My two good friends, Gloria and Dave from Cleveland, Ohio, spend first three months of the year in C...

1. Old Sugar Mill Ruins in Homosassa, Florida
My two good friends, Gloria and Dave from Cleveland, Ohio, spend first three months of the year in
Central Florida, close to my home. Since this is their vacation time they go around a lot, always
researching the area, frequently discovering sites that I usually don't even know about.
A week ago they invited me out for lunch in a restaurant at the Homosassa Riverside Resort where
we also saw the Monkey Island (not to mention the Monkey Bar!). On the way back Dave stopped at
the old sugar mill ruins and I was able to take all the photos, published on this page. That was one
beautiful day!
I hope you enjoy the visit as much as I enjoyed researching the place and putting this photo story
together.
Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins are nestled in a small wooded area near Old Homosassa.
Even though the owner of this sugar mill, David Levy Yulee abandoned sugar production after the
Civil War, the old iron boiler, kettles, chimney, and mill machinery are still are fire pump preserved.
This historical site was first presented to the Citrus County Federation of Women's Club in 1923.
The 6 acre Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins ground was then deeded to the state in 1953 and ever since, the
Florida Park Service has been making many improvements.
The most recent one was accomplished in 2006, when the masonry has been stabilized by using the
original Lime and sand mortar mix proportions.
Hewn from native limestone, this old sugar mill has been partially restored and visitors can tour the
site at their own pace. Ruins of the mill consist of a large chimney with an extending structure
(about 40 feet in length) that houses the boiler. Beside the mill's remains are parts of the grinding
machinery, a kettle and wells.
The site also has picnic facilities.
With 10 days notice, a guided tour for groups of 10 or more can be arranged based on the
availability of park personnel.
For more information, contact Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins Historic State Park, c/o Crystal River Preserve
State Park, Crystal River, FL 34428 Tel:(352) 563-1136.
Source: History of Homosassa
From the plaque on the picture above:
David Levy Yulee (1810 - 1886), who built Florida's first cross-state railroad, was the State's first
U.S. Senator.
He came to Florida as an immigrant and rose to become an outstanding businessman and statesman.

2. He served in Florida's territorial council, as territorial delegate to congress, and helped write the
State's first constitution.
His sugar mill began operations in 1849. During the Civil War, he supplied the Confederates with
sugar, syrup and molasses.
Federal raiders burned the Yulee home May 29, 1864, but the mill and plantation escaped
destruction.
Though mainly a politician, David Levy Yulee still stayed very much involved in agriculture.
In 1851 he devoted his efforts into becoming a leading merchant in growing sugar cane and
manufacturing sugar. His 5,100-acre plantation, named Margarita, was located on Tiger Tail Island
on the Homosassa River and employed 80 slaves.
69 workers and some 100 slaves built the Yulee sugar mill in 1851. They used expensive machinery,
purchased in New York.
The next 13 years were peaceful and prosperous for the sugar mill owner, David Levy Yulee. In
1861, however, he chose to serve the newly created Congress of the Confederacy, while at the same
time refused to use his rails to make connections that would better aid the war effort.
The mill was in operation until 1864, serving as a supplier of sugar products for Southern troops.
Yulee's mansion on Tiger Tail Island in the Homosassa River became a stockpile for ammunition and
supplies.
At the end of the Civil War, Union naval force burned his home to the ground. The sugar mill and
plantation remained intact.
From the plaque on the picture above:
A large "purgery" or curing room was probably located just beyond this sign. The hogsheads
(barrels) were kept in this warm curing room for 20 to 30 days until all the molasses had dripped
from the sugar into a cistern in a recess under the room. The molasses was sold for making rum.
The partly emptied hogsheads were then refilled with sugar and stored until ready for shipment. A
large storage and loading room would have been part of the mill. Its location is unknown.
From the plaque on the picture above:
The juice flowed from the settling vats into the "grande," the largest of five kettles, built into the
furnace below. The "grande" was also the coolest, being farthest from the "batterie" kettle under
which the furnace was fired.
The chimney draft pulled the heat from this fire through the furnace to heat the other kettles. The
heated juice was hand dipped from the larger to the smaller kettle and ended as syrup in the
"batterie," the smallest and hottest. Here it reached the "strike" (sugar) stage.
It was then ladeled into a trough and poured into large wooden vats where sugar crystals began to
form as it cooled. After hardening it was spaded into slices, carried in small tubs into "purgery"
(curing room) and packed in hogsheads (wooden barrels).

3. From the plaque on the picture above:
A fire was built in this furnace which heated the boiler above, providing steam to run the steam
engine.
From the plaque on the picture above:
The piston was connected to the arm at the far end of the frame by a driving rod and slide (now
missing). Their movement made the arm rotate turning the flywheel shaft, the flywheel and the small
gear at the left which turned the large gear mounted just beyond.
The large gear shaft connected by a square sleeve to the top roller shaft turned the top roller. Be
aware of some easy refinements that are able to be added to a classical
centrifugal or positive displacement pump. Beginning with pumps that have overhung impellers,
moving to a solid shaft is a desirable upgrade instead of the standard sleeved shafts. Mechanical
seals ought to be enhanced by using tungsten carbide faces, and elastomers can be replaced with
Viton. In conclusion, magnetic bearing protectors will be fire pumps a gigantic step up over the lip
seals that many commercial pumps depend on to keep bearing sump oil contamination free.
The small top roller gear turned the small gear on each of the bottom rollers.
A small water pump, located on the far side of the frame just beyond the cylinder, operated off the
driving rod and slide and pumped water from the wells to the boiler.
From the plaque on the picture above:
The fresh-cut cane was mashed between large, rotating iron cylinders and the juice was collected in
vats.
The crushed cane, called "bagasse," was piled and used, along with wood, as fuel to fire the
furnaces. The juice was piped from here to the cooking kettles.
This well and the one across the walk near the machinery supplied water for the boiler.
From the plaque on the picture above:
Sugar cane was planted in January and February and was ready for harvesting by the middle of
October. Field workers cut the cane and loaded it on wagons to be brought here to make sugar.
From the plaque on the picture above:
The fertile, moist soil and mild climate of Florida's coastal areas was ideal for growing sugar cane
and many plantations went into operation during the early 1800s.
Due to the enormous amount of waste associated with the making of sugar the cane could not be
economically shipped to a central mill for processing. This, each plantation had its own equipment
for removing the juice from the cane and cooking it into sugar.
The sugar produced here, unlike the white, fine-grained sugar that we use today, was moist, coarse
and light brown in color.