New Smyrna Beach

Understand

New Smyrna possesses a distinct hometown quality reflected in its cracker architecture, lush subtropical landscape and community. You can spend the afternoon enjoying fresh seafood to steaks and pasta on the waterfront, or under an umbrella at a sidewalk cafe, and then retire to a bed and breakfast inn, family-size condominium or oceanfront hotel at the end of the day.

For the more curious tourist who is willing to explore the city, however, New Smyrna Beach has a more varied culture that exists away from the resorts along the shoreline. It's a community on the borderline of town and city with a diverse and unique history, from its unusual founding as a colony for Mediterranean Islanders and Greeks to its post-Civil War African-American community, fame as the origin of painter and TV star Bob Ross, and multiple arts centers.

New Smyrna has two seasons: Snowbird Season and Orlando. People from Canada and the northern U.S. drive to Florida during the early months of the year, starting around December until early summer. Orlando residents come to the city, typically for the beach, during the second half of the year, particularly in late summer. The city is most crowded during the summer months when the northerners leave and are replaced by locals, although there is a bump in the crowds during midwinter as well and Flagler Ave is popular with infamous "Spring Breakers" when schools and universities close.

The geography of the town can confuse newcomers due to its complexity. A canal known as the Intracoastal Waterway separates the western (historic) and eastern (beach) parts of the city, with the Intracoastal Waterway meeting the ocean at Ponce Inlet at the northern boundary of New Smyrna Beach. There are two bridges that cross the Waterway, providing tourist access to the beaches.

Name

The name of "New Smyrna Beach" comes from the name of the Greek city ("Smyrna"), which was the hometown of the town's founder's wife, known as "Izmir" in Turkish. The colony the Turnbull family founded was known as "Smyrnea" prior to its abandonment, but the name remained in use and was Anglicized by the time of the city's incorporation.

Locals sometimes abbreviate the name to "NSB." The term "New Smyrna Beach" can be used to refer to the parts of the town on either side of the Intracoastal Waterway, and not just for the beach itself.

History

New Smyrna Beach, prior to European settlement, belonged to the Timucua tribe which inhabited the region. One of the city's important sites, now known as the Turtle Mound, is a former landfill used by the tribe to discard shells over a period of hundreds of years roughly corresponding to the European Middle Ages. Following the collapse of the massive sand dunes that once existed south of Ponce Inlet, Turtle Mound became the most prominent peak and one of the highest points in the entirety of New Smyrna.

The Spanish are believed to have been the first Europeans to settle what is now New Smyrna Beach. They planted an orange grove on Bouchelle Island and likely also farmed on Chicken Island in the Intracoastal Waterway. However, the Spanish settlement of the region appears to have been inconsistent and did not result in a permanent settlement being established as took place in St. Augustine to the north.

During the 1760s, Robert Turnbull and a company of British businessmen formed a unique concept for a colony on the Atlantic Coast of the U.S. He claimed several miles of land on the east coast of what is now Volusia County, and imported indentured servants from around the Mediterranean to farm this new region he called "Smyrnea" after the Ottoman city. The agreement he formed with a diverse array of more than a thousand Greeks, Menorcans, and another inhabitants of the Mediterranean required them to work as slaves on his colony for nine years, after which time their settlements would become independently owned homesteads. He demanded the new inhabitants of Smyrnea each build their homes a specified distance apart, farm on land adjacent to the Intracoastal Waterway, grow almost exclusively cash crops including indigo, and load the produce onto ships bound for Europe.

His scheme began successfully as the land appeared excellent for production of cash crops and the value of the imports compared well to the cost of importing food and other goods for the colony. However, a combination of factors led to the downfall of the colony. First, the settlers lacked agricultural knowledge, so failure to rotate crops and let land lie fallow led to a collapse in crop production after a few highly productive years. Second, the climate proved unreliable and droughts caused many of the existing cash crops to die. Third, the American War of Independence and associated regional political instability made trade with the colony difficult. Fourth, Turnbull refused to recognize his agreement to set the servants free after nine years. Turnbull and the colonists were enterprising and as a consequence were able to overcome the second problem through the construction of an extensive canal network, which still exists and remains dozens of miles in total length. However, the other problems led to a revolution when the colonists, who felt that the land was rightfully theirs, walked en masse to St. Augustine, an existing Spanish city to the north. The colony was largely abandoned, and new cities have been built over the land formerly developed by the colonists, which itself had been the size of multiple cities at its peak. Despite the revolt, settlers (including American colonists) continued to migrate to New Smyrna, and during the first half of the nineteenth century, development and property upgrades began along the western shore of Mosquito Lagoon, since expanded into the Intracoastal Waterway. Plantations were founded on the eastern shore of the lagoon, the remains of which survive today in a patchwork of channels through the mangrove forests.

