Juan Ponce de Leon led the first known European expedition to Florida (which he named La Florida, “land of flowers”) and was a Spanish explorer. There are many stories of him searching for the fountain of youth which would be quite romantic but there isn’t any proof. The azaleas in the springtime though are a wonderful sight!
Proof has been found however, that people have lived here for at least 6,000 years when 2 dugout canoes were found in 1985 and 1990 (& are among the oldest found in the US), & also shell mounds and some burial mounds too.
The native people (the Mayaca) were fish-hunter-gatherers and this is who the Spanish found when they landed here in the late 1500’s. The land transferred from British back to Spanish and they granted the spring and land to William Williams in 1804. He built the first plantation growing corn, cotton and sugar canes with African slaves to tend the crops & called it “Spring Garden”.
After a couple of changing of hands, the plantation was sold to Colonel Orlando Rees & he built the only water-powered sugar mill in Florida. It was destroyed in 1835 during the Second Seminole War (by the Seminole Indians) and again in 1864 during the Civil War.
During the 1880’s the name was changed to “DeLeon Springs” to attract tourists traveling by railroad to Florida, suggesting the “Fountain of Youth” and alleged healing powers (its water does leave your skin feeling soft!). In 1961 the Schwarze family renovated the building and opened the Old Spanish Sugar Mill Restaurant. Various artifacts from the original mill can be found behind here too.
The Restaurant is very popular and gets extremely busy on the weekend and bank holidays – get here early! It has been known for the Park to fill to capacity and lines of cars wait patiently for others to leave. Its novelty is that in the middle of each table is a hotplate where you cook your own pancakes! Find out more and see the menu here.
The main spring (72 degrees year-round) is surrounded by a large round brick wall and it overflows into the river where you can rent kayaks or take a river boat cruise which lasts around an hour. Fishing in the river is permitted (adults need a fishing license to fish anywhere in Florida – find out about that here), and swimming is only permitted within the wall of the spring. There is a paved nature trail (around a 20-minute walk) where you could see some wildlife including white tailed deer, turkeys or wild hogs.
There are restrooms at the back here next to the trail, and an informative center is here too, telling and showing the history of this unique place😊
Deleon Springs can be found at 601 Ponce Deleon Blvd, De Leon Springs, FL 32130