Page 12 - Hotel Ormond

Chapter 1 – In The Beginning

"Bulow Ville," one of the
most glamorous and
wealthy of all the
plantations, became a
military outpost until the
Indians came too close,
too often. Soon Bulow
Ville became a victim of
the strife and only ruins
remain today.

Live Oakers Play An Important Role

From the 1840’s until
the early 1870’s this
area was primarily
wilderness. Live oaks,
in particular, were cut
from the interior and
transported to the
coast where they were
shipped for processing.
Tomoka Avenue in
Ormond Beach was
originally a live oak
logging road, leading to the Halifax River. The Swift family (three
brothers) from New England was the principal contractors in this
area and purchased the Oswald grant in 1850 for their logging
business.

During the years before the Civil War, they produced several
thousand board feet of live oak and other ship timber. Florida’s
live oak trees were used to build both military and commercial
ships. The live oak trade came to a dramatic decline when
wooden warships were replaced by the ironclad ships of the Civil
War. The iron-clad CSS Merrimac and USS Monitor of Civil War
fame were built in 1861 and 1862 respectively. However,
timberland owners retained an interest in the area by selling the
land to pioneer settlers and keeping the timber rights.

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