City/Town: • Port Orange |
Location Class: • Recreational |
Built: • 1952 | Abandoned: • 1955 |
Status: • Abandoned |
Photojournalist: • David Bulit |
Table of Contents
Dunlawton Sugar Mill
In Port Orange, Florida, lies the remains of a defunct amusement once called Bongoland, its history dating back as far back as the early 1800s. In 1804, Patrick Dean arrived in the Port Orange area from the Bahamas and established a plantation to grow cotton, rice, and sugar cane, which were cultivated by slaves. He was killed by a renegade Indian during the First Indian War in 1818.
The Dunlawton Sugar Mill was established in 1832 on 995 acres previously owned by Patrick Dean. A broker sold the old Dean plantation to Mary Dunn Anderson, who owned another plantation north of the Tomoka River, and her two sons, George and James. The name Dunlawton was derived from her maiden name, Dunn, and the name of the land agent who sold her the land, Lawton. Her two sons operated the plantation and, in 1832, built a sugar mill. Just three years later, the Second Seminole Indian War drove the white settlers in the area back to St. Augustine, leaving the slaves to continue operations.
The Second Seminole Indian War started in December 1835 with skirmishes at Fort King and New Smyrna and the Dade Massacre at the Battle of Dunlawton in 1836. The Mosquito Roarers, a company of Florida militia under Major Benjamin Putnam, engaged a large band of Seminoles in pillaging the Dunlawton Plantation. Heavy fighting ensued, but the militiamen were unable to disperse the Indians. The conflict continued pushing the Seminoles farther south, with the war finally ending in 1842.
Statehood came in 1845, and soon afterward, settlers arrived in the area. John Marshall, a planter from Louisiana, bought the Dunlawton plantation in 1847. He sold it to a Frenchman named Voux in 1850 but got it back in 1856 in bankruptcy proceedings.
During the Civil War, settlers used the mill’s huge kettles to distill seawater for salt to cure meat. Usually, they would distill water along the waterfront but feared smoke would attract the attention of Union troops.
After the war, the mill kettles were used again, but not for sugar. In 1906, when the first Port Orange bridge stretched across the river, two whales beached themselves below it. Men dragged the carcasses back to the former plantation and used the mill kettles to render the oil.
Dr. Arthur A. Sperber, Dermatologist and Cosmetic Surgery Pioneer
In the early 1950s, the plantation oak hammock, which spread over the mill ruins, was sold to J. Saxon Lloyd, owner of Lloyd Buick-Cadillac in Daytona. He opened the site to area residents so they could visit the ruins and see indigo growing. In 1952, Dr. Perry Arthur Sperber leased the property from J. Saxon Lloyd for an amusement park called Bongoland.
An Army veteran, Dr. Sperber moved to this area from Providence, Rhode Island, in 1950. He served in the Army’s Conservation Corps from 1935 to 1937. Dr. Sperber was Daytona Beach’s first dermatologist and allergist, specializing in allergies and dermatology. He was also a pioneer in the development of chemical cosmetic surgery and authored the first book on the subject. In 1949, Newsweek magazine featured his groundbreaking treatment for athlete’s foot and his use of whale oil. He was also highlighted in radio programs, McCall’s magazine, and Ladies’ Home Journal for his advancements in treating sprained ankles and his work in cosmetic surgery.
Dr. Sperber graduated from Brown University in 1928 and attended New York Medical School, completing his residency at Bellevue Hospital in 1934.
He was a longtime member of the First Baptist Church of Daytona Beach, where he taught Sunday school for over 20 years. He also served as a deacon, held the role of chairman of the deacons, led the bond drive to construct the new church, and was involved in the Tape Ministry. Additionally, Dr. Sperber was an active member of the Halifax area Kiwanis Club for over 40 years, serving as past president, newsletter editor (scribe), and division lieutenant governor in 1973 and 1974.
Dr. Sperber was affiliated with numerous medical organizations, including the Mental Health Association, where he served as past president, and the Halifax Medical Center, where he contributed for over two decades. He was also a member of the Volusia County Medical Society, reviewing books for their newsletter, “The Stethoscope.” Further, he was involved with the American College of Dermatology, the American College of Allergy, the American Academy of Asthma and Immunology, the American Academy for the Advancement of Science, and the Brown University and New York University Alumni Clubs.
Bongoland
Before Bongoland, Sperber bought shares in an early version of Marineland or SeaWorld in 1951, known as the “Marine Life Laboratory Exhibit.” He also proposed that owner Steven Loughman change the name to Sea Zoo. The attraction was one of the first to put on performances by various sea mammals. Among the animals were basketball-playing porpoises, trained manatees, and several jungle animals and birds. Sperber remained a partner until Sea Zoo’s closure in 1961.
Probably looking to expand on the success of Sea Zoo, Sperber opened Bongoland in 1952, named after Bongo, the chimpanzee. Bongo was one of several animals Sperber kept in a small zoo on the property that housed bears, macaws, and parrots. The park also featured gasoline-powered tractors for guided tours through Bongoland. A Seminole Indian family also lived on the ground for two years in an outdoor house with no walls.
Besides the mill ruins and small zoo, the park boasted four “prehistoric monsters” made by artist Manuel D. “Manny” Lawrence of Holly Hill, Fla., constructed out of chicken wire and concrete. He is mistakenly often described as a physician due to his initials, M.D., due to a sign at the park. It was said that “he got a kick out of the sign” and always said he was the doctor of the dinosaurs. He got a kick out of the sign.
According to his granddaughter, one thing people don’t know about the dinosaurs is that a bottle is inside the noses with a note stating who built them, when, how long, and what was used; basically, his signature. The staff at the gardens didn’t know of this, so when the T-Rex fell in 2019, the bottle couldn’t be retrieved before it was all taken to the dump.
Unlike Sea Zoo, though, Bongoland was never successful. According to Sperber, the park failed “for lack of public interest” as tourists seldom left the main highway, and advertising Bongoland was simply too much. He proposed to the city council a railroad that would travel between Bongoland and Sea Zoo, located two miles north on U.S. 1, but the idea was struck down. When the lease expired in 1955, Sperber chose not to renew it. The Seminole family that lived on the property moved south. Lloyd maintained the park until 1963, when he donated the land to Volusia County.

Around 1987, the Volusia County Botanical Society leased the property. In 1989, the Volusia County Botanical Society commissioned Lawrence for a fifth concrete creature, but this time, a mammal: a giant sloth-like one whose bones are housed at the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Daytona. Today, the property remains a botanical garden called Dunlawton Sugar Mill Gardens.
Three of the concrete-cast dinosaurs and the giant sloth still exist today. The T-Rex collapsed in 2019 following a storm and was deemed beyond repair. Although they are now protected as part of Florida’s heritage, their paint is long gone, and their bodies are darkened with grime and mold.