The ruins at Estate Anna’s Hope, set to be just one of the gems in the St. Croix Heritage Trail, are getting spruced up.
The 3.5-acre site, just east of the Public Works complex and south of the Queen Mary Highway, is being cleared of the bush that has overgrown the structures over the years. Visitors will be able to explore a stone windmill tower built in the 1760s; an eighteenth century stone sugar factory with 20th century modifications; a unique two-story stone cistern; stone belfry; a large two-story, wood-framed overseer's house; a small, one-story wooden office building; and a dairy.
Anna's Hope operated as a sugar plantation from the 1740s until 1911 when it was converted into an agricultural experiment station and later was used as a youth detention center.
On Sunday, April 9, residents will get the chance to visit Anna's Hope and learn about its history at the upcoming Landmarks Society Ruins Ramble.
"It’s being cleared as we speak," said Clinton Ferris, education director for the St. Croix Landmarks Society. "That (the Ruins Ramble) is when we’re going to unveil the St. Croix Heritage Trail project."
Work crews from Antilles Design, a St. Croix landscaping business, are clearing the vegetation from around the sugar plantation ruins. The site will be among a number of lesser known historic attractions along the St. Croix Heritage Trail, which will extend from Frederiksted to Point Udall, according to Nancy Buckingham, the Heritage Trail coordinator.
Grants from the Anti-Litter and Beautification Commission are providing the funds to spruce up Anna's Hope, Diamond School and the Butler Bay Factory Ruins. The Boys and Girls Club will maintain the sites on a monthly basis. Signs will soon be up at Butler Bay identifying the various structures, the historically and culturally significant boabab tree, and a welcome sign recognizing those entities involved in the project, Buckingham said.
A brochure and map of the Heritage Trail, recently named one of 50 National Millennium Legacy Trails, will soon be unveiled followed by the placement of historical marker road signs along the route. Buckingham said the brochure incorporates archival and contemporary photos, artwork and text covering such topics as history; music; dance and masquerade; island food; bird life and lore; and natural sites and protected areas.
A detailed and artistic map graphically locates sugar mills, greathouses, historic churches, natural areas, overlooks and more.
On Sunday, George Tyson, executive director of the Landmarks Society, will interpret the history of Anna’s Hope. The hike begins at 3:30 p.m. For more information on the Ruins Ramble, a part of the organization's Community Education Outreach Program, call The St. Croix Landmarks Society at 772-0598.
