In 1830 William Kemble constructed a Steam Sugar and Saw Mill for William DePeyster and Eliza & Henry Cruger from New York. The men purchased the land from Ambrose Hull which we talked about earlier during our Turnbull Ruins & Old Fort Investigation. From that time until 1835 1000s of acres of sugar cane were planted.

The mill was built to assist other plantations with there sugar cane. An example of this was Thomas Stamps ran the steam engine mill. He owned the land surrounding the Turnbull Ruins. The heavy rollers would press the sugar cane and syrup would pour into the kettles. The liquid was then boiled and left to solidify this I believe was how molasses was produced. The cane press was mule powered.

In 1835 a Seminole War broke out and the entire plantation was destroyed as this was 1 of the 16 plantations from New Smyrna to St Augustine's that suffered such a demise. As the plantation was being burned many of the slaves and homesteaders fled to the river eventually seeking shelter at the Colonel Dummett's Mansion, Bulow Plantation, and Mt Pleasant where they sought safety. They were never revived or rebuilt including this one so plantations in the area basically became extinct. During the Seminole Wars the sugar mill was used as a station for soldiers to set up base camp. 

In 1893 Washington E. Connor a NY Stockbroker purchased the land and sugar mill for $400 dollars as a birthday gift to his wife Jeannette who was a historian. In 1929 the turned over the ruins to the Florida State Park Service. Since then there have been slow restoration efforts to try and provide walkways for visitors.

Today the sugar mill ruins are the only thing left standing as they sit in a oak and pinewood forest. There is even a natural trail which currently is not in use due to the hurricanes blocking its path through the palmetto hammocks. Many archaeologist at first thought this was an old Spanish Mission which later turned out not to be true. 

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Rick-AngelOfThyNight

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