King’s Quarter

King’s Quarter had 19 windmills built for crushing sugar cane. Field reconnaissance found remains of 16 of these windmills, with 3 not located. All 3 not located are believed to have been demolished to make the way for other industrial uses, including Bethlehem Old Works where the central factory for sugar processing was built along with Annaberg & Shannon Grove and Blessing just north of the previous Krause Lagoon that was transformed into the heavy industrial area on the south shore.

Of the 34 estates in King’s Quarter, 22 had an icon for sugar manufacturing on historic maps. Of these estates, 19 had icons for windmills. One potential complication for counting these estates and their sugar manufacturing equipment is the combination of portions of 10 estates in the Bethlehem plantation along the western side of the quarter.

McGuire geographic dictionary of the Virgin Islands (p.105) notes a population of the quarter in 1917 at 1,246 individuals. Given the trends in population growth and housing availability in this quarter, the population is currently somewhat larger 100 years later.