Ormond Beach was never truly inhabited until 1643 when Quakers blown off course to the New England area ran ashore. They settled in a small encampment along the Atlantic shore. Early relations with neighboring indigenous tribes were fruitful, however, in 1704 a local Timacuan chief, Oseanoha, led a raid of the encampment killing most of the population. In 1708 Spaniards inhabited the area and laid claim until British control began. The city is named for James Ormond I, an Anglo-Irish-Scottish sea captain commissioned by King Ferdinand VII of Spain to bring Franciscan settlers to this part of Florida.

James Ormond I had served Britain and Spain in the Napoleonic Wars as a ship captain, and was rewarded for his services to Spain by King Ferdinand VII. After returning to Spanish control, in 1821, Florida was acquired from Spain by the United States, but hostilities during the Second Seminole War delayed settlement until after 1842. In 1875, the city was founded as New Britain by inhabitants from New Britain, Connecticut, but would be incorporated in 1880 as Ormond for its early plantation owner. “Beach” was added to the name in 1950.

With the building of the rail line to Ormond in 1886 and the first bridge over the Halifax River in 1887, tourism and residential activities began to flourish. Today, Ormond Beach attracts tourist from all over the world for its pristine beaches!