Hogensborg is estate 17 in St. Croix’s West End Quarter. Based on appearances on historic maps, the windmill was likely built in the 1760s. Hogensborg constructed the first steam mill on St. Croix in 1816. This may have led to the icon for a decommissioned windmill on the 1856 map. The 1920s topographic map suggests two potential windmills, but field reconnaissance failed to locate any ruins identifiable as a windmill.
The estate now known as Hogensborg appears to have been settled in the French period by Solo. This previous settlement may have facilitated the establishment of sugar cultivation and an animal mill in the southern half of the estate by 1750.
Both of the Beck printed maps of the 1750s include an animal mill in the south center of estate 17. Three annotated Beck maps and the manuscript copies of the 1760s all depict a windmill while two retain the printed animal mill.
Ownership on all these maps is attributed to Comeraad Johannes Sobodker, with a variety of spellings. Ownership attributed on Küffner’s 1767 map is also to Sobotker. Like the annotated Beck maps, the 1790s manuscript copies of Beck attribute ownership to Sobotker.
The 1799 Oxholm map includes a windmill in the south center of estate Högens Borg. The 1856 Parsons map indicates a decommissioned windmill tower with no sails in a similar location at Hogens Borg.
The 1920s topographic map locates the Hogensborg Mill at 128 feet elevation, with other structures to the northwest. Further northwest of this lies a Mill in Ruins at 148 feet elevation The 1958 and 1982 topographic maps indicate no ruins suggesting a windmill at Hogensborg. Field reconnaissance failed to locate evidence of the windmill.
As the McGuire geographic dictionary of the Virgin Islands (p. 94) describes, the name Høgensborg means City of the Hawk in Danish.