Page 13 - Hotel Ormond

The Grand Hotel Ormond - On the Halifax River

Isolation Continues Until the Railroad Arrives
Travel to and from Ormond prior to the first railroad arrival was
limited to parts of Old Kings Road on the mainland and the
Savannah Trail on the peninsula. Buck’s Stage route was
established about 1882 from St. Augustine to Ormond and
Daytona, via the Kings Road three times a week delivering mail,
passengers and supplies. Crossing rivers along the route was
accomplished by ferry or sailboat until the coming of the St. Johns
and Halifax Railroad in 1886.

St. Johns and Halifax Railroad Arriving in Ormond - 1886.
The towns of Ormond and Daytona competed to build the first
bridge across the Halifax River in 1887. That same year, Anderson
and Price managed to finish their bridge in Ormond first. It was a
simple wooden bridge with a manually operated swing drawbridge
device for boats to pass on the river. The bridge cost a nickel per

person to use and was not wide enough
for two vehicles to pass. The driver of a
wagon or carriage would have to look
across the bridge to see if another
vehicle was on its way.
This narrow wooden bridge opened the
mainland up to the peninsula and
stimulated rapid growth, with plans of
becoming the next winter vacation
capital.

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