Estate La Reine
La Reine is estate 20 in St. Croix’s King’s Quarter. Based on appearances on historic maps, the windmill was likely built in the 1760s. Translated, the estate name means the queen. Former owner Bill Cissel indicated the mill was built in 1769 and partly collapsed during hurricanes David & Frederick.
The 1750 map indicates no sugar cultivation in estates 19 & 20. Focusing on estate 20, the first printing of the Beck map remains empty while the second printing includes an animal mill in the center of the estate. All the annotated Beck maps and manuscript copies included a hand drawn windmill in estate 20, except the 1770 annotated map that only added landowner names. The 1766 annotated map based on the first printing of Beck locates the windmill in the western portion of adjacent estate 19 in Queen’s Quarter.
The 1799 Oxholm map located a windmill on a ridge line northeast of a road cutting across the estate with some structures at a bit of a distance to the southwest. The 1856 Parsons map provides the road ending at the ridgeline with no indication of structures. All the 20th century topographic maps include ruins identifiable as a windmill.
The 1750 map attributes ownership of estates 19 & 20 jointly to Robert Handsen and James French. All the annotated Beck maps and manuscript copies attribute ownership to Baron von Prock, except the 1770 annotated map that attributes ownership to Wilhelm Schaeffer. By 1790, ownership transitioned to Ryan.
McGuire geographic dictionary of the Virgin Islands (p.112) notes the name La Reine translate from French to the Queen. In the 1920s, the hills in the northeast and south were tree and grass covered with the balance planted in sugar cane. The hill at the south end is noted as causing a detour of Centerline Road around it. This detour was noted on the 1982 photorevised topographic map, although by the late 1980s, Centerline Road was straightened to go directly over the lowered hill.
Photos of La Reine, 2020s
Historic Maps of La Reine
