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Historic Preservation and Conservation of PlantationRuins: The Case for St. Croix

Author William Cleveland is a longtime member of SVIH and the researcher and creator of a website dedicated to the sugar milling resources on St. Croix at https://www.stcroixwindmills.org/. In decades of

research, the remains of over 125 mill locations have been documented with research ongoing.



The legacy of sugar plantations remains written in stone and mortar across Caribbean

islands. In the Crucian context, many recognizable plantation-era structures remain in

some state of deterioration. Whether the goal is historic preservation, where sites are

frozen in time or historic conservation, where sites are adapted for continued use,

sensitive management of historic resources provides continuing benefits.

Today, we look at sugar plantation ruins with benefit of retrospection, and the ability to

visit sites with better knowledge of what transpired there helps educate current and

future generations about plantation life realities, including potentially painful

associations. Sugar plantation ruins present unique challenges that illuminate broader

questions about what is preserved, why it is conserved, and balancing the interpretative

presentation.

Historical Context of the Sugar Plantation Economy

The sugar industry played a pivotal role in the expansion of European power, having a

lasting and disproportionately large impact. The sugar plantation economy bloomed

from the 17 th century until its decline in the late 19 th century, when the industry faced

increased competition. It became a source of great wealth built on the exploitation of

labor. It helped fuel an industrial revolution that formed today’s world.

In addition to inspiring wars, trade, and massive human migration, Caribbean islands

drove technological innovations and administrative advancements, combining

agricultural sugar cane growing with on-site primary manufacturing in the same

economic unit for the first time. Milling technology used to crush sugar cane evolved,

including animal, wind, water, and steam powered mills. 1 The development of the stock

corporation, in which an entity could outlive a single individual, was in part driven by

opportunities in the Caribbean, as were new financial instruments to provide for

investment that proceeded on an unprecedented scale.

Human Costs of the Sugar Industry

Sugar plantations are labor intensive. By the 17 th century, high mortality rates of

voluntary European indentured servants increased recruitment difficulties. For instance,

in St. Croix during the French period, the survival percentage of indentured Europeans

was in the low single digits. 2 In addition, even in the best of times for recruitment, the

labor demands of sugar plantations would not have been met through indenture.


While some histories minimize or erase the human cost of the sugar industry, slavery

was integral to the plantation economy. By the 17 th century, African chattel slaves filled

the high demand for sugar plantation labor and drove the unwilling migration of millions

of people. Use of African labor had the convenience of superficial appearance easily

differentiating between the Europeans and far more darkly complected Africans.

Life on the plantation was not easy. Beyond the demanding work, enslaved people lived

in primitive housing with poor indoor air quality. Intimidation and potential for torture

were daily realities, while education and physical comforts were rarities. Conversely,

plantation managers lived in constant fear of an insurrection and death, with the

enslaved representing around 90% of the population in most locations.

St. Croix and its Unique History

Caribbean islands became the focus for numerous wars, with many islands repeatedly

changing hands. In this regard, St. Croix has been governed under seven powers since

the early 16 th century. While the French established sugar plantations on St. Croix in the

second half of the 17 th century, the most lasting impacts on started with the 1733

acquisition by the Danish, with sugar production ramping up in the 1750s.

One of St. Croix’s most notable features are property boundaries based on a rectilinear

pattern. The first jurisdiction that laid a grid onto a spherical surface found problems in

only 84 square miles, problems instructive to Thomas Jefferson when surveying the

Louisiana Purchase. 3 The survey established today’s property boundaries along with

influencing the location of roads and other infrastructure. Within decades of being

established, most estates had the names still in use today.

To attract experienced planters, one strategy the Danish government employed was to

grant religious and economic freedoms. Traveling on St. Croix, it is not hard to find

churches with a tremendous variety of denominational ties. While some of these have

roots planted in the plantation era, the local acceptance of new denominations likely

stemmed from a long history of religious freedom.

With a late entry into the sugar industry, plantations on St. Croix could use the most

advanced technology. A cursory knowledge of windmill towers on other islands

suggests that features like hearths and basements were relatively rare on the previously

developed islands and represent a more advanced knowledge of masonry, with the mills

possessing these features built in later decades on St. Croix. Having the physical

artifacts to study creates the possibility of tracing the diffusion of knowledge between

locations.


The Case for Historic Preservation and Conservation

Historic preservation and conservation provide critical insights into contemporary culture

while providing direction for the future. St. Croix’s unique aspects with immeasurable

local impact and global repercussions provide a distinctiveness for both residents and

visitors. The loss of historic resources increases the risk of repeating inhumane

practices of previous generations. The oral histories, documents, and physical

structures are the critical elements of the aspects of history that need to be preserved

and conserved.

