Spot is estate 30 in St. Croix’s Queen’s Quarter. Based on appearances on historic maps, the windmill was likely built in the 1760s. The estate name was likely a corruption of Barnspol, an earlier name of the estate. The inscription stone says 1808, which probably is not the construction date. The windmill was converted into a chapel. The windmill tower is in good condition.
Sugar cultivation came early to estate 30, with cane fields and an animal mill depicted on the 1750 map. The printed Beck maps included an animal mill in the 1750s. The annotated Beck maps and manuscript copies added sails to depict a windmill in the 1760s. The consistent appearance of windmill icons on these maps plus the 1799 Oxholm map suggests the date 1808 on the inscription stone above the main entrance does not indicate a construction date.
The 1799 Oxholm map included a windmill in a location analogous to the location of the ruined tower found in the field. The 1856 Parsons map also depicted a windmill with a tower without sails down the hill to the southeast. All the 20th century topographic maps included ruins identifiable as a windmill.
The 1750 map attributes ownership to Doctor Sheyer. The 1760s annotated Beck maps and manuscript copies attribute ownership to Alexander Moir or his heirs, while the 1770 annotated maps that attribute ownership to Anthony Janson. By 1790, ownership transitioned to William & Samuel Newton. Curiously, the 1799 Oxholm map names the estate Moirs after the owner in the late 1760s.
McGuire geographic dictionary of the Virgin Islands (p.31) notes the presence of mills, estatehouse, and village. Notes the corruption of the name Barren Spot from Barnspol estate and the merger with King’s Quarter estate 21 to the west of 30.