The Land Around Us

The Land Around Us: DeLand

By Louise Caccamise

Continuing with re-visiting our Land Around Us series, we will travel this month to DeLand in Volusia County, the county seat, and our nearest neighbor to the north. Dating to 1876, DeLand has maintained a proud remembrance of its history and, because of this, there are interesting places to visit.

One very enjoyable way to experience DeLand’s history is to take the DeLand Historic Mural Walk. The first mural dates to 1996, when Pioneers at the Parceland was created. It was based on a photograph from the 1890s of the Parceland Hotel and a group of winter visitors. Located in an area known as Pioneer Park in the center of town, it is on the wall of a building at the southeast corner of North Woodland Boulevard and Rich Avenue.

A mural, Henry’s Vision, on the northeast corner of Wisconsin Avenue and North Woodland Boulevard, depicts the log cabin of John and Clara Rich, one of the earliest families in DeLand, who were attracted here by the “Orange Fever” craze. Also shown is an image of city founder Henry DeLand, who spent his first night in the area in the log cabin. The next day he purchased 160 acres of land bounded by what are now New York, Clara, Minnesota and Amelia Avenues. Another mural, Riverboat Landing, is on the opposite corner of the street from the Henry’s Vision mural. Because there were no roads or railways in central Florida in the 1870s, homesteaders had to finish their trip south on St. Johns River steamboats. This mural shows one of the landings along the way near Lake Beresford. Travelers would leave the steamboat at a piece of cleared land on the west side of the lake and hike to the lake’s western shore. There they waited for transport to Alexander’s Landing on the east shore where there was a general store and a boarding house where they could stay while they looked for property to purchase.

These are but three of fifteen murals on the DeLand Historic Mural Tour. A booklet describing them is available at the Mainstreet DeLand Association office at 100 N. Woodland Boulevard.

Another self-directed tour is the Historic Plaques in Downtown DeLand. The first of these bronze plaques was erected in 2005 and there are now 30 on buildings throughout the town. They describe either historic incidents or interesting people. Each plaque is on the site of the story it tells. The one at the northeast corner of Indiana Avenue and Woodland Boulevard is titled, “First Public Building, 1877.” This first public building served as both a school and a church. Many years later it was a men’s clothing store and today is the home of restaurant, The Elusive Grape.

Twelve of these plaques are to be found on buildings along Woodland Boulevard and many of the others are close by on adjacent streets. Between the murals and the plaques, you will have had an interesting and informative walk. On your way you will encounter unique shops and some really good restaurants.

Photos taken by Bob Dunham

Henry's Vision