A history with such starkly different lived experiences between the white masters and

the black people who were enslaved, providing a balanced narrative inspiring

discussion of both experiences creates the fullest understanding. What gets included

and left out along with the tone and tenor of the presentation is up to the creator.

However, a one-sided narrative has historically been inadequate and creates tensions

while generating losses for all sides of the narrative.

Important Elements of our Shared History at Risk

A Trump administration executive order from March 27, 2025 dictated that United States

history only be portrayed in favorable terms, a clear attempt to whitewash history. 4 In

February 2026, a federal judge ruled against the removal of interpretive resources

acknowledging that George Washington owned slaves from a historic home in

Philadelphia. 5 However, such a judgment has not been pursued in the removal of similar

references to slavery from the Annaberg plantation on St. John. This same month, a

National Parks Service officer noted to me at a plantation era site that they had been

instructed not to use the word “slavery.”

Any serious discussion of the sugar plantation economy without reference to slavery

would be deceivingly incomplete. Enslavement was a feature of the plantation

economy, a design choice in which the system exploited labor at extremely high cost.

Like omitting slavery in discussion of plantation history, would the history of the auto

industry be complete without discussion of labor unions? Would the history of the fast-

food industry be complete without discussion of the minimum wage?

While federal dictate is erasing the shameful practice of slavery, many good examples

of the plantation era are increasingly neglected on St. Croix. Museum quality artifacts

can be visited on an extremely limited schedule and are decaying through willful and

benign neglect. At the same time, shifts in agricultural practices, especially cattle

ranching reductions, are engulfing other structures in bush for the first time in history,

and this may accelerate the deterioration of these structures. Similarly, documents kept

on island are decaying and it is unsure if scanning will be able to be done before the

documents become unreadable. As the population turns over, the accuracy of oral

history becomes less reliable for events further back in time.


Educational Value of History

The educational value of history relies on access to multiple resources. Historical

interpretation provides connections made richer by preservation and conservation of

historical structures, access to documents, and informed by oral histories.

Not mentioning that sugar planters grew to be some of the wealthiest people in the

world would be as inappropriate as blindly celebrating their grandiosity. Ignoring

motivations and practices leading to their extravagant lifestyles eliminates context, as

damaging as overlooking that their fortunes were built on the backs of enslaved people.

Understanding the economic system created built on exploitation that concentrated

wealth in the hands of very few provides material for reflecting on our current economy.

In an age where flat earth proponents and holocaust deniers ignore or explain away

clear evidence that refutes their views, what is next: slavery deniers or masterless

plantations?

Understanding engineering evolution provides insights into the migration of ideas along

with skilled people, underlining the point that what remains today likely went through

many changes since initial construction. Evaluation of historic structures can point to

these very changes, with documentary exploration pointing to the individuals who made

the changes and why they were made. These interpretations help us understand how

the structure and practices of past systems contributed to the world we live in today.

Personal family histories are important to many people. Weaknesses in documentary

evidence presents difficulties in tracing genealogy, accentuated for those whose

ancestors were enslaved. Challenges of alternative spellings, locating disparate

documentation, and resources succumbing to the ravages of time increases with the

relative anonymization of the enslaved. Preserving places allows anyone with some

knowledge of where their forebears lived to trace information specific to that location as

a start.

The educational value of historical preservation and conservation provides the context

for improved understanding of contemporary Caribbean societies along with personal

histories. Maintaining ties with the past allows better understanding about how people

have come and gone, along with how individual locations adjusted to these changes.

The degradation of historic resources reduces their educational value and weakens ties

to our collective past, both of which reduce the appreciation of how our current society

functions.


Stronger Sense of a Distinctive Culture

Historic preservation and conservation provide a stronger sense of local culture. St.

Croix is unique in many ways. Having physical locations with historic value opens the

opportunity for interpretive signage. With the flexibility of digital resources, additional

information can be provided online detailing notable events in a location’s past and how

that contributed to wider trends.

Most Caribbean islands went through emancipation in the 19 th century, and St. Croix’s

experience was unique. The virtual slavery, with freedom in name only, that arose after

the 1848 emancipation directly contributed to the 1878 labor revolt commonly referred

to as Fireburn. Destruction during Fireburn concentrated on the west end, and Prince

Quarter has the highest number and percentage of windmills and associated plantation

era structures that have not been located in the field. 6 Was this destruction a result of

the Fireburn, or has intervening neglect reduced the ability to find historic sites?

