The boundaries of Ormond-by-the-Sea include the Volusia/Flagler county line on the north, the city of Ormond Beach on the south, the Atlantic Ocean on the east, and the Halifax River on the west.

The earliest known inhabitants of the Ormond-by-the-Sea area were the Timucuan Indians, who in the sixteenth century occupied a large village called Nocoroco, located at the site of Tomoka State Park.

The Timucuan diet relied heavily on oysters and other shellfish, and their shell middens, or trash heaps, may still be found near the Halifax River in Ormond-by-the-Sea.

Among the first Anglo settlers of the area was Chauncey A. Bacon, an architect and Civil War veteran from New Britain, Connecticut, who in 1876 purchased 172 acres (0.70 km2) in present-day Ormond-by-the-Sea and named it the Number Nine Plantation.

In her book Ormond-On-The-Halifax, Alice Strickland describes the site: "The land was covered with a dense, tangled forest of palmettos, scrub oaks, and pine trees which Bacon cleared out with axe and grub hoe.

The Bacons later constructed a larger home, which still stands on John Anderson Drive, from salvaged mahogany logs that washed ashore from the City of Vera Cruz shipwreck.

By the turn of the century, the Bacons had a thriving home business selling brandied figs and their best-selling "Number 9 Guava Jelly."

[7] Another early settler was Leonard B. Knox, who developed a citrus plantation known as Mound Grove, located along High Bridge Road near its crossing with Bulow Creek.

[10] A large section of the Ormond Pier was torn away by a storm in November 1984, and the remaining portions subsequently demolished for safety reasons in the early 1990s.

Here may be found sand fleas and ghost crabs, as well as a variety of coastal birds including plovers, stilts, avocets, terns, and gulls.

Slightly inland from the primary dunes is the Coastal Strand, a shrubby area dominated by saw palmetto, Spanish bayonet, prickly pear cactus, and greenbrier vines.

Close to the Halifax River, the soil is more moist and supports Maritime Hammock species, including live oaks, magnolias, American holly, red cedars and coontie ferns.