Ormond Beach is known as the Birthplace of Speed.
Its long association with racing began on the hard-packed sands of Ormond Beach in March 1903. For eight years, the small seaside community was the world’s center of racing. During those formative years, inventors with names like Olds, Winton, Ford, Chevrolet, Stanley and Packard came to test their machines on the only reliable flat track in the United States.
Ormond Beach celebrates its automotive history each Thanksgiving Day weekend with the Antique Car Show and Parade, a festival that features antique auto beach races, a gaslight parade, music, food and historic tours.
But for more than 120 years, Ormond Beach has also been known for its exceptional quality of life. In fact, when legendary financier and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller, Sr. sent his advisors across the nation to find the best place to live and work, they chose Ormond Beach. The city has preserved John D’s winter home, The Casements, as the city’s cultural center.
Ormond Beach celebrated its Birthplace of Speed Centennial in 2003. Several thousand fans watched as 50 of the world’s greatest antique race cars raced on the beach again. Ormond Beach also re-dedicated the new, “Birthplace of Speed Park,” on the beach at Granada Blvd., with historic markers and replicas of the famous 1903 Winton Bullet and Olds’ Pirate.
Today, Ormond Beach is home to 37,000 residents who value the miles of pristine rivers, forests and beaches that make it unique.
In addition to several miles of beaches, Ormond Beach is also known for its great shopping and restaurants. The Trails Shopping Center includes several specialty shops unique to the area including Talbots, Chico’s Ann Taylor Loft, Panera Bread – all in a Spanish village setting.