Great Pond is estate 47 in St. Croix’s East End A Quarter, deriving its name from the Great Pond to the west. A windmill appears on the 1799 Oxholm map and a decommissioned windmill tower appears on the 1856 Parsons map right on the shoreline. A portion of a windmill tower on the beach suggests shoreline erosion.
The remnants of the sugar industry at Great Pond estate present an interesting case of apparent material change in the landscape of St. Croix. Not only does the water level in the Great Pond change, but the shoreline very well could have changed over the course of two centuries.
In 1750, settlement of estate 38 indicates provision cultivation and cotton cultivation in the south in estate 47. The ownership in the north by Peter Heiliger and Arnand and the widow Hartman in the south combines in the 1760s with ownership attributed to George Biggs through the early 1790s. No sugar manufacturing icons appear on the Beck maps, annotated maps, or manuscript copies.
The Oxholm map of 1799 uses the name great Pond for this estate with an indication of cotton and sugar cultivation, including a windmill. The 1856 Parsons map shows what appears to be a decommissioned windmill tower right on the shoreline, similar to the icon at nearby Castle Nugent and Fareham, and additional structures to the north at Great Pond.
All of the US topographic maps identify a windmill ruin in a location consistent with field findings. However, field reconnaissance found a portion of the windmill on the beach. The evident coastline erosion in this area resulted in the collapse of the windmill tower at the edge of the beach. The 1920s USCGS topographic survey also indicated a windmill north of the Great Pond.
The McGuire geographic dictionary of the Virgin Islands (p. 87) notes the mill and house 50 yards from the shore. Residential structures do persist in the area based on historic structures.