Industry
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The original sugar mill wheel belonged to a sugar mill built in the 1830s that operated until 1864 on what was then Spring Garden Plantation. The wheel powered machinery that pressed sugar cane for its juice, and the mill was the only water-powered sugar mill in Florida. In 1835, at the beginning of the Second Seminole War, Seminole Indians destroyed the mill. In 1864, Union troops destroyed it again during the Civil War because owner Thomas Starke was supplying food to Confederate troops. After being abandoned, the mill deteriorated from insects and rot in the late 1800s. Around 1910, it was rebuilt, possibly as a tourist attraction. In 1998, a project removed this part of the wheel and replaced it with the current wheel, which is not operational.
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