Location: Centerline Rd, Rt 76, Saint Croix
Tel.(340) 772 0598
Open: 10am- 4pm Mon- Sat
The Whim Plantation Museum, officially known as the Estate Whim Museum, is a historic site located on the island of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Situated just 1.7 miles southeast of Frederiksted along Centerline Road, this 12-acre property stands as the oldest sugar plantation museum in the Virgin Islands and a poignant reminder of the region’s colonial past. Operated by the St. Croix Landmarks Society, the museum preserves and interprets the history of a typical 18th-century Danish West Indies sugar plantation, offering visitors a window into the economics, daily life, and cultural dynamics of the era, including the harsh realities of slavery.
The Whim Plantation Museum encompasses 12 acres of what was once a
sprawling 150-acre estate, with its current footprint preserving key
elements of its original layout. The centerpiece is the Great House, an
oval-shaped, neoclassical structure built around 1794 by Christopher
MacEvoy Jr. Measuring approximately 90 by 35 feet (27 by 11 meters) with
16-foot-high ceilings, the Great House is distinctive for its curved
ends and thick walls—30 inches of cut brain coral, limestone, and rubble
bonded with molasses mortar. Its design includes tall windows and doors
for cross-ventilation, a dry moat for cooling, and a cellar accessible
via a door in the moat, historically used as a carpentry workshop.
Though severely damaged by Hurricane Maria in 2017, with its roof and
interior still under restoration, the Great House’s exterior remains a
striking testament to Danish colonial architecture.
Adjacent to
the Great House is the Cookhouse, a separate kitchen building where
meals were prepared for plantation residents, reflecting the practical
separation of cooking spaces common in tropical climates to reduce fire
risk and heat indoors. The cookhouse connects to domestic quarters and
an exhibit hall, offering a glimpse into the daily operations of the
estate. Nearby, a Privy/Bathhouse—originally a latrine later converted
by 20th-century owners—adds another layer of historical adaptation.
The plantation’s industrial past is preserved in its
sugar-processing structures. The Windmill, a restored stone and coral
tower, stands as the only surviving example of its kind on St. Croix.
Inside, wooden rollers once crushed sugarcane to extract juice, which
flowed via a sluice to the Sugar Factory Ruins. These ruins include
copper vats where cane juice was boiled into muscovado (raw brown
sugar), alongside a towering chimney and remnants of an animal-powered
mill. A steam engine, installed in 1865, marks the estate’s transition
to mechanized processing. Other features include a Watchhouse, a
Carriage House, and foundations of laborers’ quarters, scattered across
the grounds amid tamarind trees and wild cotton.
The gardens
themselves are a living exhibit, featuring native plants with medicinal
uses—such as ginger and allspice—alongside fruit trees and herbs,
reflecting the plantation’s self-sustaining nature. Though reduced from
its original size, the grounds retain a somber, evocative atmosphere,
enhanced by the quiet rustle of foliage and the distant hum of history.
The Estate Whim traces its origins to the 1730s, when the Danish West
India and Guinea Company laid out agricultural plantations across St.
Croix following Denmark’s colonization of the island in 1733. First
documented in 1743 under Christopher MacEvoy Sr., the estate initially
grew cotton, but by 1754, sugar emerged as the dominant crop, a shift
that persisted until the 1920s. At its peak from 1760 to 1820, St. Croix
was one of the West Indies’ richest sugar islands, with Whim among its
218 plantations supporting a population of 30,000—26,500 of whom were
enslaved Africans who cultivated and processed cane under brutal
conditions.
Ownership passed through 12 families over nearly two
centuries, with the MacEvoys leaving a lasting mark through the Great
House’s construction. Sugar production declined in the 19th century as
global prices fell and competition grew, giving way to cattle ranching
by the 1920s. In 1932, the U.S. federal government purchased the entire
estate during an unsuccessful homesteading experiment following the 1917
transfer of the Virgin Islands from Denmark to the United States. By
1954, the St. Croix Landmarks Society acquired 12 acres on a 99-year
lease, transforming the dilapidated site—then overrun with weeds, bats,
and centipedes—into a museum. Restoration efforts, fueled by donations
and local expertise, furnished the Great House with antiques from island
families and the Pentheny Hotel auction of 1962, recreating its
18th-century elegance.
Listed on the National Register of
Historic Places in 1976 and recognized by UNESCO’s Slave Route Sites of
Remembrance, Whim stands as a rare preserved example of Danish colonial
plantation life. Hurricane Maria’s devastation in 2017, which inflicted
over $1 million in damage to the Great House alone, has left parts of
the museum closed, but its grounds and open structures continue to tell
its story.
The Whim Plantation Museum operates Wednesday through Saturday from
10 a.m. to 3 p.m., as well as on cruise ship days (except Sundays), with
admission priced at $10 for adults and $5 for children ages 7–12, free
for St. Croix residents on Saturdays. Located less than 3 miles from
Frederiksted, it’s a 5–10-minute drive from the town’s pier, accessible
via taxi ($10–$15 USD) or rental car. Google Maps directions can mislead
into nearby neighborhoods; instead, visitors should head toward
Frederiksted from the island’s lone Kmart, watching for a sign on Route
70 pointing left to an expansive dirt-and-grass driveway with a
roundabout for parking.
Visits begin at the Orientation Room, an
1890s kitchen addition to the Great House, where guides introduce St.
Croix’s plantation history using a windmill model, rum barrels, and rare
1794 William Clark prints depicting the sugar process. Though the Great
House interior remains closed post-hurricane, guided tours (when staff
are available) explore its exterior and lead to other structures,
offering insights into plantation life for both owners and enslaved
workers. The self-guided option, included in admission, allows 1–2 hours
to wander the cookhouse, sugar mill, factory ruins, and grounds, with
signage providing context—though some visitors note a need for more
detailed markers.
The Living Museum is a highlight, featuring
Crucian “tradition bearers” who demonstrate cultural practices like
conch shell blowing, quelbe music (a folk genre with banjo and gourd
rhythms), and candy-making, connecting past to present. Rotating
exhibits in the North and South Exhibit Halls showcase local art and
history, while the Research Library & Archives, accessible by
appointment (340-719-7129 or library@stcroixlandmarks.org), offers
genealogical and photographic resources for deeper exploration. The
experience is both educational and reflective, with the somber slave
quarters and sugar mill evoking the estate’s harsh realities, tempered
by the beauty of its gardens and the warmth of its guides.
Culturally, Whim Plantation Museum preserves the legacy of St.
Croix’s sugar economy and the enslaved Africans who powered it, offering
a tangible link to the Danish West Indies era. Its artifacts—antiques,
plantation tools, and historical records—alongside living traditions,
celebrate Crucian resilience while confronting the brutality of slavery.
Recognized as one of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places in
2024 by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, it underscores the
urgency of preserving such sites amidst natural and funding challenges.
Ecologically, the gardens highlight native botanicals and their
uses, a small but vibrant echo of St. Croix’s natural heritage. Though
not a primary conservation site, its preservation efforts maintain a
historical landscape that once dominated the island, contrasting with
modern development.