Woman's Club of New Smyrna Beach

The area of New Smyrna Beach was the site of one of the earliest European settlements in Florida. It was occupied by Spanish missionaries to the Timucuan Indians in the First Spanish Period (1565-1763), and was the site of the Andrew Turnbull colony from 1767 to 1776, during the British Period (1763-1783). Turnbull, a Scottish doctor, attempted to establish a colony, New Smyrna, using Greek, and Italian indentured workers. The colonists raised indigo, sugar, and fruit. Conflicts between Turnbull and the colonists led to a dissolution of the colony.  

There is little activity present in the area again until 1803 when Spanish land grants spurred settlement again. Timber cutters came to the Mosquito Inlet to cut live oak for ship building. The Second Seminole War (1835-1842) prevented any great development, however, and the settlement remained a hamlet until the Civil War, when it was the site of Confederate salt works and home for some Confederate blockade runners.  

Settlement increased after the war, and by 1869, New Smyrna was a travel base for the area, with ships docking three times a week. In the 1880s, the railroads further opened up the Florida peninsula to tourists. In 1887, the Blue Springs, Orange City and Atlantic Railroad was completed, linking the east coast with the St. Johns River and making New Smyrna even more accessible. The railroad reached New Smyrna itself in 1892, and the city was incorporated in 1893. By 1911, the population in New Smyrna was seven-hundred-fifty. There were six churches, five hotels, a bank, and a newspaper. The Florida East Coast Railroad was the area’s major employer by the 1940s. The community’s name was changed from New Smyrna to New Smyrna Beach in 1937. 

The Woman’s Club of New Smyrna was organized in May 1911 at the home of Mrs. H. T. Hofreiter and met in various places for the next several years. In 1916, the group started a building fund. Through various projects, $1,200 was raised, enabling the club to purchase a lot at the corner of Magnolia Avenue and Lytle Avenue in 1920. In 1923, a committee was formed to raise $10,000 for a building. Eight local businessmen each donated $100, the Fidelity Bank made a “liberal loan offer” to cover the balance. Plans for the building were completed by Philip H. Read, a local carpenter and builder.  

The Club’s first event in their new facility was a bazaar/flower show on February 22, 1924. The interior was unfinished and remained so for the next ten years. The unfinished interior walls were decorated with bamboo, palms, and moss. Furniture was borrowed from a local furniture company.  

The New Smyrna Woman’s Club members held the same social concerns as members of other woman’s clubs throughout the state. Some of their earliest meetings were concerned with child welfare, and in 1923 they took steps to provide lunches to school children. Also, in the 1920s, the Club participated in a city beautification project in conjunction with the Exchange Club and the Chamber of Commerce.  The building had been used as the meeting place for the woman’s club since its construction but has also served as the community’s primary facility for social and cultural events. Musicals were conducted for the community there in 1924. In 1933, the club sponsored flower shows, art exhibits, and lectures.

Woman's Club of New Smyrna Beach, National Register of Historic Places. Accessed December 22nd 2020. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/77844256.

Woman's Club of New Smyrna, City of New Smyrna Beach. Accessed January 22nd 2021. https://www.cityofnsb.com/1228/Womans-Club-of-New-Smyrna.