New Smyrna Beach in Volusia County, Florida — The American South (South Atlantic)

Low-Tech Mill

The Cruger-dePester Sugar Mill

Photographed By Brandon D Cross, April 23, 2020

1. Low-Tech Mill Marker

Inscription. Click to hear the inscription.

Though small cane mills—like those beyond the walk—were not actually part of the Cruger-dePeyster plantation, they help us see differences between ordinary agriculture and large- scale sugar making. Settlers used these animal-powered crushers to extract cane juice for sorghum syrup—mostly for local consumption. By contrast, Cruger-dePeyster had big steam-driven rollers for crushing cane. Long after the sugar factory’s costly (and temperamental) machinery had stopped working, simple mills kept grinding away throughout the American South.

Erected by Volusia County.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Agriculture • Settlements & Settlers.

Location. 29° 0.554′ N, 80° 56.434′ W. Marker is in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, in Volusia County. Marker can be reached from the intersection of Old Mission Road and Mission Drive, on the right when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 600 Mission Drive, New Smyrna Beach FL 32168, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this

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marker, measured as the crow flies. Risky Business: (a few steps from this marker); Native Stone (a few steps from this marker); A Stray Relic (within shouting distance of this marker); Columbus’s Chapel? (within shouting distance of this marker); Sugar Making (within shouting distance of this marker); Turnbull Grand Canal (approx. 0.8 miles away); Old St. Rita Colored Mission Church (approx. 1.2 miles away); Site of Old Stone Wharf (approx. 1½ miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in New Smyrna Beach.

Also see . . . Sugar Mill Ruins. (Submitted on April 27, 2020.)

Photographed By Brandon D Cross, April 23, 2020

2. Low-Tech Mill Marker

Photo Insert Top Left: A horse-powered cane mill image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Brandon D Cross, April 23, 2020

3. Photo Insert Top Left: A horse-powered cane mill

Early twentieth-century postcard courtesy of Tom Baskett, Jr.

Photo Insert Bottom Right: Cruger-dePeyster’s steam-driven roller mill image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Brandon D Cross, April 23, 2020

4. Photo Insert Bottom Right: Cruger-dePeyster’s steam-driven roller mill

(moved to the Dunlawton sugar factory, Port Orange.
Florida Commerce Department photo, 1947, courtesy Florida Photographic Collection, State Archives.

Cane crushing section of an animal-powered cane mill. image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Brandon D Cross, April 23, 2020

5. Cane crushing section of an animal-powered cane mill.

Cane juice heating furnace and kettle. image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Brandon D Cross, April 23, 2020

6. Cane juice heating furnace and kettle.

Credits. This page was last revised on April 27, 2020. It was originally submitted on April 26, 2020, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida. This page has been viewed 117 times since then and 38 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on April 26, 2020, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.