NPS Forni 10-900 tM2) 0MB No. 1024-0018 Exp. 10-31-84 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form See instructions in How to Complete National Register Forms Type all entries—complete applicable sections For NPS UM only OCT 2 I98T date entered 1. Name Historic District historic Estate Strawherrv Hill Till fp and or common Strawberry Hill > Plots 29, 20b 2. Location street & number Queen's Quarter not for publication city,town Christiansted XX- vicinity of state US Virgin islands code 78 county St. Croix code 0800 3. Classification Category Ownership Status Present Use XX district pubiic XX occupied agriculture museum building(s) private unoccupied commercial park structure both work in progress educational XX private residence site Public Acquisition Accessible entertainment XX religious object in process XX yes: restricted government scientific being considered yes: unrestricted industrial transportation no military .. other: 4. Owner of Property name United Brethren in Christ Pentecostal Church see continuation sheet #4 street & number ^/o PO Box 1034- city, town Christiansted, St. Croix . vicinity of state US Virgin Islands 00820 5. Location of Legal Description courthouse, registry of deeds, etc. Recorder of Deeds street & number Government House city,town Christiansted, St. Croix state Virgin Islands 6. Representation in Existing Surveys Virgin Islands Inventory title Qf Historic Sites has this property been determined eligible? yes ^?Lno date February 1983 federal state county local depository for survey records Virgin Islands Planning Office city, town Christiansted, St. Croix state US Virgin Islands 7. Description Condition Check one ___ excellent XX deteriorated xXunaltered ___ good XX ruins _xx aitered XX fair ___ unexposed Check one XX original site __ moved date Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance Strawberry Hill Estate, named after the London suburb of the same name. Is located In Queens Quarter, St. Croix, about five miles southwest of ChrlstIansted. The ruins of the estate consist of (1) a great house, (2) a conical sugar mill tower, (3) retaining walls possibly Including the remains of an animal mill, (4-5) outbuildings, (6-11) laborers' living quarters, (12) conical belfry and field shelter, (13) well tower and (14) retaining wall and storage area. They are distributed along the upper reaches of a moderately sloping hill, and are relatively visible and clear of vegetatlon. (1) Great House (c. 1800) The vacant great house In fair condition faces In the direction of the south shore. It stands on top of the small, grassy hill. It Is one story with a raised basement. The great house Is composed of four major sections. The first section, the central core with hip roof measures approximately 27 feet by 70 feet and contains the principal residential rooms. A section, smal ler by one bay on each side of the core. Is attached to the north. It Is covered with a galvanized metal shed roof that Is highest In elevation along the west side. A second addition on the third division of the house covered by a hipped roof extends west of the central core extending one bay. It Is also one bay wide. The front of the building, a wooden front shed porch with an enclosed one bay by one bay pavilion at the west end of It. The fourth section Is the foundation, made of continuous rubble masonry covered with lime plaster, and comprises the raised basement. Massive stone piers support the front porch. The exterior walls are plastered brick and rubble masonry. A low-pitched hip roof oriented along a north to south axis covers the main core. Flat arched window and door openings are relatively narrow. Some have retained the original hardware, wood lintels and wood, vertical planked shutters and doors. Exterior trim and other embellishments are minimal, except for a noticeable string course (or water table) lining the exterior facades along the ground floor level. A cistern attached to It furthest south of the building rises four feet above grade. It Is flat on top with a central rectangular opening measuring two feet by two feet. The porch Is decorated with a more recently added masonry railing and six bevelled and camphored wood posts above It at regularly spaced Intervals. The modern railing has a geometric pattern of narrow silts, some of which have diamond-shaped openings In the