Estate La Grange

La Grange was an unnumbered estate initially owned by the West India and Guinea Company in St. Croix’s West End Quarter. Based on historic maps, this windmill was likely built in the 1760s. This windmill was blocked to store water. The western half of the windmill tower collapsed.

La Grange is one of two estates on St. Croix owned by the Danish West India and Guinea Company. Both of these states comprise an area several times larger than the more typical 2,000 by 3,000 foot estate.

The estate now known as La Grange appears to have been settled in the French period by Poupel. By 1750 sugar cultivation in the north center of the estate included an animal mill and other structures on the south side of the stream.

Both of the Beck printed maps of the 1750s include an animal mill in the eastern third of the estate, south of the stream. All the annotated Beck maps and the manuscript copies of the 1760s depict the printed animal mill plus a hand-drawn windmill closer to the center of the estate. A map only of La Grange from 1759 includes an animal mill and other structures, but not a windmill.

The 1778 Oxholm map of Frederiksted includes a windmill in the center of the estate along with two animal mills south of it plus other structures to the west. The settlement south of the stream no longer depicts any sugar manufacturing equipment.

Two of the annotated Beck maps attribute ownership to Baron von Schimelman. The 1778 Oxholm map attribute ownership to Grev Schimmelman’s heirs. A decade later, the manuscript copies of Beck attribute ownership to Greve Schimmelman, calling into question if this was a son of the previous owner.

The 1799 Oxholm map includes a windmill in the northwest quadrant of la Grange, with a drive leading to it from the west. The 1856 Parsons map depicts a windmill along with a structure to the southwest at Grange, with a drive leading to it from the south.

The 1920s topographic map locates structures at La Grange in a similar configuration to the 1778 Oxholm map. Legibility limits the identification of a windmill. The 1958 and 1982 topographic maps indicate ruins of a windmill and other structures at La Grange, consistent in location and configuration with Field reconnaissance.

As the McGuire geographic dictionary of the Virgin Islands (p. 109-110) describes, sugar cane was still cultivated here in the 1920s. The village, great house, and mill are noted ½ mile northeast of Frederiksted.

Photos of La Grange, 2020s

La Grange windmill exterior from the west featuring the interior of the east wall.
La Grange windmill exterior from the west featuring the interior of the east wall. After decommissioning, the mill was blocked to store water, evidenced by the material lining the interior wall.
La Grange windmill exterior from the northwest featuring what remains of the tower.
La Grange windmill exterior from the northwest featuring what remains of the tower. The mill collapsed on the general axis created by the machine slot and juice trough openings. On this northern side was the machine slot.
La Grange windmill exterior from the east featuring the east wall.
La Grange windmill exterior from the east featuring the east wall. The top portion of the mill must have collapsed after decommissioning due to the unlevel masonry along this remaining portion.
La Grange windmill exterior from the west featuring the construction of the wall.
La Grange windmill exterior from the west featuring the construction of the wall. This mill was built with cut stone on the interior and exterior, with rubble filling the space between.
La Grange windmill exterior from the south featuring what remains of the tower.
La Grange windmill exterior from the south featuring what remains of the tower. The western side of windmills collapse, likely due to the prevalence of openings and weathering. On this side was the juice trough opening.

