Old Spanish Sugar Mill - De Leon Springs, FL
Posted by: 
lazyCachers
N 29° 08.037 W 081° 21.788
17R E 464676 N 3222880
Located in the De Leon Springs State Park at 601 Ponce DeLeon Blvd. just SW of US 17 in De Leon Springs, Florida.
Waymark Code: WM60E5
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 03/11/2009
Views: 13
Hours:
8 a.m. until sundown everyday
Cost:
$5.00 per vehicle for up to 8 people
Native Americans visited and used these springs as long as 6,000 years ago. In the early 1800s, settlers built sugar and cotton plantations that were sacked by Seminole Indians during the Second Seminole War. By the 1880s the springs had become a winter resort, and tourists were promised "a fountain of youth impregnated with a deliciously healthy combination of soda and sulphur." The swimming area is adjacent to a beautiful, shady picnic ground. Canoe, kayak and paddleboat rentals are available for a paddling tour of the spring and spring run. De Leon Springs flows into the Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge where canoeists and kayakers can explore 18,000 acres of lakes, creeks, and marshes. (
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1831--Colonel Orlando Rees obtained the property from the Woodruff family. Rees, with 90 slaves, constructed the only water powered sugar mill in Florida. The surrounding fields were planted in sugar cane, corn and cotton.
1835--Seminoles attacked the Rees plantation, destroying the mill and houses, and stealing slaves and cattle. Joseph Woodruff led a militia force against the Seminoles, forcing them from the area.
1854--Thomas Starke bought the Rees property, rebuilding the sugar mill.
1864--During the Civil War, the Starke plantation provided grain and produce to the Confederates. In 1864, Union troops under Colonel Nobel destroyed the plantation and sugar mill.
1872--Major George Norris bought the spring property and rebuilt the mill in 1878.
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