Estate Bonne Esperance

Bonne Esperance is estate 18 in St. Croix’s Queen’s Quarter. Based on appearances on historic maps, the windmill was likely built in the late 18th century. Translated, the estate name means Good Hope. The windmill tower is in good condition.

Sugar cultivation came early to estate 18, with cane fields and an animal mill depicted on the 1750 map. The Beck map variations retained the animal mill through the early 1770s. The 1799 Oxholm map show a windmill in the center of bonne Esperance.

Curiously, the 1856 Parsons admiralty chart created specifically for aiding navigation depicts no windmill or tower at Bonne Esperance. The windmill tower remains an effective navigation aid into Salt River Bay. The 1921 topographic sheet shows old mill, while the later topographic maps show no ruins identifiable as a windmill at Bonne Esperance.

The 1750 map attributes ownership to Adrian von Beverhout. The maps in the 1760s and 1770s attribute ownership to C J Laurberg. By 1790 ownership of estate 18 transitioned to Benners.

McGuire geographic dictionary of the Virgin Islands (p.38) notes the name translated from French means Good Hope, cautioning not to confuse this estate with Estate Good Hope in West End Quarter.

Photos of Bonne Esperance, 2020s

Windmill tower side looking straight up. Two parallel wooden beams are connected with four shorter beams at the top of the mill.
Bonne Esperance windmill exterior from the northwest looking upward main entrance. Notice the raised keystone. The wooden structure atop the mill would have held the shaft on which the sails turned on the east side of the mill.
Arched opening from the exterior with a tree growing up the left side, with its roots growing to the right and down to the ground.
Bonne Esperance windmill exterior from the south featuring the juice trough opening. Notice that material does not appear to have been removed from around the opening.
Windmill tower side looking straight up. Two parallel wooden beams are connected with four shorter beams at the top of the mill.
Bonne Esperance windmill exterior from the northwest looking upward main entrance. Notice the raised keystone. The wooden structure atop the mill would have held the shaft on which the sails turned on the east side of the mill.
Arched opening on interior windmill wall. A tree grows in the opening, with some of the root structure across the lower part of the opening.
Bonne Esperance windmill interior facing south featuring the juice trough opening. Notice the regular size of the stones on the wall and contrast in color between the light mortar and darkened stones. The material around the arched opening does not appear to have been removed, although some appears damaged.
Arched opening from the mill interior with a floor sloping outward. Vegetation outside.
Bonne Esperance windmill interior facing northwest featuring the bagasse opening. The material around the arched opening does not appear to have been removed, although some appears damaged. In this image, the stone is not as dark as some of the other images, illustrating differences in weathering depending on the location of the stone related to sunlight and moisture.
Windmill tower surrounded by vegetation under a blue sky. Two parallel beams protrude over the top of the mill, connected by a third beam a right angles.
Bonne Esperance windmill exterior from the east featuring the window. The wooden beams visible at the top of the mill are part of the structure that held the sails.
Crescent of blue sky interrupted by a beam with a metal shaft pinned to it. The masonry mill tower frames the image, with some of the vertical slots being empty and other having wooden beams in them.
Bonne Esperance windmill interior facing northeast featuring the timber slots.
Interior of top of windmill tower. The cut stone masonry has one empty vertical timber slot and to the left a similar slot that still has a timber in it. The empty slot has a beehive at the bottom of it. On top of the stone are 7 rows of bricks holding up a wooden rail on which the mill cap would turn.
Bonne Esperance windmill interior facing northeast featuring the vertical timber slots that supported the top ring of wood seen in this photo. On this mill, bricks on top of the cut stone tower support the ring. The square area where the bricks are absent provided ventilation. The beehive at the bottom of the timber slot is something seen in many abandoned windmill towers.
Interior of mill wall as it meets the floor. A small area of brick-sized blocks remain with the remainder removed, revealing rubble beneath.
Bonne Esperance windmill interior facing east featuring the floor. Notice the brick-sized material that constituted the original working floor and that material was subsequently removed after decommissioning.
Circle of blue sky interrupted by two parallel beams and other large pieces of wood attached to it. The masonry mill tower frames the image, with some of the vertical slots being empty and other having wooden beams in them.
Bonne Esperance windmill interior facing southwest, looking upward. The parallel beams and pieces of wood at either end held the shaft on which the sails turned. This shaft would have been above and between the two parallel beams. This structure lies on a wooden rail encircling the top of the mill and allowed the mill cap to turn.
Interior of windmill with a an arched window in the upper portion of the image. Just right of the lower edge of the window, the top of a large shaft leans against the wall, with the bottom of the shaft on the floor toward the viewer.
Bonne Esperance windmill interior facing east featuring the window. Note how the interior of the window is larger than the exterior, facilitating breezes entering the mill. This window would have illuminated and ventilated the intermediate work floor, since the square recesses in the wall would have held beams supporting that wall. The shaft on which the windmill sails were mounted leans against the mill wall.
Shaft leaning against the masonry wall, with the high end to the left. The topmost part is about 4 feet of a single piece of wood with some areas cut out for intersecting pieces to be inserted. Below that is a structure with two rounded metal bands connected by numerous straight metal bands. Vegetation obscures some of the rest of the shaft.
Bonne Esperance windmill interior facing south featuring the top portion of the shaft that held the sails. The square metal bands held the wood together under the torque strain as the shaft turned. The rounded metal structure served as a type of bearing to hold the shaft in place while allowing it to turn. Juice trough opening in the background.
Interior of windmill showing a window. Above the window are 8 vertical slots described in the caption. Bricks above the masonry support a wooden rail on which the mill cap would turn. Two parallel beams visible with a connecting piece that has fallen out of place.
Bonne Esperance windmill interior facing east featuring the window. The 5 vertical slots in the center of the image are empty but the two on the left and one on the right have the timber still in it. These supported the wooden ring above it that held the windmill cap. The parallel beams are part of the structure that supported the shaft on which the sails turned. The shaft leaning against the wall near the window would have held the sails at the end at the top of this image, with the gear holding it place at the bottom. The metal bands are part of a bearing allowing the shaft to turn.

