Engenho Central
First sugar mill.
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The Sugarcane Museum is one of the notable museums of inland São Paulo state. It stands in the countryside of Pontal on the border with Sertãozinho, near Ribeirão Preto, and offers educational, cultural and environmental activities, with exhibitions and guided visits for individuals, schools and groups. The museum occupies the old Engenho Central, known as the first sugar mill in north-eastern São Paulo state, which opened in 1906; its machinery, now owned by the museum, dates from the nineteenth century. Its spaces include the mill buildings, a workshop, administrative offices and a village of workers' houses. The mill was linked to Colonel Francisco Schmidt, the «Coffee King», and later to the Biagi family, who bought it in 1964 and in 2006 donated the complex to the Engenho Central Cultural Institute to create the museum. There are children's programmes at weekends; check opening times before going.
First sugar mill.
Old houses.
At weekends.
Rural Pontal on the border with Sertãozinho, São Paulo state
The Engenho Central Cultural Institute, a non-profit body.