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Ponce Inlet, Florida
Town of Ponce Inlet
Ponce Inlet Town Hall
Ponce Inlet Town Hall
Official seal of Ponce Inlet, Florida
Seal
Location in Volusia County and the state of Florida
Location in Volusia County and the state of Florida
Ponce Inlet, Florida is located in the United States
Ponce Inlet, Florida
Ponce Inlet, Florida
Location in the United States
Country  United States
State  Florida
County  Volusia
Settled 1887
Incorporated 1963
Government
 • Type Council-Manager
Area
 • Total 14.75 sq mi (38.21 km2)
 • Land 4.49 sq mi (11.62 km2)
 • Water 10.27 sq mi (26.59 km2)
Elevation
13 ft (4 m)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total 3,364
 • Density 750.06/sq mi (289.62/km2)
Time zone UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST) UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP code
32127
Area code(s) 386
FIPS code 12-58200
GNIS feature ID 0289178

Ponce Inlet is a town in Volusia County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, as well as the Halifax area. The population was 3,364 at the 2020 census.

The town of Ponce Inlet is located on the southern tip of a barrier island, south of Daytona Beach and Daytona Beach Shores.

Several marinas are located in Ponce Inlet. The community is known for its strict land use regulations.

Lighthouse

Ponce Inlet Lighthouse09
Ponce de León Inlet lighthouse in 2011.

Completed in 1887, replacing the former lighthouse (built in 1835, it had collapsed into the inlet the following year), the Ponce de Leon Inlet Light Station was built when the area was known as Mosquito Inlet. After decades of restoration by the Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse Preservation Association, it stands today as one of the best preserved light stations in the nation.

Visited by over 80,000 people each year, the Ponce de Leon Inlet Light Station was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1998. The lighthouse tower and museum are located 12 miles (19 km) south of Daytona Beach and are open to the public year-round. The Ponce Inlet Lighthouse is the tallest lighthouse in Florida and the second tallest lighthouse in the nation. Visitors who climb the 175-foot-tall (53 m) lighthouse tower are treated to a view of the Florida coastline and Halifax River from Daytona Beach to New Smyrna Beach.

The lighthouse keepers' dwellings and other historic light station buildings are now home to the lighthouse museum, with exhibits on lighthouse life, lighthouse and Fresnel lens restoration, the keepers and their families, Daytona Beach and Florida history, and shipwrecks. The Ayres Davies Lens Exhibit Building houses one of the finest collections of restored Fresnel lenses in the world, including the rotating first order Fresnel lens from the Cape Canaveral lighthouse and the restored original Ponce Inlet lighthouse first-order Fresnel lens.

Geography

Ponce Inlet lies on a peninsula at 29°5′41″N 80°56′33″W / 29.09472°N 80.94250°W / 29.09472; -80.94250 (29.094744, –80.942599), adjacent to the Ponce de León Inlet, and between the Halifax River and Atlantic Ocean.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 14.7 square miles (38 km2), of which 4.3 square miles (11 km2) is land and 10.3 square miles (27 km2) (70.48%) is water.

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop.
1970 328
1980 1,003 205.8%
1990 1,704 69.9%
2000 2,513 47.5%
2010 3,032 20.7%
2020 3,364 10.9%
U.S. Decennial Census

2010 and 2020 census

Ponce Inlet racial composition
(Hispanics excluded from racial categories)
(NH = Non-Hispanic)
Race Pop 2010 Pop 2020 % 2010 % 2020
White (NH) 2,895 3,069 95.48% 91.23%
Black or African American (NH) 4 12 0.13% 0.36%
Native American or Alaska Native (NH) 7 1 0.23% 0.03%
Asian (NH) 30 44 0.99% 1.31%
Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian (NH) 2 0 0.07% 0.00%
Some other race (NH) 4 8 0.13% 0.24%
Two or more races/Multiracial (NH) 34 89 1.12% 2.65%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 56 141 1.85% 4.19%
Total 3,032 3,364

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 3,364 people, 1,535 households, and 1,063 families residing in the town.

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 3,032 people, 1,441 households, and 1,091 families residing in the town.

Brown-Pelican-Ponce-Inlet-FL
Brown pelicans at the harbor

Points of interest

See also

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