Historic Maps of Bonne Esperance

the U.S. Geological Service topographic maps of 1958 & 1982 featuring Queen's Quarter estate # 20, currently named Barren Spot Limetree.
The 1958 and 1982 photorevision of the USGS topographic map show no ruins identifiable as a windmill at Limetree.
Snippet of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey topographic map of 1920 featuring Queen's Quarter estate # 20, currently named Barren Spot Limetree.
The 1921 USCGS topographic sheet shows old mill tower on the west Barren Spot Limetree.
Snippet of the Danish Atlantic Islands Association map of 1907 featuring Queen's Quarter estate # 20, currently named Barren Spot Limetree.
The 1767 Küffner manuscript copy of Beck’s map depicts a sugar mill and attributes ownership to Laurberg in the area of Bonne Esperance.
Snippet of the Parsons map of 1856 featuring Queen's Quarter estate # 20, currently named Barren Spot Limetree.
Parsons’ 1856 map depicts a tower with no sails at elevation 236 feet in the center of Barren Spot Limetree.
Snippet of the Oxholm map of 1799 featuring Queen's Quarter estate # 18, currently named Bonne Esperance.
Oxholm’s 1799 map shows a windmill on a ridge to the north of the road in the center of bonne Esperance.
Snippets of the Mühlenfels map of 1790 & the Janssen map of 1791 featuring Queen's Quarter estate # 20, currently named Barren Spot Limetree.
The 1790 & 1791 manuscript maps after Beck by Mühlenfels & Janssen attribute ownership of estate 20 to Heyliger heirs.
Snippet of the Küffner map of 1767 featuring Queen's Quarter estate # 18, currently named Bonne Esperance.
The 1767 Küffner manuscript copy of Beck’s map depicts a settlement but no sugar mill and attributes no ownership in the area of Barren Spot Limetree.
Snippets of all 5 annotated Beck maps plus the 2 manuscript copies made from 1766 to 1770 featuring Queen's Quarter estate # 18, currently named Bonne Esperance.
The annotated Beck maps and manuscript copies depict an animal mill in estate 18. All these maps attribute ownership to C J Laurberg.
Snippets of both Beck maps printed in 1754 & circa 1757 featuring Queen's Quarter estate # 18, currently named Bonne Esperance.
Both Beck printings show an animal mill icon to the south of the road in the west edge of estate 18.
Snippet of the Cronenberg and von Jaegersberg map of 1750 featuring Queen's Quarter estate # 18, currently named Bonne Esperance.
The 1750 map by Cronenberg and von Jægersberg indicates sugar cultivation and structures including an animal mill in estate 18. Ownership attributed to Adrian von Beverhout.
Snippet of the Lapointe map of 1671 featuring Queen's Quarter estate # 18, currently named Bonne Esperance.
During the French period, no settlement is indicated near Bonne Esperance.