Estate Hermitage
Hermitage is estate 5 in St. Croix’s King’s Quarter. Based on appearances on historic maps, the windmill was likely built in the 1760s. The windmill was blocked to store water after decommissioning. The windmill is in good condition.
The maps through the Beck printings indicate no settlement in estate 5. By 1766, the annotated Beck maps combine estate 5 in King’s Quarter with estate 1 in Prince’s Quarter as owned as a unit. These Beck variants include a hand-written windmill in estate 5, except the 1770 annotated map that only added landowner names.
The 1799 Oxholm map included a windmill to the southwest of the road cutting across the estate. The 1856 Parsons map includes a windmill in a similar location with the road ending at the mill and structures plus a square to the north and east.
The 20th century topographic maps all include two ruins identifiable as a windmill. The 1921 topographic sheet specifies both locations as old mill towers. All the topographic maps locate a roadway passing by the mill and not ending at it. Very likely, the tower to the south is a water tower.
The 1766 annotated Beck maps and manuscript copies attribute ownership to John Willet while the 1767 maps attribute ownership to his heirs. The 1770 and c.1770 annotated Beck maps attribute ownership to Baron de Bretton. By 1790, ownership transitioned to Selby.
McGuire geographic dictionary of the Virgin Islands (p.94) notes that estate Hermitage still included estate 1 in Prince’s Quarter with estates 4 and 5 in King’s Quarter. McGuire also attributes ownership in 1851 to Ratcliff along with Manning Bay, Castle Coakley, and other properties.
Historic Maps of Hermitage