Historic Maps of La Grange

Snippet of the U.S. Geological Service topographic map 1982 featuring West End Quarter estate La Grange.
On the 1982 USGS map, the windmill ruin is clearly seen as a dotted circle in its current configuration in relation to roads and other rum factory structures.
Snippet of the U.S. Geological Service topographic map of 1958featuring West End Quarter estate La Grange.
On the 1958 USGS map, the windmill ruin is clearly seen as a dotted circle in its current configuration in relation to roads and other rum factory structures.
Snippet of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey topographic map of 1920 featuring West End Quarter estate La Grange.
The 1920s USGS maps does not make a clear depiction of windmill ruins. This may reflect the state of partial collapse of the windmill ruin by that time.
Snippet of the Danish Atlantic Islands Association map of 1907 featuring West End Quarter estate La Grange.
The 1907 map indicates a windmill ruin at Estate La Grange.
Snippet of the Parsons map of 1856 featuring West End Quarter estate La Grange.
Parsons’ 1856 map depicts a windmill at Estate Grange along with some other structures immediately to the southwest. A tower with no sails sits south of the windmill on the south side of the access road. This suggests an abandoned well tower at the location. However, the 1920s USGS topo map shows a well much closer to the other structures.
Snippet of the Oxholm map of 1799 and the copy by Lang of 1820 featuring West End Quarter estate La Grange.
Oxholm’s 1799 map shows a windmill north of the gut in a similar location to earlier maps. A structure is also indicated where the animal mill was initially depicted on the Cronenberg Beck maps.
Snippets of the Mühlenfels map of 1790 & the Janssen map of 1791 featuring West End Quarter estate La Grange.
In either a miraculous revival, bits of misinformation, or a son also named Greve, Greve Schimmelman is indicated owning La Grange on the 1790 & 1791 manuscript maps after Beck by Mühlenfels & Janssen.
Snippet of the Oxholm map of Frederiksted from 1778 featuring West End Quarter estate La Grange.
Oxholm’s 1778 map of Frederiksted shows settlements both north and south of the gut analogous to the majority of the Beck revisions. The animal mill is not depicted in the settlement south of the gut. The windmill is depicted west of that settlement and north of the gut along with 2 animal mills. Very possibly, all production was moved to the western location by this time. Grev Schimmelman must have died before 1778, since his heirs are indicated owning the plantation.
Snippet of the Küffner map of 1767 featuring West End Quarter estate La Grange.
Küffner’s 1767 Beck replica includes an indication of settlement in the area of Estate La Grange along with a sugar mill.
Snippet of the Zöllner manuscript copy of Beck from 1766 featuring West End Quarter estate La Grange.
Zöllner’s 1766 manuscript copy of Beck’s map depicts an animal mill in a similar position to the first Beck printing with a windmill to the west. Different from the other two maps of 1766-1767, the windmill is placed to the south of the gut.
Snippet of the 1766 unsigned Beck manuscript copy featuring West End Quarter estate La Grange.
The 1766 unsigned manuscript copy of Beck’s map depicts an animal mill in a similar location to the first Beck printing with a windmill on the north side of the gut and to the west of the animal mill, similar to the 1766 annotated Beck map. This indicates this map drew from the 1766 annotated Beck map.
Snippet of the annotated Beck map of c.1770 featuring West End Quarter estate La Grange.
The 1770 annotated Beck map lacks the windmill from the 1767 annotation. Here, Estate La Grange has ownership attributed to B.v. Schimelman. The name underlined in red indicates a sugar plantation and the plantation outlined in red indicates the landowner a Dane resident in Denmark.
Snippet of the annotated Beck map of 1767 featuring West End Quarter estate La Grange.
The 1767, c.1767, and c.1770 annotated Beck maps illustrate a hand-written windmill at Estate La Grange. The windmill is north of the gut and to the west of the animal mill. Only the c.1770 map attributes ownership to Baron von Schimelman.
Snippet of the annotated Beck map of 1766 featuring West End Quarter estate La Grange.
The 1766 annotated Beck map illustrates no change from the printed maps except the tan coloring, which is omitted from the interior parts of the animal mill.
Snippet of the Beck map printed in 1754 featuring West End Quarter estate La Grange.
In the 1750s, the first and second printings of the Beck map show an animal mill in a similar location relative to the stream and other landmarks as did the earlier map. Note how the southern border of the estate is squared off in Beck’s map, with the southernmost portion from the Cronenberg map being changed to Estate 39, now known as Wheel of Fortune.
Snippet of the Cronenberg and von Jaegersberg map of 1750 featuring West End Quarter estate La Grange.
La Grange is one of two estates reserved for the Danish West India & Guinea company’s ownership. This estate was purposely made larger than other estates for the benefit of the company, which controlled St. Croix from the time of purchase from the French until the Danish Crown took control in 1754. On this map, the southern estate boundaries later changed to make the estate smaller and make room for the Wheel of Fortune estate. An animal mill is shown south of the gut along with other structures.
Snippet of the Lapointe map of 1671 featuring West End Quarter estate La Grange.
Identifying the exact location of plantations from the maps of the French period on St. Croix has challenges. Based on the locations of the shoreline and lagoons, the estate identified as Poupel probably was in the area of what became La Grange.