Group paints the DeLand Wings mural. [S40, S41]

    3. 2024, January 21. A single-day record of 932 manatees is counted at Blue Spring State Park — the highest over-wintering count on record. [S60]

    Deep links:Downtown Historic DistrictArtisan Alley & DeLand WingsDeLand Murals & Wings tour

    Frequently asked questions

    When was DeLand founded?
    December 6, 1876, when Henry Addison DeLand and local settlers agreed to change the community's name from Persimmon Hollow to DeLand. [S03]
    What is the oldest building in DeLand?
    The Stetson Mansion (1886) is widely referred to as the oldest surviving house in DeLand; DeLand Hall (1884) on the Stetson campus is the oldest continuously-used higher-education building in Florida. [S05, S19]
    Who founded DeLand?
    Henry Addison DeLand, a New York hat-and-bonnet manufacturer, founded the town in 1876 and envisioned it as the "Athens of Florida." [S01, S03]
    What were the most important events in DeLand's history?
    The 1876 founding, the 1883 founding of Stetson University (Florida's oldest private college), the 1894–95 Great Freeze that bankrupted Henry DeLand, the 1942 commissioning of NAS DeLand in World War II, and the late-1990s Main Street revitalization that produced the modern historic downtown.

    Sources

    1. [S01] Henry Addison DeLand — Wikipedia
    2. [S02] Henry Addison DeLand, Founding Father — DeLand Historical Society
    3. [S03] Henry A. DeLand, founder of DeLand, Florida — DeLand Historical Society blog
    4. [S05] About Us — City of DeLand
    5. [S06] H. A. DeLand & Company — DeLand Historical Society
    6. [S07] The Athens of Florida: DeLand — Floridiana Magazine
    7. [S10] Persimmon Hollow: What's in a name? — Frontier Florida
    8. [S16] The Stetson Mansion, Winter Home of John B. Stetson — DeLand Historical Society
    9. [S17] Stetson Mansion — National Trust for Historic Preservation
    10. [S19] Stetson University — Wikipedia
    11. [S20] History of Stetson University — Stetson University
    12. [S23] DeLand House Museum — Wikipedia
    13. [S24] History of the DeLand House Museum — DeLand Historical Society
    14. [S27] History — Athens Theatre
    15. [S29] Athens Theatre Historical Marker — HMdb.org
    16. [S31] MainStreet DeLand
    17. [S40] Things To Do in DeLand — MainStreet DeLand
    18. [S41] DeLand's Famous Wings — Spectrum News 13
    19. [S42] Naval Air Station DeLand — Wikipedia
    20. [S43] Skydive DeLand
    21. [S48] Lake Beresford Park Visitor Info — Friends of Volusia Trails
    22. [S52] Hontoon Island State Park — Florida State Parks
    23. [S54] DeLeon Springs State Park — Florida State Parks
    24. [S55] DeLeon Springs history — Florida State Parks / Wikipedia
    25. [S56] Old Spanish Sugar Mill Restaurant
    26. [S57] Old Spanish Sugar Mill — Florida State Parks concession
    27. [S59] Blue Spring State Park — Florida State Parks
    28. [S60] Blue Spring manatee count record — Save the Manatee Club
    29. [S61] Thursby House — Florida State Parks / Wikipedia
    30. [S63] African American Museum of the Arts — Wikipedia
    31. [S65] Cassadaga Historic District — National Register