Tom and Lynn Maize have worked tirelessly to catalog and preserve the museum's collection of maps.



They lead a team of volunteers in staging historic maps for scanning and online publication in cooperation with the University of Central Florida.

Stanley Shaddix posed as boy

The family in the sketch, all clad in beachwear, stood with their mouths wide open, not unlike baby birds waiting for a snack from their mom.

That is how famed artist Norman Rockwell chose to pose his subjects back in 1961. In reality, the faux family was standing in front of a sheet put up inside at the home of artist Don Emery on Tarragona Way in the Highlands.

The youngest member of the group was Stanley Shaddix, a member of a longtime Daytona Beach family and still a resident here. He remembers posing for the photo at the tender age of 7.

“Don Emery was my neighbor and I spent a lot of time at his house,” Shaddix recalled. “I was curious and he befriended me.”

In 1961, the Daytona Beach Chamber of Commerce recruited Rockwell, nationally known illustrator for the Saturday Evening Post and other publications, to come here and produce eight sketches to be used in advertising Daytona Beach. He received $5,000 (an average annual salary at that time).

Rockwell (left) welcomed by Mayor Owen Eubank

Rockwell sketching on Daytona Beach

Emery asked Shaddix to pose for the sketch, which involved standing with the other models in front of the sheet. All were dressed in beach attire. A photographer recorded the pose and Rockwell used that to do the sketches.

“I remember my shorts weren’t in good shape,” said Shaddix. He said his mom, Madeline, who still lives here, stopped by the J.C. Penney store on Magnolia Avenue to buy him a new bathing suit.

Rockwell wrote out a check for $10 to Shaddix. He used it to buy a toy he wanted at the nearby Westgate Shopping Center.



In hindsight, he and his mom both wish they hadn’t cashed the check. It would have been a nice memento of his childhood modeling gig.

The Daytona Beach sketches produced the desired effect – tourism inquiries to the Chamber rose dramatically.

As for Shaddix, now 72, he doesn’t even have a copy of the sketch. “I took it to school and some kids took it from me,” he recalled.

Rockwell left 25-degree temperatures in Vermont to come to the Sunshine State. He liked it here so much, he vowed to come again.



We aren’t sure that he ever did. Rockwell died Nov. 8, 1978, in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. The original sketches he made for the Chamber of Commerce are part of the permanent collection at The Brown (formerly MOAS).

Norman Rockwell's Daytona prints available to order.

Sign up in the Museum Gift Shop.

Daytona Pivots from Agriculture

to Tourism

By Victoria Bennett

The weather grew cold fast and every orange was frozen solid and we think the trees are ruined. The disaster is overwhelming. Don’t know how we will come out of it.

Two freezes occurred in Florida during one catastrophic season, the first in December 1894 and the second in February 1895. The citrus shipment plummeted from five million boxes in 1894 to 146,000 in 1896, about a 95% decline. 

When the second freeze came a few months later the effects were even more devastating, and bark split from top to bottom killing 90% of the citrus trees. Orange trees needed seven years to bear fruit, and many growers couldn’t afford to replant and wait. Most of the groves were sold as real estate.

At the time of the Great Freeze, oranges were a source of primary or passive income for most Daytona residents. Property values plummeted and people left. Banks closed because of loan defaults. Those who stayed had to pivot to survive. 

The wide beaches and moderate winters here were already attracting winter visitors. Automobile racing would be introduced on the beach by 1903. The crisis in the citrus industry led Daytona to redouble its efforts to promote tourism.

New Smyrna Beach has a multi-layered history and is one of Florida's oldest settlements. Greg Holbrook will present on the city's indigenous inhabitants, the Spanish takeover, the British takeover, and the ruthless Andrew Turnbull who abused the Minorcans working on his plantation.

Robert Redd has written Florida history from the perspective of infamous scoundrels who lived here. His sinister theme makes it perfect for the Halloween season. Join the author for a lively discussion.

October 20 at 2 PM

Marion Whelton, Docent

Marion Whelton has been a museum volunteer for many years. Though not actively pursuing the paranormal, she has had undeniable encounters in the old bank building. She will share these sightings and point out where they occurred.

October 24 at 2 PM

Kristin Mixell

Experience an afternoon of local history and ghost stories of the area's most haunted places. The family of famed paranormal investigator Dusty Smith will share unpublished stories, including a Deltona investigation featured in the show A Haunting on the Discovery Channel.

October 6 at 5 PM to 8 PM

Join the Daytona Beach Police Department for National Night Out at the Jackie Robinson Ballpark.

October 27 at 2 PM

Carol Ann Moritz will give a talk at the Port Orange Library on the Halifax Historical Museum.

Free with Membership or Admission.

Call (386) 255-6976 or click here for more information.

252 S. Beach Street, Daytona Beach, FL 32114

(386) 255-6976

Tuesday-Saturday 10am - 4pm

$10 per person - Members FREE

Children 12 & under FREE

This publication is made possible in part with funding from the Cultural Council of Volusia County (volusia.org), Florida Humanities, State of Florida, City of Daytona Beach, and Halifax Historical Society membership.