Of the development projects that took place prior to the 20th century, two important structures were built or remodeled that partially survived due to the use of coquina, a durable local stone, in their construction. One was a mansion, called the "Old Fort" by locals, facing the Intracoastal Waterway in what is now downtown New Smyrna. Much of the history of this structure remains a mystery and only the foundation and surrounding fortifying towers remain well below the current elevation in the area and may have been built almost a century after the "Fort" was built. One structure built during the mid-19th century that survived better than the Old Fort was the Sugar Mill, a mill operated by slaves which was damaged during the Seminole Wars of the 1830s, lost to the encroaching forest, and since rediscovered and converted to a historic site.

Soon after the outbreak of the Civil War, the Union launched a blockade of the South's Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. The Confederates attempted to bypass the blockade via ships which smuggled goods out of the South's agricultural belt wherever possible, and one of the sites of such smuggling was New Smyrna. Once the Union discovered this, they launched an assault on the town by enacting the blockade, destroying the Confederate ships which had retreated to the lagoon, and by shelling the hotel, which had been converted to a fort. The inhabitants of New Smyrna, realizing they could not hold the city against the overwhelming Union forces, retreated to the jungle, and Union forces hot on their trail took the town, burned down its buildings, and destroyed most of the remains but were unable to capture the residents. Ultimately, according to legend, a fire lit to hoard off mosquito infestation alerted Union troops to the settlers' location, where the final holdouts were tracked down and defeated. A few dozen settlers remained in the jungle following the Union occupation, and it developed into a hamlet known as Glencoe which has survived to the present day. New waves of colonists resettled New Smyrna during the latter half of the century, as an 1887 survey recorded a population of 150 residents, but a full economic recovery in the town would not occur for almost a century.

Henry Flagler's rail network of the late 19th century brought Americanization and some prosperity to the small settlement, although it remained largely a rural backwater for several decades into the 20th century. It grew into two towns: the mainland town of "New Smyrna," west of the Intracoastal Waterway, a typical small Southern town, and the beach town of "Coronado Beach" east of the Waterway, which rapidly developed from a primitive hunting and farming area in the early 20th century to a prosperous tourist area as highways and bridges were built to connect the beach to the mainland. With the growth of Coronado, the two communities decided to merge into New Smyrna Beach, although many businesses and a church east of the waterway maintain the Coronado name.

Modernization enabled New Smyrna Beach to evolve into first a tourist destination during the 20th century, and later a property boom during the late 2010s and early 2020s. The mainland part of the city saw its standard of living rise exponentially due to immigration from Northeastern and Midwestern states and redevelopment and gentrification of the suburbs. By the 2020s the city had become one of several bustling tourist cities on the central east coast of Florida.

Orientation

New Smyrna Beach is about 20 miles (32 km) south of Daytona Beach along U.S. Highway 1. The towns of Edgewater and Oak Hill, and some unincorporated areas of Volusia County, such as Samsula, are considered to be part of the Greater New Smyrna Beach Area. Spruce Creek and adjacent waterways, along with a largely rural and forested region, to the north of New Smyrna Beach separate mainland NSB from Port Orange and Daytona Beach to the north.

New Smyrna Beach can be divided into three parts, which are almost like "districts". From east to west:

• The coast (or "peninsula" or "island" on the east) is separated from the mainland by the Intracoastal Waterway. Some of it is residential, but much of it consists of hotels and resorts that follow the shoreline, as much of this region of the city remains a marsh. There is a downtown along Flagler Avenue, which acts as the tourist and cultural center for New Smyrna Beach as a whole. It's here where tourists come to shop and find places to dine. Flagler Avenue is connected to Canal Street, which is in mainland NSB, by the North Causeway, which crosses two islands and goes past an area of low-rise commercial units between the two downtown areas.
• The mainland is west of the Intracoastal Waterway and includes the Canal Street downtown area. The mainland was until the 21st century sharply divided between Riverside, a wealthy getaway for businessmen and mafia bosses from the North, and the rest of the town, which resembled an ordinary Southern town with segregated white and Black areas. However, many of the poorer parts of town have been bought and gentrified by Northerners, with museums, festivals, and art centers having been built to revitalize the community.
• The area west of I-95 includes primarily Venetian Bay and rural Samsula. Venetian Bay is a residential area with dozens of man-made lakes and a golf course, while Samsula is a biker hub and is converted into a campsite for thousands of bikers during Bike Week every March and Biketoberfest each October.

