1900 it founded the first law school in Florida (which relocated to Gulfport in 1954). Its various sports teams are called the Hatters. The City of DeLand was officially incorporated in 1882, and became the county seat of Volusia County in 1887. It was the first city in Florida to have electricity. According to city officials, minutes of the first City Commission meeting in 1882 show the city decided to create a seal with the emblems of "Faith, Hope and Charity," namely a cross, an anchor and a heart. The city seal was briefly the object of a controversy in 2013, when the national group Americans United for Separation of Church and State sent the city a letter in which they argued that the seal unconstitutionally promotes Christianity, thus allegedly breaching the First Amendment Establishment Clause. The controversy faded after the city refused to change the seal. During the 1920s Florida Land Boom, fine examples of stucco Mediterranean Revival architecture by native architect Medwin Peek and others were constructed in DeLand. Many of these buildings have been handsomely restored, including the restored Athens Theatre. Since 1992, the city has hosted the DeLand Fall Festival of the Arts, a two-day event held annually in the historic downtown area on the weekend before Thanksgiving. As of 2009, the event has an annual attendance of more than 50,000 during the weekend. Geography Topography DeLand is located at , in Western Volusia County. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and , or 1.06%, is water. DeLand is drained by the St. Johns River. Climate On February 2, 2007, DeLand and the surrounding area was the site of a major tornado outbreak. One tornado passed through Deland. It reached a peak intensity of EF-3 (160–165 mph), had a track length of 26 miles, and was responsible for the deaths of 13 people. On August, 18, 2020, an EF-2 tornado made landfall in DeLand Around 4 PM EST, and caused an estimated $7.4 million in damages over its 4.6 mile path. Demographics As of the census of 2013, there were 28,237 people, 9,950 households, and 4,631 families residing in the city. The population density was 1317.1/mi2 (506.8/km2). There were 9,272 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 74.96% White, 19.18% African American, 0.22% Native American,