Estate Mount Washington Plantation

Rum Factory, Estate Mount Washington Plantation, St. Croix

Rum Factory, Estate Mount Washington Plantation, St. Croix

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Estate Mount Washington Plantation

Estate Mount Washington Plantation was one of the original Danish estates built on St. Croix in the mid-1700’s. The plantation originally grew cotton. However, the real profitable move was to convert to growing sugar some time in the early to mid-1800’s (Click here to learn more about life on a Caribbean Sugar Plantation). In its heyday, Estate Mount Washington was a 160 acre plantation consisting of the great house, a guest cottage, a managers house, the Tranberg cottage, stables, an animal mill, a molasses cistern and rum factory, a sugar boiling shed, a barrel storage and aging room, a dungeon, two water cisterns, three wells, a water mill, a bell tower, and a plantation village of 17 cottages where the laborers lived. Over time, the great house was lavishly expanded to double its original size, making it approximately 6,000 square feet.

While the plantation village remained occupied until the 1930’s, a hurricane destroyed the great house in 1899, and was hit again in 1916. With their home in ruins, the occupants fled the plantation and the great house wasn’t occupied again until 1986, when the current owners moved in. When the current owners began work on the estate, the rainforest had reclaimed the ruins of the great house, which were discovered buried on the grounds in June of 1984. Over the next two and a half years the jungle landscape was cleared away from the ruins, an archaeological study was completed, and the great house was restored to its former grandeur.

It was during this time that the full extent of the original sugar plantation was discovered. What they discovered is the island of St. Croix’s best-preserved sugar plantation and one of the highlights of the St. Croix Heritage Trail.  The on-site private residence is closed to the public, but there is a self-guided tour of the 13 acre site.

Bell Tower, Estate Mount Washington Plantation, St. Croix

Bell Tower, Estate Mount Washington Plantation, St. Croix

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Summary
Estate Mount Washington Plantation
Article Name
Estate Mount Washington Plantation
Description
Estate Mount Washington Plantation, once buried beneath rain-forest brush, is now the island of St. Croix's best-preserved sugar plantation
Author
Publisher Name
Mark Summerfield
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3 Comments

  1. Terrific details in the brick Mark. Nice color too.

  2. I love how that building pops out of the lush, green vegetation. Wonderful shots mark.

  3. Mark Neal
    Twitter:

    Nice shots, Mark. I really like the bell tower image.

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