Turnbull Bay, in New Smyrna Beach, Florida is named for Andrew Turnbull who acquired a 60,00 acre land grant and funds from the British government to establish a plantation in the area in 1766. Turnbull recruited indentured servants from Greece and Italy and purchased enslaved Africans to clear brush and forest for planting indigo, sugar cane and provision crops, a business venture that he shared with two wealthy absentee British partners. Laborers at the plantation endured poor working conditions and food scarcity, and within ten years more than half of the them had died. The remaining workers abandoned the settlement and fled to St. Augustine where they sought legal refuge.
Today the Bay is a recreation area adjacent to The Preserve at Turnbull Bay , an 18 hole golf course. Homes on Turnbull Bay were flooded in 2015 during Hurricane Ian. Water levels are continuing to rise and increased salinity is slowly shifting the wetland ecosystem of the Bay.
