Sugar Mill Botanical Gardens
Daytona Beach Area CVB
What was formerly the Dunlawton Plantation and Sugar Mill is today a popular and gorgeous botanical garden, complete with various ruins and relics from the area's past. This is a fantastic attraction option for your group due to its extremely fine mix of history and natural science, not to mention the beauty of the spot in general.
Historically speaking, this spot has many ties to the Indian Wars, the Civil War, and the Industrial Revolution, the mill abandoned, destroyed, and revitalized many times in its past. It was so tumultuous on this property that the mill was actually burnt down during the Indian Wars not just once, but twice. The mill thrived the most during the late 19th century, a time when the English sugar mill held the most comprehensive sugar grinding machines in the country.
Today you will see the mill ruins alongside lush gardens and native trees. There is an onsite butterfly garden, a prized collection of bromeliads, ginger, and cacti, and even a rare human sundial. There are also such plants as azaleas, camellias, ivies, magnolias, palms, and succulents, Asian landscape features, an herb garden, a children's garden, a tropical plant collection, and a demonstration area for master gardeners courses. Another interesting factor within this 10-acre historic site is the scattered remnants of amusement park features, a popular park by the name of Bongoland thriving here between 1949 and 1952. There will be concrete dinosaurs from the park around every corner!
