Florida Historical Markers Programs - Marker Detail

Description: Coronado Beach was settled by Foster G. Austin in 1885. Austin built a series of beachside cottages approximately one mile south of Flagler Avenue. In its early days, Coronado Beach, named after Austin’s native community in California, served primarily as a retreat for hunting and fishing during the winter. The community center shifted north to the Flagler Avenue area after the construction of a bridge that connected the mainland and the beachfront. Not many of the original houses withstood the ensuing decades of beachfront development. This house is one of the original houses built in Coronado Beach by Austin and is an excellent example of the type of housing built in this area in the late 19th century. Its original location was one half block south, at the northeast corner of Hill Street and 8th Avenue. Notable architectural features of this frame Vernacular house include the cross gable roof, veranda with cut-out stars in the brackets, chamfered posts, alternate shingle siding and ornate attic light in the east gable end. Coronado Beach was incorporated into the City of New Smyrna Beach in 1946.