center of every other one. An original rubble masonry welcoming arm staircase of 13 steps, with an arch underneath, leads to the center of the porch. (2) WlndmllI (c.17661 The conical sugar mil I tower Is located on the edge of the hi IIslde about 40 feet south of the great house. Its walIs, approximately four feet thick has a diameter of 70 feet at the foundation level. The cone tapers to 15 feet NP& Fomi IIFtOO^t 0«) 0MB No 1024-001B t*p. 10-31-84 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form Continuation sheet Item numtaer For NFS NM only received date entered Page Telpha Mapson PO Box 1009 Ghristiansted, St. Groix USVI 00820 NPS Form 10-900-a CM2) OMB No. 1024-0018 Exp. 10-31-84 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form Continuation sheet Item number use only Page 2 (4-5) at the top. The walls are reduced to one and a half feet. . thick. It Is fairly overgrown with cirrus nightblooming cacti I making It only partially visible. The tower has a central arched opening, which faces west. It Is lined In stone with both we I I defined volssonts and a prominent keystone. The total height of the structure Is approximately 35 feet high composed of the main construction material, rectangular limestone blocks laid In even courses. A narrower opening formerly used to transport the grinding equipment and for the sugar juice to enter Is located on the north side. Two short round arched openings, egress points for pipes carrying sugar, are located on the south side. A water table of two consecutive bands at the base of the mill extends to form a ledge two feet above grade. Inside the remains of one original Joist can be seen Inserted In one of the six one foot square holes or niches used to support the machinery. These were located seven feet above the floor. Retaining Walls (late 18th c.) Remains of rubble masonry wal Is appear to have once enclosed some of the historic structures on top of the hill Including the great house, several outbuildings and the sugar mill. Beginning ten feet northeast of the wider arched sugar mill openings, the remains of a seven foot high and one Inch thick wall begins with a rectangular gatepost column. A capital band protrudes from Its top. A portion of the original hardware and wood posts for the gateway sti I I remains attached to the post. The wal I extends In a clockwise direction for seven feet to the mill, then west of the mill for about 40 yards, then bends to the northeast forming a rounded corner. The retal nl ng wal I dlrectly west of the ml I I suggests an earl Ier animal mill In Its roughly seml-clrcular shape and size. The walI Is composed of limestone block and rises to six feet above grade on the sloping edge of the hillside. It tapers to an end about 20 yards north of the great house as It approaches the level ground at the top of the hill. The wall begins again In the same clockwise and northerly direction about 50 feet north of the above mentioned wall and directly 50 feet west of the great house. Another rectangular gatepost column, similar to the one northwest of the mill, punctuates the wal I approximately 175 feet east. Another round capped wall begins 40 feet north of the cistern adjacent to the great house and extends for 30 feet before bending to the west. It Is five feet high, beginning again after 20 feet and Incorporating the deteriorated remains of a gabled end facade six feet high. Outbuildings (c. 1800-1850) To the west and south of the great house are several outbuildings, most of which were once used as the living quarters for laborers. Those closest to the great house on top of the hill to the west are most deteriorated. Therefore, the original functions are Indiscernible. The remains of these three rectangular structures are composed of rubble masonry. The first L NPS Foim 10-900-a 0MB No. 1024-0018 Exp. 10-31-84 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form Continuation sheet Item number >r NPS use only received dateent Page 3 outbuilding furthest north approximately 20 yards west of the great house has gabled ends on the north and south facades as well as on the top part of the Interior wall, much like a dividing wall separating units of workers’ living quarters. The roof Is missing. A five foot long and approximately four feet high wall connects the west facades of the above mentioned structure to a second