Demographers consider New Smyrna Beach to be part of the Daytona Beach area. Farther to the north is Ormond Beach; then to the south of Daytona are a couple small, coastal villages; then the city of Port Orange; then NSB; and then, finally, in the south, Edgewater. Along the coast, to the south of New Smyrna Beach, is a national seashore, and farther south again, Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center. Edgewater and Oak Hill have no coastline on the Atlantic but do feature a shoreline on the Intracoastal Waterway. Otherwise these settlements are residential.

To the west of New Smyrna Beach, there are several miles of forest, and then farther west are the cities of DeLand and Orange City; these cities are the northern end of the Orlando metropolitan area.

Climate

New Smyrna Beach offers a humid, subtropical climate characterized by hot, humid summers and mild to cool winters. Winter temperatures very rarely drop below freezing, and summers are longer than those encountered in many temperate regions. During summer, temperatures frequently reach approximately 90°F in July and remain hot and humid into autumn, during which time forested areas should be avoided.

The time to avoid visiting the city and Central Florida in general, unless you plan to spend all your time near the milder temperatures of the ocean, is June through September, when the region's weather matches that of a wet tropical climate. Summers often feature mid-day thunderstorms and — occasionally — tropical cyclones, while winters and early spring vary between cold, dry spells from the rest of the North American continent and warm invasions from the south.

Due to the lack of mountain ranges — or anything even remotely like mountains, as the highest elevations in the city are the tops of trees, the terrain on golf courses, rooftops and bridges — in the vicinity of New Smyrna Beach, temperatures in NSB are unpredictable except in summer, when hot weather pushes north into the continent and prevents New Smyrna Beach from receiving cold weather. Wild temperature swings are common during winter — varying between 40°F and 80°F quite often — and during this season you will need to bring both summer and winter clothing. Although temperatures inland are more variable, cold winds on the beach can make the air feel especially unpleasant on a cold winter day.

Tropical cyclones

Hurricanes, tropical cyclones which in the Atlantic Ocean reach peak winds from to , are a danger from June until November; but tropical cyclones are not restricted completely to those months. During hurricane season — the months when the ocean is warmest — the NOAA maintains a webpage dedicated to forecasting the paths of Atlantic hurricanes and tropical storms. Additionally, check other news reports for details on the expected path and dangers of a forecast tropical cyclone.

A common problem during the summer is flooding, particularly in urban areas during the immediate aftermath of a hurricane. Streets can remain flooded up to a week after a cyclone has passed.

Visitor information

Get in

By plane

Although New Smyrna Beach has a Municipal Airport, it is chiefly used by private aircraft. Commercial flights to this area should be sought arriving to either Daytona Beach International Airport (DAB)(the closest); Orlando International Airport (MCO); or Jacksonville International Airport (JAX);.

A relatively easy option for getting to New Smyrna Beach is through the Daytona Beach Airport. If you fly with Delta, you can go from basically anywhere in the United States to Atlanta International Airport; from there, you can get flights directly to Daytona Beach International Airport. Daytona's airport is fairly small and generally not too busy, and it's pretty easy to get a rental car, etc. From the airport, it's a short drive to I-95, and I-95 will take you to the portion of New Smyrna Beach near Venetian Bay. To continue, see Get in#By car below.

By car

& : New Smyrna Beach is easily accessed by car, as Interstate 95 passes through the western side of the city, and U.S. Highway 1 ("Old Dixie Highway") passes through the center of the city. There's also a Florida State Road (SR) 44, that goes from DeLand to NSB; I-95 intersects this freeway near a Walmart grocery store. If you are traveling into New Smyrna Beach on I-95, to your west is Venetian Bay and Samsula, while to your east is the rest of New Smyrna Beach. Take SR 44 east if you want to go to the beach; it leads through a few miles of suburban development before crossing two major bridges: the Martin Luther King, Jr. Bridge, which goes over US-1 and the railroad, and the South Causeway, which crosses the Intracoastal Waterway. Once you cross the Intracoastal Waterway and enter coastal NSB, SR 44 becomes Atlantic Ave (FL-A1A) and goes south to various resorts and ultimately Canaveral National Seashore.

Old Dixie Freeway: US-1 enters NSB in the mainland region, and it intersects Canal Street. However, it does not intersect Route 44. To get to Route 44 from US-1, go west on Canal Street. To reach Flagler Avenue from US-1, following Washington St, which becomes the North Causeway.

Atlantic Ave: You can't access NSB by driving either north or south along the coastal A1A route, in the north because the island ends and in the south because the road ends. You have to enter New Smyrna Beach via the mainland. Once you're on the mainland, then you can get to the coast quite easily (see "get around" section below).

