Valdez, Florida facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Valdez
Unincorporated community
Valdez, Florida Location in Volusia County
Country	United States
State	Florida
County	Volusia
Elevation	16 ft (5 m)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
enter ZIP code	32713
Area code(s)	386
GNIS feature ID	292722

Valdez is a small place in Volusia County, Florida. It's called an unincorporated community. This means it's not officially a city or town with its own local government. Instead, it's part of the nearby city of DeBary. You can find Valdez along a main road called U.S. Highway 17-92, close to the St. Johns River.

Discovering Valdez: A Look at Its Past

Valdez got its name from a Spanish navy secretary named Antonio Valdez. This was back in 1787 when Spanish explorers were mapping the area. Antonio Valdez sent one of his officers, Lt. Jose del Rio Cossa, to explore Florida. Cossa was looking for resources like wood for ships.

How Valdez Got Its Name

During his exploration, Lt. Cossa created a huge map. On this map, he gave a new name to a large lake. What we now call Lake Monroe, he named Laguna Valdez. Even though the name Laguna Valdez didn't stick for the lake, old land records from before America owned Florida still used the name Valdez for the area around the lake. This shows how important Antonio Valdez was to the Spanish explorers.

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Lake Valdez

This 1826 map of Central Florida shows Lake Valdez where Lake Monroe is today.

Building a Power Plant

Later, in 1928, a company called Florida Power & Light started building something important in Valdez. They built a power plant right on the north side of the St. Johns River. This plant helped provide electricity to the surrounding areas.