structure. This second outbuilding follows a perpend I cular axis running In an east to west direction. It has been more recently repaired with cement patches along the plate level and with cement blocks at the northwest corner. The structure formerly had a shed roof with Its highest elevation along the south side. A few of the corner limestone blocks have been scavenged. The highest side with a nine foot elevation along the south wall, appears to be level with the other sides on top due to the sloping ground. The structure Is five bays long by one bay wide. The longest sides are on the north and south. The north wall Is punctuated by alternating splayed windows and doors, most of which have retained the wooden lintels and jambs. Inside the roofless structure Is a raised solid masonry foundation. A half foot ledge lines the exterior of the north and east facades 2 feet, 6 Inches above grade. Iron hardware exist along three of the wal Is. Vertical Iron bars, later added, cover the window facing west. (6-11) Workers’ Rowhouses (c. 1800-1850) Approximately six rowhouses composed of limestone block are located further down the hillside beginning approximately 200 yards west of the great house. The one furthest east stands alone. It Is the most deteriorated, overgrown with tall grass and bush. Only the north facade remains. One hundred twenty feet further to the west at the base of the hillside are a series of five rowhouses (similar to those at Diamond Ruby). Each structure Is approximately 12 feet by 35 feet long. The gable roofs have a north to south orientation. Three of the buildings stand In a row five feet apart from each other east to west. Two more In a row stand parallei approximately eight feet north of these. The wooden lintels and Jambs have been retained as wel I as the metal corrugated roofs. They are apparently vacant although they may be used by the residents presently living on the property. (12) Belfry and Shelter (early 19th century) The belfry composed of brick and rectangular limestone block stands slightly lower on the hillside twenty yards southwest of the sugar mill. It Is 30 feet high and three feet thick. A cornice band lines the edges near the top of the rectangular column above the three foot high arched opening. Above the cornice, the column has heavy denticuIatlon topped by a brick corbel two feet by six feet. The belfry stands above vaulted rooms. The massive retaining wall of the west facade Is built Into the hillside 20 feet high. The belfry Is flush with the north facade punctuated by a large NPS Fonn 10-900-a 0^ 0MB No. 1024-0018 Exp. 10-31-84 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form Continuation sheet Item number NFS use only Page barre I-vau I ted opening. This lower three bay section of the belfry, consisting of a central vaulted opening to the south end, has a vaulted room flanking either side of the hallway. Each room Is 7 feet by 20 feet. The plastered walls are two feet thick. The rooms have barrel vaulted ceilings. The west room has two highly elevated narrow splayed windows, splayed and located on the south end of the west wall. A highly elevated rectangular opening Is located near the center of the facade adjacent to the central passageway. A door three feet wide Is arched on the passageway side facing the Interior. It Is nearer to the front entrance than the door on the east side. The east room has one slitted window opening to the Interior passageway, set further back. Drawings of sailboats have been Inscribed Into the plaster of the west room. (13) Wei I Tower (late 18th c.) One of the most Impressive features of the ruins at Strawberry HIM Estate Is Its well tower (windmill) with winding staircase. The staircase begins on the northwest side and wraps around the perimeter of the tower In a clockwise direction. It reaches up to the southwest side at the top. The 42 feet high windmill Is located at the base of the hill about 200 feet northwest of the belfry. Its wal Is are two to three feet thick. The tower Is 25 feet In diameter at Its base and gets narrower with height, about ten feet In diameter at the top. Three round arched openings at the base of the stairway line the bottcm of the southwest side, each about four feet high. The arches have been built onto the side of the rubble masonry tower so that they are not open to the Interior. Above