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orm No. 10-300 , \0'">*^ UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM fH0S0<X FOR NFS USE ONLY Sff££J receiveiAUG 1 5 1971 DATE ENTERED FEB 17 TO SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN HOWTO COMPLETE NATIONAL REGISTER FORMS TYPE ALL ENTRIES - COMPLETE APPLICABLE SECTIONS [NAME HISTORIC Estate Prosperity AND/OR COMMON LOCATION STREETS NUMBER _NOT FOR PUBLICATION CITY. TOWN Frederiksted ^ VICINITY OF congressional district 1 STATE yi ,T~qi n Islands CODE 78 county St^ Tlroix^ CODE nflpn HcLASSIFI CATION CATEGORY _DISTRICT 4tBUILDING(S) —STRUCTURE —SITE —OBJECT OWNERSHIP —PUBLIC ^-PRIVATE —BOTH PUBLIC ACQUISITION —IN PROCESS —BEING CONSIDERED STATUS ^OCCUPIED —UNOCCUPIED —WORK IN PROGRESS ACCESSIBLE ^YES: RESTRICTED — YES: UNRESTRICTED —NO PRESENT USE X_AGRICULTURE —MUSEUM —COMMERCIAL —PARK —EDUCATIONAL ?_PRIVATE RESIDENCE —ENTERTAINMENT —RELIGIOUS —GOVERNMENT —SCIENTIFIC —INDUSTRIAL —TRANSPORTATION —MILITARY —OTHER: HOWNER OF PROPERTY NAME Frances Christensen STREETS NUMBER P,0, Box 65 CITY, TOWN Frederiksted vicinity of St. Croix, Virgin STATE Islands Hlocation of legal description COURTHOUSE, REGISTRY OF DEEDS,ETC. RecordeT of Deeda STREET & NUMBER Government House CITY. TOWN nhri .cfhi anKtftd . Kh. Croix STATE □representation in existing surveys TITLE V.I, Inventory of Historic Places DATE June, 1977 —federal ^Lstate county —local DEPOSITORY FOR SURVEY RECORDS V.I, Planning Office CITY, TOWN St. Thomas, Virgin Islands STATE DESCRIPTION CONDITION CHECK ONE —EXCELLENT ^OOD —FAIR —DETERIORATED —RUINS —UNEXPOSED —UNALTERED -Altered CHECK ONE X_originalsite —MOVED DATE. DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (IF KNOWN) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE Prosperity lies one mile north, of Frederiksted, in the West End Quarter of St. Croix. Originally a sugar plantation, Prosperity also retains evidences of the period when it was one of the largest producers of cotton in the Danish West Indies. The complex includes a great house, chapel, overseer's house, numerous large animal pens and stables, a steam powered sugar factory, and a slave village. The great house, now three stories in height including a high cellar, was originally only two, the upper floor being added sometime in thp mid-lSth Century. The house is rectangular in plan, seven bays by three, with a three story gallery at the west end. The walls are rubble masonry, stuccoed, with a brick belt course at the first floor line. There is no watertable, and only a simple projecting roof cornice. A long straight flight of brick and rubble stairs, flared at the bottom but not of the "welcoming arms" design, lead to doiible doors centered in the first floor level of both the front and rear facades. The entrances have glass transom lights with louvered blinds and panelled shutters serving as doors...The front (south) entrance is protected by an ex­ ceptional lattice work porch with scroll work resembling that found on some houses in Frederiksted. The roof is hipped, with corrugated tin as the covering. A two-story gable roofed cookhouse is appended to the northeast corner. There is also an open air nightclub directly to the north of the great house, with a shed roofed dining area. While visually distracting, the construction of the cliob has caused no physical damage to the house. The plan of the great house consists of a wide central hall with £ living room to the west (left) and dining room to the east (right). A wide stair hall runs two-thirds of the width of the house, with a Small office behind the living room occupying the remaining portion of the rear. The living room, three by two bays, has plastered walls with a wood ceiling and a good wood den tilled comice. There is no chair rail. The windows, which are not the typical floor length, and the pairs of double doors opening to the hall and the porch, are finished with molded archi­ trave trim with corner bullet blocks. The jambs of all openings are splayed. The hall door and a door in the wall between the living room and the office have raised panels, vdiile the exterior porch door has the typical louvered blind and panelled shutter combination. The wood base has a molded cap. / The center hall repeats the dentilled wood cornice, wood ceiling, plaster walls and architrave trim to the exterior door and the openings to the living room, rear stair hall and the dining room. The exterior door has splayed jambs, but the opening to the rear hall does not. The dining room features an exceptional wood archway separating the room into two spaces. Resting on wood pilasters, the arch has panelled in- trados and soffit, with a wood keystone, but the spandrels are open. Form No. 10-300a (Hev. 10-74) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE 1NTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM FOR NPS USE ONLY -: 1 .AUG 151977 RECEIVED'' DATE ENTERED FEB 17 1978 CONTINUATION SHEET ITEM NUMBER PAGE One The three chair rail height windows, with splayed jambs and molded archi­ trave trim, in the south facade are repeated in the blind wall separating the dining room from the stair hall, with the central opening a door. All windows have louvered blinds and pannelled shutters. The ceiling is wood with a molded wood cornice, the walls are plastered and there is a base mold with cap. The cookhouse, located at the northeast comer of the house, at floor level, has an open, wood trussed ceiling and roof structure, a lime concrete floor and plastered walls. There is a single window in each of the east and west walls. The north wall is taken up by the charcoal range, but the pyramidal