The Humble Origins of Flagler Country, Florida

Located between Daytona Beach to the south and Jacksonville to the north, on Florida's east coast, Flagler County �- for the last few years one of the fastest growing areas in the country -- was founded way back in 1917. The county was named for Henry Morrison Flagler, a wealthy railroad builder who constructed the Florida East Coast Railway.

By far, Flagler county's most populous city is Palm Coast. The population there was 32,732 at the 2000 national census, but as of 2004 that number had jumped to 44,427 and continues to grow at a very quick rate, due to both immigration and annexation.

According to a report released in the first quarter of 2006 from the U.S. Census Bureau, the county was the fastest-growing county for the second year in a row with a 10.7 percent population increase from July 1, 2004, to July 1, 2005. With 76,410 residents, the county also led the nation with a 53 percent population increase since the 2000 census.

Flagler County has a rich history; one which extends back over 200 years. During the late 1800's (1861-1875), in the period of colonization by European powers, hostilities between Spanish forces based in St. Augustine and French based further north escalated, Flagler Beach saw a dramatic but inconclusive naval joust that was waged off shore. The combat took a strange turn as a violent storm slammed into the French ships, pushing them south and wrecking them on the beach in the vicinity of what is currently know as Ponce de Leon Inlet. The story of the subsequent brutal massacre of the surviving French troops is commemorated at Fort Matanzas National Park attraction.

Taking a big leap forward to the 1860's and the period of the Civil War and Reconstruction, Flagler County supported the Confederate cause through military service and by supplying timber, beef, citrus cotton and salt. In particular, salt was in short supply and much valued as meat preservative. The salt works at the Mala Compra Plantation was an important source, but Union patrols made the area insecure and the operation was moved eastward to the coast. There the huge iron vats from the St. Joseph sugar plantation were used to boil sea water in the production of salt.

In the modern era, the post WWII 'boom' arrived later in Flagler County than in other areas of the country. It came in the form of a highway now known as I-95 and the ITT Corporation. Plans made public in 1969, which established the city of Palm Coast, encompassed 48,000 home sites on about 42,000 acres of the 68,000 acres controlled by ITT.

Matthew Paolini is Citybook.com's technical director for the Davenport, IA business Yellow Pages division.