Smithfield is estate 23 in St. Croix’s West End Quarter. The name likely derives from an owner indicated on maps starting in the 1760s. One of several windmills to have a basement under the working floor of the mill, this mill first appeared on the 1799 Oxholm publication. This windmill was converted to a dwelling at one point.
The estate now known as Smithfield appears to have been settled during the French period by Andreiu. The 1750 map indicates cotton cultivation on most of the estate. The first printed Beck map of the 1750s depict no sugar machinery in estate 23, while the second Beck printing adds an animal mill south of center.
All of the annotated Beck maps along with both manuscript copies from the 1760s include an animal mill just south of center in estate 23. The 1799 Oxholm map includes a windmill in the south center of estate Smithfield. The 1856 Parsons map indicates a decommissioned windmill tower with no sails in a similar location at Smithfield.
Ownership attribution on the 1750 map to Benjamin Gumber changed to Thom Smith, with a variety of spellings, for all of the annotated Beck maps from the 1760s along with both manuscript copies. This ownership likely provides the genesis of the name Smithfield. Oxholm’s 1778 map of Frederiksted attribute ownership to both Thomas and James Smith. The 1790s manuscript copies of Beck attribute ownership only to J. Smith.
The 1920s topographic map locates the Smithfield Mill at 84 feet elevation. The 1958 and 1982 topographic maps indicate ruins of a windmill at Smithfield in the location confirmed through field reconnaissance.
As the McGuire geographic dictionary of the Virgin Islands (p. 179) describes, a mill is located here 7/8 mile south of Frederiksted.