Estate Carolina Sugar Plantation
Established in 1717, Estate Carolina was the first and wealthiest sugar estate on St. John Island. Managed by the Danish West India & Guinea Co., it was here that a successful slave rebellion broke out on November 23, 1733. With revolution engulfing most of the island, the Danes turned to the French to put down the rebellion, which was accomplished after six months of hard fighting. The ruins of Estate Carolina comprise an exceptional collection of buildings necessary to the production of sugar and bay rum. The large animal treadmill, dating to before 1725, consists of brick and rubble masonry and was originally covered in stucco. Built by 1773, the stone windmill is an example of the cone-shape kind found on the islands. The sugar factory, two stories in height, was built in 1725 and probably enlarged periodically.
The Estate Carolina Sugar Plantation lies five miles east of Cruz Bay on King Hill Rd. on St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. The complex of the sugar plantation building lies roughly 1000 feet north of King Hill Rd. and 2500 feet west of Emmaus Moravian Church. The bay rum distillery complex is just south of King Rd. and roughly 500 feet west of Coral Harbor. Estate Carolina has also been documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey.
Information and photos courtesy of the National Register for Historic Places U.S. Virgin Islands Travel Itinerary, a subsidiary of the National Park Service.
