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The Dunlawton Sugar Mill Ruins were once part of the Dunlawton Plantation which grew sugar cane and processed sugar, molasses, and rum. Built c. 1830, the sugar mill complex was destroyed in 1835 during the Second Seminole War (it was 1 of 16 plantations destroyed). In 1846, there was a brief attempt to restore it, but the sugar industry never returned to the area. The ruins consist of brick and coquina structures, as well as some machinery including the rolling sugar cane press, a steam furnace, and iron kettles. For a period in the early 20th Century, it was thought by many to be either a Spanish colonial mission or a 1700s-era plantation. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on 28 August 1973, and later became a botanical gardens owned by Volusia County.

In the early 1950s, the sugar mill ruins was also the site of a roadside attraction called Bongoland. Named for Bongo the baboon, the site, owned by Dr. Perry Sperber, featured a replica Native American village, a miniature train station, Bongo, and concrete dinosaurs and large mammals created by M.D. (Manny) Lawrence. The tourist attraction did not last long. In 1963, Saxton Lloyd landscaped the site, retained the dinosaurs, and donated it to the county.