Ponce Inlet is a town in Volusia County, Florida, United States. The population was 3,032 at the 2010 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 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 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 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 (29.094744, –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 , of which is land and (70.48%) is water. Local government Ponce Inlet is organized with a council-manager form of government; voters elect a Town Council, which consists of five members who serve two-year staggered terms. All five seats including the Mayor are town-wide; there are no districted seats. The Town Council establishes ordinances and policies for the town. It also reviews and approves the town budget annually. The Council appoints a Town Manager, who