Providing physical anchors creates spaces that add context to documentation, oral

histories, and the interpretations they inspire. Without these physical spaces,

discussions become much more theoretical and abstract. Could the fact that sugar cane

crushing windmills were built without a brake, so an ax was kept to cut off any

appendage that might get caught in the rollers as the state-of-the-art safety response,

be as compelling without seeing the scale of an actual windmill? These locations can be

viewed as sacred spaces that memorialize those who toiled there, a testament to their

resilience and fortitude for surviving daily adversity.

To this end, archeological research on St. Croix in the 21 st century has focused on

exploring plantation ruins from the perspective of the enslaved. Examples at Estates

Bethlehem and Little Princess point to the importance of preserving and conserving

spaces to allow future explorations to address unanswered questions. 7 In many cases,

material evidence contradicts colonial narratives, especially those that suggest that the

enslaved people had little intelligence or few skills. As well, these explorations can help

inform understanding of the impact of the long-term European and African diasporas

and how that impacted individual locations and created lasting cultural changes.

Historic spaces help maintain cultural heritage for current and future generations.

Removing or degrading the spaces makes history more distant and nebulous. A striking

pattern in historic preservation and conservation is the survival of stone structures.

None of the dwellings of the enslaved survive, built of far flimsier materials such as

thatch, wood, mud, or lower quality masonry depending on the location and point in

history. With this lost history, current or future generations must recreate it or continue to

have that aspect of history largely overlooked. Can you really understand periods of

history when the daily lives of 90% of the population are not physically represented?

Economic Benefits

Tourism is an economic reality in the Caribbean and many communities around the

world have embraced, to some degree, economic benefits of tourism. With the

mothballing of the refinery and alumina plants, heavy manufacturing appears to not be a


viable option for St. Croix in the near term. With fewer premier beaches than other

Caribbean islands, the value of heritage tourism on St. Croix rises to heightened

importance. Thankfully, the raw material exists for vibrant heritage tourism that can

inform and educate both one-time and repeat visitors.

Tourism can create jobs and some of those can be in the historic preservation and

interpretation fields. Having meaningful locations and artifacts enriches the experience

for visitors. Better experiences with more resources to explore can encourage repeat

visits along with stronger ties to the island that reinforce the stability of those jobs.

Having a pretty beach and tasty rum punch is an easily copied promotion, while specific

heritage tourism that ties a location to a global narrative is much more difficult to

replicate.

Tourism should be a supplement to the local educational value of historic structures.

Tourists have far weaker ties to St. Croix than families with generations of history on

island. Interpretation should focus on the interest of local people.

What Could be a Path Forward?

A meaningful path forward includes broad understanding and interpretation of the

historic resources available, revealing how specific locations fit into a broader narrative.

Some aspects to avoid are romanticizing plantation life and whitewashing history

reminiscent of the literary and screen classic Gone with the Wind, since oppression is

never beautiful. In the interpretation, sensitivity needs to be placed on atrocities

committed without sharing more details than necessary to avoid traumatizing locals and

visitors alike. Commodification of suffering could lead to unhealthy dark tourism.

A primary goal ensures inclusion of the local community in interpretation. Inclusion

should celebrate local skills in masonry, furnishings, art, and even recipes handed down

through generations. Local ownership of the narrative strengthens ties to individual and

collective histories, with the possibility of monetizing that through income brought from

the outside by tourism. The local distinctiveness celebrates the uniqueness of St. Croix

while providing a compelling narrative attractive to outsiders.

Promoting this inclusion requires local places that represent different points in St. Croix

history. Without preserving some of these places and conserving others, the local

aspect of the unique history of St. Croix is lost and it could become just any place with a

nice beach, pretty countryside, and clear seas. These historical locations must become

places that provide a full and balanced account to promote knowledge of the past, how

that past impacted the present, and creating a path to healing for all of us.

Sugar plantation ruins present a complex history whose legacy lives on through

institutions, trading patterns, and even the food we eat. Embracing the remains of this

industry helps us confront the past, commemorate those involved, and transform our

understanding of our current societies.



1 For more about the mills on St. Croix, see https://www.stcroixwindmills.org/

2 See Highfield Arnold R. 2013. Sainte Croix, 1650-1733: A Plantation Society in the French Antilles.

Christiansted: Antilles Press.

3 See Hopkins, Daniel Price. 1987. "The Danish Cadastral Survey of St. Croix, 1733-1754 (Virgin

Islands)." LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. Online at

4 See RESTORING TRUTH AND SANITY TO AMERICAN HISTORY at

interior-department-for-removing-slavery-exhibit/

7 As an entrée to these efforts, see

Estate_Lower_Bethlehem_St_Croix_U_S_Virgin_Islands and https://arf.berkeley.edu/research/estate-

little-princess-field-school and https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8133054/

 
 
 

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