Bongoland Dinosaurs & Dunlawton Sugar Mill Ruins | Port Orange FL

Описание: In this video, we take a full walking tour of the Dunlawton Sugar Mill Gardens in Port Orange, Florida, including the historic sugar mill ruins and the remains of Bongoland’s concrete dinosaur statues.

The property dates back to the early 1800s when it operated as a sugar plantation under Thomas Stamps. In 1835, during the Second Seminole War, the plantation was attacked and burned. What remains today are coquina stone foundations, kettles used for processing sugar cane, and parts of the original mill structure. The site is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

In the 1940s, the land was redeveloped into Bongoland, a roadside attraction built by I.W. “Preacher” Bennett. Bongoland featured large concrete dinosaur sculptures, a small zoo, and themed exhibits designed to attract tourists traveling along US-1 and the growing Florida highway system. The attraction closed after a short run, but many of the dinosaur statues remain on the property today. These oversized concrete dinosaurs have become one of the most photographed features in Port Orange.

In the 1960s, the site was transformed again, this time into what is now known as Dunlawton Sugar Mill Gardens. The botanical garden is maintained by the Port Orange Garden Club and operates as a free public park. Visitors can walk paved and unpaved paths through shaded garden areas, native Florida plants, ornamental flowers, and butterfly-friendly landscaping.

The gardens sit along Nova Road near US-1, just west of the Halifax River and a short drive from Daytona Beach. The park includes historical markers explaining the sugar mill ruins, Bongoland history, and the property’s role in local development.

In this walking tour, you’ll see the sugar mill foundations, iron sugar kettles, dinosaur statues, garden paths, and current conditions of the property so you can plan your visit to this unique historic and roadside attraction site in Volusia County.

There are a few specific goals of Travel Towner:
1. To take fun POV (“Point-of-View”) videos of scenic drives, highways, and roadways so you can virtually travel anywhere you like; or look back at a time when you were younger.

2. Document a fun walking tour of a specific park, attraction, or point of interest so you can see what's it's like to really be there.

3. Showcase vintage footage from yesteryear to show today's viewers what is may have been like back in 19- something something! If you have any vintage footage of past attractions, parks, road trips or anything interesting from the USA? Contact me and let’s feature it here!

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Another big part of the channel is to document a piece of Americana… at a certain point in time. Wouldn’t it be cool to go back to where you lived, 20 or 30 years ago, and take a ride through your hometown? As more roadway drives, walking tours, and vintage trips are added, it builds history so future viewers can go “back in time” and see what it was like, back then.

Roadtripping and traveling are uniquely American pastimes- and we should preserve it’s history- so future generations can appreciate the Freedom of the Road.

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