St. John is estate 12 in St. Croix’s Queen’s Quarter. Based on appearances on historic maps, the windmill was likely built in the 1750s. The windmill was blocked to store water after decommissioning. The windmill tower is in good condition.
The 1750 map indicates sugar cultivation and structures including an animal mill in estate 12. Both Beck printings show a windmill icon on the border line between estates 11 & 12, which appears on all the maps in the 1760s and 1770s.
The 1799 Oxholm map shows a windmill at St. John. The 1856 Parsons map shows a windmill at elevation 114 feet at St. John. All the 20th-century topographic maps show a structure identifiable as a windmill at St. John.
The 1750 map attributes ownership to Gouverneur Heiliger paa. The 1766 annotated Beck map attributes ownership to James Heyliger’s Heirs. The other maps through 1770 attribute ownership to Colonel Charles Pym Burt except the 1766 unsigned manuscript copy that attributes ownership to William Bord heirs. By 1790, ownership transitioned to Burt.
McGuire geographic dictionary of the Virgin Islands (p.186) provides location and early ownership information.