Estate Hope
Hope is estate 23 in St. Croix’s Prince’s Quarter. Based on appearances on historic maps, the windmill was likely built in the late 18th century and decommissioned before 1856. The windmill has been reduced to a foundation.
Sugar cultivation appears on the 1750 map, with an animal following in the first printing of Beck in 1754. The 1799 Oxholm map depicts a windmill in a slightly different location than the animal mill on the Beck maps. The 1856 Parsons map depicts no windmill.
The 1920 topographic sheet indicates a mill in ruins. The later USGS topographic maps indicate no ruins at Hope.
The 1750 map attributed ownership to Andreas Waber. The annotated Beck maps and manuscript copies attributed ownership to William Schaeffer, except the 1770 annotated Beck map that attributed ownership to Purcel. By 1790 ownership transitioned to Coppinger.
McGuire geographic dictionary of the Virgin Islands (p.96) notes the ruins of a mill in the southwest corner of estate Hope. In the 1920s, the estate is covered with grass, bushes, and trees.
Historic Maps of Hope, Prince’s Quarter
