Sugar Mill Botanical Gardens

Sugar Mill Botanical Gardens contains many delights. The excitement of migrating warblers adds to the pleasure of abundant resident birds.  There are ancient trees, including the arching Confederate Oak where Civil War soldiers camped, and the brooding grandeur of Colonial English sugar mill ruins.

Here, at Dunlawton Plantation in the 1830s-40s, molasses derived from sugar cane was stored in barrels in the upstairs curing room. It slowly oozed from the wooden barrels through the floor in to vats below, where it was collected and shipped to the Indies for the manufacture of rum. Along the ruins of the sugar mill are a syrup boiling-kettle and horse-drawn cane mill equipment.  A Second Seminole War skirmish, the Battle of Dunlawton, occurred here and the sugar mill fell victim. Rebuilt in 1846, the sugar mill was abandoned after the Civil  War. Replicas of long-gone dinosaurs and a giant sloth inhabit the gardens, remainders of a long-gone tourist attraction. The hammock is a peaceful oasis containing a number of plant collections and a native forest along its meandering trails.

The land was donated to Volusia County in 1963 by J. Saxton Lloyd.Botanical Gardens of Volusia, Inc. developed and maintains the 12 acres of botanical gardens, gift shop and library. Restrooms are available. Parking is available across the street from the entrance.

Botanical Gardens of Volusia, Inc. is a non-profit organization with no salaried employees. Donations are accepted and appreciated. For more information, call (904) 767-1735.

Sugar Mill Botanical Gardens website

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