By train

Amtrak offers the Amtrak Auto Train service with its southern Terminus in Sanford, about 35 miles west of New Smyrna Beach. The Amtrak Auto Train carries passengers and automobiles between Sanford and Lorton, Virginia, effectively serving as a car-rail link to Florida from the Washington, D.C. Metro Area. You can easily drive your car into New Smyrna Beach after departing from the Auto Train.

Amtrak and SunRail offer regular passenger service with the closest stop being near the city of DeLand. This stop is rather remote, some distance from NSB and is not the best option.

By bus

Get around

By bus

Votran is the local Volusia County bus service, which also provides a public transit connection to nearby Daytona Beach. The buses offer service in New Smyrna Beach, M-Sa 7AM-7PM. Votran is a cheap way to get around and is handicap accessible. The website provides maps and timetables. Buses travel to most sites and places of interest. Cost: $1.75 per trip, or $3.75 for a one-day bus pass (Valid for all routes).

By car

Roads in New Smyrna Beach are excellent with few exceptions, and as a visitor you'll want a car to cover the distances around the city and the distance to its neighbors, especially if you're planning on traveling beyond the beach/coast area.

Coast

The main road that goes along the beach is A1A. From A1A, numbered streets (1st, 2nd, etc.) go towards the beach. Some have beach parking or lead to the beach itself, so you can drive along it and park on the beach. However, A1A comes to a dead end south of NSB. If you travel north along A1A through the coastal part of town (away from the dead end), the road eventually turns to the west and goes over a high bridge to the mainland. This route is called the South Causeway. There is another, smaller route to the north of the South Causeway, called the North Causeway. The North Causeway leads to the Flagler Avenue downtown area.

On the island, Peninsula Avenue connects the eastern end of the South Causeway with Flagler Avenue. This road continues north from Flagler Avenue toward the northern end of the island.

Mainland

If you go west on South Causeway to the mainland, the road becomes Florida Route 44, which goes west, intersecting I-95, going past Venetian Bay and then continuing to DeLand. Airport Road goes north/south in Venetian Bay, and Tomoka Farms Road (Route 415) goes north/south to the west of Airport Road and leads toward Daytona Beach. Pioneer Trail goes in an east/west direction from the northern mainland area of New Smyrna Beach to Route 44, and intersects Tomoka Farms Road and Airport Road in between. However, while Pioneer Trail does cross I-95 on a bridge, there is no off-ramp from I-95 onto Pioneer Trail or vice versa.

From US-1, which goes north/south east of I-95, going west on Canal Street takes you to Route 44, while going east on Canal Street goes to Riverside Drive, which in turn leads north to the North Causeway that becomes Flagler Avenue. US-1 continues north to Port Orange and south into Edgewater.

Stay safe

As long as you use common sense and stay in areas a tourist would visit late nights, crime is not a significant concern in NSB. Nowhere in the city is dangerous during the daytime. Flagler Avenue can get rowdy during Spring Break and weekends.

The city is home to alligators and sharks. Therefore, stay near the shore if you want to go into the ocean, and do not enter the water in any estuary, brackish water, swamp, or lake. In the ocean, rip currents are an additional concern that you should avoid by staying close to the shoreline if you go in the water. Check weather forecasts in case a rip current/storm warning is in place.

Florida, thanks to its wet climate, is home to many lakes and waterways. Explore these in a boat, not by swimming, since you do not want to risk being killed by an alligator in the murky waters of these lakes and rivers. Although people sometimes view the dangers of alligators in extremes, either as harmless or as a threat to people, the best stance to take is to stay at least a few feet from any bodies of water and always watch for signs of an alligator (usually the snout is the first feature of an alligator to be exposed). Alligators do not invade areas with human presence without a good reason. If alligators pose a threat at any time, it is almost definitely because you are not taking proper precautions in the areas where alligators live.

Go next

• Just south of New Smyrna lies the Canaveral National Seashore, which offers excellent swimming, bird watching, and hiking opportunities.
• Southwest of New Smyrna are several recreation areas near Lake Ashby.
• Port Orange is a rapidly growing city just north of New Smyrna on the mainland, where you can enjoy golf and tennis.
• Daytona Beach is New Smyrna's famous neighbor to the north of Port Orange; it offers NASCAR racing and other special events.
• Daytona Beach Shores is a quiet, small city north of New Smyrna, on the Daytona Beach peninsula.
• Ponce Inlet is a scenic fishing village located to the north, on the southern tip of the next beach peninsula. Here you will find the historic Ponce Inlet Lighthouse, Marine Science Center, local charter fishing boats, along with several of the area's best seafood restaurants. It's quite a long distance to the destination if you travel to it by car, however, as it's necessary to go via the mainland, since there is no bridge from the New Smyrna Beach coastline north to Ponce Inlet.