Sugar Mill Ruins

Circa 1830 this sugar mill was built by colonists with slaves performing the brutal manual labor. The mill quickly proved difficult to sustain, as its operation took place amid the Seminole Wars, and the colonial settlement proved strategic to the conflict. Successful counterattacks by the Seminole Tribe captured the site and it was subsequently burned, although being constructed by coquina stone these fires had relatively little impact on the structure itself, much of which still stands. The site was subsequently abandoned and forgotten for decades before being rediscovered and thought to have been a much older site built by missionaries or even Columbus himself. Large pots and other tools related to the production of sugar remain in the building, in addition to the impressive mill, which was constructed with arches, halls, and furnaces.

• history

Address

600 Mission Dr

Getting there

go south on Mission Dr from Route 44 until reaching a dirt road to the right, marked by a sign

Website

volusia.org (opens in a new tab)