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Children sitting on top of a Stegosaurus dinosaur sculpture in Bongoland at the Dunlawton Plantation Sugar Mill Ruins - Port Orange, Florida.
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Historic sites--Florida--Volusia County--Port Orange
Tourism--Florida--Volusia County--Port Orange
Amusements--Florida--Volusia County--Port Orange
Attractions--Florida--Volusia County--Port Orange
Animals in art
Dinosaurs in art
Dinosaurs
Figurines
Statues
Sculpture
Decorative arts
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Original image caption: Life-size replicas of dinosaurs, pre-historic monsters who roamed the continent some 150 million years ago, challenge visitors at Sugar Mill Gardens in Port Orange, Florida. The main attraction at the Gardens are the ruins of an old Spanish mission building.
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.
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Chicago Manual of Style
Children sitting on top of a Stegosaurus dinosaur sculpture in Bongoland at the Dunlawton Plantation Sugar Mill Ruins - Port Orange, Florida. 1959. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory. <https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/76578>, accessed 26 December 2024.
MLA
Children sitting on top of a Stegosaurus dinosaur sculpture in Bongoland at the Dunlawton Plantation Sugar Mill Ruins - Port Orange, Florida. 1959. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.<https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/76578>