these fwo arches are fwo taller and narrower arches at second floor height. Their sizes are approximately four feet high by three feet across and five feet high by three feet across located directly underneath the stairs. Occasionally one foot square weep holes punctuate the wal Is. The tower Is overgrown with vines. (14) Retaining Wall and Storage Area (late 18th century) West of the mill, built Into the hi 1Islde Is a massive retalnlng walI punctuated by vaulted tunnels similar In appearance to the one at Castle Coakley. Its vaulted chambers were also probably first used for storage. Strawberry HIM Estate Is distinguished for Its unusual architectural forms, particularly the windmill with winding staircase and dungeoned belfry. Although deteriorating and partially overgrown with bush, the site has been little altered since Its original construction. Ironically, It Is situated on the outskirts of a fast expanding mid-lsland suburb off Centerline Road. All the mentioned buildings at Strawberry HIM are a part of the historic site possessing considerable historical archaelogical potential. Therefore, the site should be protected from unwarranted disturbances. NPS Fonii 10-900-a (3^21 OMB No. 1024-0018 Exp. 10-31-84 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form Continuation sheet Item number or NPS u«e 82) 0MB No. 1024-0018 Expires 10-31-87 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form Continuation sheet Item number 7 Page SUMI'IARY/DSSGRIFriON: ESTATE 3TRAVJBERRY HILL Present Physical Description; Estate Strawberry Hill consist of the remains of a late l8th and early 19th-century plantation which continued in sugar production until the early part of the 20th century. Still standing along the upper reaches of a relatively clear, grassy knoll are (l) an impressive and extra­ ordinarily well-preserved greathouse dating to I8OO; (2) a conical sugar mill toi-rer dating to 1766; (3) a number of retaining walls dating to the late l8th century; (4-5) several out­ buildings (most of which were once used as residences for workers) and workers’ rowhouses, all constructed in the earlier part of the nineteenth century (6-II) ; (12) a conical belfry and field shelter; (13) a well tower and (l4) storage area of the late l8th century. ^The remains of the estate are presently surrounded by suburban subdivisions of nearby Ghristiansted, yet are preserved in their original setting. Except for some of the workers'^rowhouses, the estate is no longer occupied and is in a relatively stable, though not stabilized, condition. All estate buildings and ruins are accessible and clear of overgrowth. The full extent of historic arcaeological remains is not yet known. A systematic visual survey at regular intervals indicates the presence of numerous pottery fragments, pieces of iron hardware and tools and stone debris associated with the estate during the course of its operations. The incidence ®f cultural remains falls off dramatically at the edge of the area known to be occupied in historic times and is further accentuated on three sides by modem residential development. A change in topography, together with a decrease in cultural remains, demarcate the northern boundary. Original Physical Appearance; Estate Strawberry Hill visably possesses most of the components associated with a late 18th- century through mid-19th-century sugar estate. The functions of the various buildings and outbuildings are knovm through historic maps, photographs and prints of this estate and other estates as well as from literature on the sugar industry. The sequence of development on Estate Strawberry Hill can be traced in outline form particularly through references to early maps and estate records. The 1754 Beck map shows an animal mill on the estate, and the 1760 Kuffner map indicates a windmill had been built by that time. By the end of the 19th century, Strawberry Hill was fully established lAth its estate buildings including an animal mill, windmill, curing house, greathouse, two or three overseer's houses and an extensive slave village, possibly on the site of the ones that still remain in place. By the 1860 s, "the estate had been fully "improT.'ed" with the addition of a three horse power steam-engine. The animal mill, two or three overseer's houses and the factory are no longer identifiable. The rest of the buildings and structures, however, are still present on the estate and can be identified. Boimdary Selection/Justification; The boundaries of Estate Strawberry Hill have been delineated in order to adequately cimum- scribe the known buildings, structures and other cultural remains associated with the historic :Se iHe Snds associalel with the estate have been larply suMivided and U8i%iy recelyed date en Continuation sheet Item number 9 Page Brock, H.G., Philip S. Smith, W.A. Tucker. The Danish West Indies: Their Resources and Commercial Importance. Dept, of Conmerce, Special Agen's Serres, No. 129. