[4] The land area of present-day Volusia County was long inhabited by the indigenous Timucua and Mayaca peoples.

Neither historic group exists today as distinct ethnic tribes, having been decimated by disease and war in the decades after contact with European traders and settlers.

The large shell middens at Tomoka State Park and other evidence of their historic habitation can still be seen in various areas of Volusia County.

During the British occupation of Florida, a colony known as New Smyrna was started in southeast Volusia County by Andrew Turnbull.

After the failure of the colony the settlers, many of whom were ethnic Menorcan and Greek, traveled the 70 mi (110 km) to move to St. Augustine.

On the east shore of the St. Johns River in Volusia, in present-day DeBary, General Winfield Scott established a fort/depot in 1836 named Fort Florida.

[9] Volusia County is bordered on the west by the St. Johns River and Lake Monroe, and by the Atlantic Ocean to the east.

The county centrally controls 14 libraries, with DeLand and Daytona Beach-City Island being the largest two.

Collections included 869,491 books, 83,943 videos, 58,784 audio materials, 2,051 magazines and newspapers, over 100,000 government documents, and 51 licensed databases.

Depending on size, the branches have different operating hours; six are open every day of the week (Ormond Beach, Daytona Beach-City Island, Port Orange, New Smyrna Beach, DeLand, and Deltona), three are open six days a week (Edgewater, Hope Place, and DeBary), and five are open five days a week (Daytona Beach-Keech Street, Oak Hill, Pierson, Lake Helen, and Orange City).

In 1949, Charlotte Smith started an effort to organize the public library system within Volusia County.

[17] During this time, bookmobiles were purchased and sent to rural areas in Volusia County to provide residents there with library services.

[17] According to the secretary of state's office, Republicans are a plurality of registered voters in Volusia County.

The GMP is an annual measurement of the total economic output and sales of goods and services provided within the metropolitan statistical area that comprises all of Volusia County and its 16 cities.

A GMP of $13.69 billion represents a significant circulation of new capital resources in an economy populated by just over 500,000 residents.

Local consumer confidence and a continued immigration of an estimated 28,800 new residents, new capital investments for new construction exceeding $1.11 billion, and the steady growth of professional and health-care services continued to drive much of the county's economic viability.

Volusia County's manufacturing sector maintained a steady and stable position within the local economy contrary to the declining trends being experienced elsewhere within Florida.

Manufacturing maintains one of the highest of all average wage levels within the county and generates a higher rate of circulation of economic impact than any other business sector that comprises the local economy.

[30] Volusia County Public Transit System (VOTRAN) is the local bus service.

[37] Public primary and secondary education is handled by Volusia County Schools.

Television station WESH is allocated to Daytona Beach - Orlando, and its transmission tower is located midway between those two.