Bulow Plantation

During our last week in Florida, we stayed at an RV park near Bulow Plantation.  The trees were amazing!  We saw evergreen, palm and cypress trees. I have to admit, Alan and I were both surprised to see all of these different types of trees growing side by side with each other. 

Each RV park, city and state has so much to see and do! We usually try to find things that are free or low cost and educational.  During our stay here, we enjoyed riding our bicycles, visiting the local library, and exploring the plantation ruins nearby.   In 1836, The Second Seminole War destroyed the prosperous Bulow Plantation.  Today, you can see the ruins of the former plantation, a sugar mill, a spring house, wells, and the crumbling foundations of the plantation house and slave cabins.

 This fence marks the location of the plantation house.  It is hard to imagine, but years ago, these trees were not there.  The photo below shows the remaining foundation stones at the site.

 We took the nature trail to the sugar mill and found this cool tree on the way. It has a large hole at the bottom where you can walk into it!

This plaque above identifies the area where slave cabins existed on the plantation.  John Bulow owned over 150 slaves.  They lived in 46 houses that measured around 12 feet wide and 16 feet long each.  The foundations were built from native limerick, and that is all that remains today. If you look closely, you can see the rocks in the background of the photo.

I have really enjoyed learning so much history the past few months.  It does make me sad though, to think of how hard life must have been for the slaves during this time.  They often worked 6 VERY LONG days a week, with little to no free time. There are conflicting accounts of the treatment of slaves on Bulow plantation.  The plaque above described that some neighbors said the Bulow Slaves had free time for hunting, fishing, and gardening.  "Other accounts of slave life at Bulow Plantation have been less favorable." I can only imagine how difficult life must have been for them.

Close to the mill, there is a garden there showing the various crops that used to be grown on the plantation.  The cotton didn't look too good this time of year though:)

The Sugar Mill

The Bulow Sugar Mill was the largest sugar mill in Florida.  It was operated by Charles Wilhelm Bulow and then after he died in 1823, he left the plantation to his son, John.  Using slave labor, Bulow cleared over 2,000 acres to plant sugar cane, cotton, rice and indigo. 

After our stay here at the Bulow Plantation, we headed up to North Carolina for seminar in Wilmington.  On the morning we left Florida, we finally put the sticker on our map on the RV! Its funny, we had been in Florida for 2 months and we just kept forgetting to do it:) 

Goodbye Florida! We had a GREAT time here, but we are excited to be on the road and explore more states in our great country!

Blessings to you and yours,

Jill and the boys:)