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1917. Bronsted, Johannes, ed. Vore Gram Ie Tropekolonler. Alfred G. Passings. For lag Copenhagen, 1953. Vol. II, English Summary from Herbert Olsen, 21 pp, L.S. Col lection. Canegata, D.C. St. Croix at the 20th Century. NY: Carlton Press, Inc., 1968, 161 pp. Creque, Darwin. The US Virgin Islands and the Eastern Caribbean. Philadelphia: Whlfmore Publishing Co., 1968, 266 pp. Dansk Vestindren; Gramie Bllleder. The Danish West Indies In Old Pictures. Spring, 1962. Dookhan, Isaac. A History of the Virgin Islands of the US. Essex, England: Caribbean University Press, 1974. Dubois' 1671 St. Croix Map. Gosner, Pamela. Historic Architecture of the US Virgin Islands. Durham, NC: Moore Pub IIshing Co., 1971. Gurney, John Joseph. Familiar Letters to Henry Clay of Kentucky. Describing a Winter ln*the West Indies. NY, 1840. 203 pp. Janssen's 1791 St. Croix Map. Jarvis, J. Antonio. History of the Virgin Islands. Lectures. NYU Workshops, c. 1952. 5 pp. mimeo. Kuffner, Paul. 1767 St. Croix Map. Larsen, Jan S. Virgin Islands Story. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1950. Lewis, Gordon K. The Virgin Islands. Lewlsohn, Florence. St. Croix Under Seven Flags. Hollywood, Florida: The Dukane Press, 1970. Lewlsohn, Florence. The Romantic History of St. CroIx. St. Croix Landmarks Society, 1964, 69 pp. LInvald, Steffen. Sukker & Rom. Kobenharn, 1967, 74 pp. NPS Fomi 10-900-I CM2) 0MB No. 1024-0018 Exp. 10-31-84 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form Continuation sheet Item number NPS use only Page McDonald, Forrest. Alexander Hamilton; A Biography. NY: W.W. Norton & Co., 1982, 464 pp. McGuire, James W. Geographic Dictionary of the Virgin_IsIands. Special PubI. No. 103, US Coast and Geodetic Survey. Dept, of Commerce. Wash., D.C., 1925, 211 pp. Merwln, Robert L. "US Representatives' Visit to St. Croix, VI,USA, Thursday, February 21, 1924" as reviewed by RumbIe Bee. G. Johansen, St. Croix Avis Office, 1924. Morton, Henry. Danish West Indian Sketchbook and Diary 1845-44. Copenhagen, Denmark: Danish West Indian Society and St. Croix Landmarks Society, 1975, 183 pp. Oxholm, Maps of St. Croix, 1799. Parson, John. 1856 Map of St. Croix. Quin, John. StatistI os of Sugar Production on St. Croix. 1862-1889. ChrlstIansted, 1892. Quin, John. Statlstlos of Sugar Production on St. Croix. 1890-19Q2. Chrlstiansted, 1903. Recorder of Deeds Office In ChrlstIasted, St. Croix. Reilly, William Benedict. "Bermuda and the Lesser Antilles". The Monthly 11 liistrator. XV, 5, (Dec. 1897), l-lll. (reprinted). St. Croix 1907 Map. "Kort over Dansk Vestindlen". Smith, Janes. Tha winter of 1840 In St. Croix with an Excursion to Tortola and St. Thomas. NY: Printed for authr, 1840, 124 pp. Statistics Concerning Properties on the Island of St. Croix._1816~.1.8.57 . Chrl sti ansted, St. Croix: P.B. Hatchett, 1859. Svenson, Ole, ed. Three Towns. Scantryk, Copenhagen, Denmark: Danish West Indian Society, 1980. Taylor Charles, leaflets from the Danish West Indies. Westport, Connecticut: Negro University Press, 1970 reprint, (orlg. 1887), 228 pp. USGS Map of St. Croix, 1923, 1958, 1982. Westergaard, Waldemar C. The Danish West Indies Under Companv Rule (1671-1917) w.l.th Supplementary Chapter. NY: MacMillan Co., 1917. Zabriskle, Luther K. The Virgin Islands of the USA. NY: 1918. NPS Form 10-500-« (3«) 0MB No. 1024-0018 Exp. 10-31-84 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form Continuation sheet Item number 10 For NFS use k°hS'37", then turns east to Point (E) , latitude 17°^^'00", longitude Sk°kS'32", then turns north to Point (F), latitude 17°^^'07", longitude 6k°k5'33"- The boundaryline then follows the south edge of the access road west, returning to Point (A). ..X V, V i\'^'i .■ ‘