New Smyrna Beach

City in Volusia County, east-central Florida; population (1990) 16,500. New Smyrna Beach occupies both sides of the Indian River lagoon, just southeast of the Ponce de Leon Inlet and 21 km/13 mi south-southeast of Daytona Beach.

One of the oldest European settlements in this part of Florida, New Smyrna was established in 1696 as the Atocuimi Mission by Spanish Franciscans on the site of a American Indian village. The ruins of the mission and an ancient Indian burial mound filled with shells and other artefacts are reminders of the city's origins. Recolonized as a plantation by Andrew Turnbull in 1767, it was named after his wife's birthplace in Turkey. Turnbull imported Greek, Italian, and Minorcan workers to the area. In 1776, during the upheaval of the Revolutionary War, New Smyrna was abandoned , but was resettled in the early 1800s and flourished with the arrival of the railway in the mid-19th century. The modern city is a year-round resort with 13 km/8 mi of white sand beaches. Industries here include commercial fishing, seafood and citrus fruit packing, and light manufacturing.