chimney hood has been removed. The rear stair has 18 risers in a straight run, with a molded handrail supported by turned balusters, two to a tread, and turned newel posts, all of which is mahogany and of excellent quality. The design of the balusters is repeated in the balustrade that runs the full length of the stairs opening at the upper floor level. The upper floor consists of five bedrooms located in a line along the front facade, with a nursery at the west end of the hall and a later bathroom at the east end. The first and fifth bedrooms have three sides of a wood tray ceiling created by the plane of the hipped roof. The other bedroom opens on to the three level porch. The four walls dividing the bedrooms eire board partitions, with four panel doors interconnecting the five. The exterior wall (north) and the longitudinal wall between the bedrocans and the hhll are rubble masonry, plastered. A small (17' x 33') one story chapel is located off the north west corner of the great house. One by two bays and rectangular in plan, the chapel has a gable roof behind a crow step gabled south facade, which has a heavy board door. The walls are stuccoed rubble. Ruins of a below grade tunnel connecting the chapel to the great house cellar remain. A 20th Century open shed has been added to the east wall of the chapel. A large (approximately 15' x 90') rubble stable with a shed roof, of undertimined date, exists north'of the chapel and great house, connected to the cookhouse by a high rubble wall. A vaulted roof rubble cistern, still in use, remains west of the great house. Further to the northwest is a two story hipped roof overseer's house. Seven bays by four and rectangular in plan, the long walls are arcaded, full length at the upper level, and opposite the middle five bays of the lower. The walls are stuccoed rubble and the roof corrugated tin. Form No. 10*300a iHev, 10-74) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF fflSTORIC PLACES INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM FOR NFS USE ONLY RECEIVED AUG 151977 DATE ENTERED rSiiiii FEB 17 1978 - CONTI NUATION SHEET ITEM NUMBER PAGE Two A later two story porch has been added to the west end wall. Additional animal pens and stables are located west of the overseer’s house, with rubble perimiter walls and wood fencing separating the pens. There is an exceptional belfry with a storage space below built into the south wall of the pens. Foundations for another animal pen remain south of these pens, just east of the sugar factory. ■^e factory is now in ruins, but remains show that it was two stories in height, with rubble walls, and was square in plan. The north half of the structure was divided into five rooms by rubble partitions. This area is largely intact and was the part of the factory given over to the processing of cotton grown on the plantation. It had its own gin and other processing machinery, but nothing remains from this activity. The steam boiler room was located in the extreme southeast part of the factory, with the tall square tapering chimney still in existence, but deteriorated. Parts of the cast iron flywheel and other machinery from the sugar processing period are scattered about the interior and the exterior of the factory ruins. The area opposite the boiler room is divided by a rubble wall, six bays in the lower level and nine in the upper. The east wall of the factory structure, most of which is still standing full height, has six bays, with all openings and comers lined with yellow brick. A romd tapered rubble tower for a wind powered well exists north of the factory. Nothing remains of the machinery or sail loft. East of the factory and running in two parallel rows to Prosperity Road and the shore is a slave village, consisting of four rubble, hipped roof cottages, square in plan, with two to a side. Ul SIGNIFICANCE - PERIOD —PREHISTORIC —1400-1499 —1500-1599 —1600-1699 —1700-1799 ^1800-1899 -Xl 900- AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE - CHECK AND JUSTIFY BELOW __ARCHEOLOGY-PREHISTORIC —ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC ^AGRICULTURE ^^architecture —ART —COMMERCE __COMMUNICATIONS —COMMUNITY PLANNING —CONSERVATION —ECONOMICS —EDUCATION -LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE —ENGINEERING —EXPLORATION/SETTLEMENT —INDUSTRY —LAW —LITERATURE —MILITARY —MUSIC —PHILOSOPHY —POLITICS/GOVERNMENT —RELIGION —SCIENCE —SCULPTURE —SOCIAiyHUMANITARIAN —THEATER —TRANSPORTATION —OTHER (SPECIFY) —INVENTION SPECIFIC DATES BUILDER/ARCHITECT STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE Prosperity is one of the roost coroplete examples of a large plantation complex remaining in the Virgin Islands. The great house, simple on the exterior, has impressively detailed interior spaces and an exceptional entrance porch, yet is representative of the large plantation residences of the period. The smaller overseer's house, factory ruins, with perhaps the only remaining ruins of the once thriving cotton processing industry represented by the ginning room, and the extensive remains of a series of animal pens and stables contribute to the understanding of the workings of a large plantation, further highlighted by the existence of the slave village, which is second in importance only to the village at Estate Slob. The architectural signi­ ficance of Prosperity lies not only in the individual structures but in the importance of the entire complex, a completely self sustained community. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Danes joined other European nations in securing colonies in the West Indies. The Danes hoped that their colonies would provide them with a permanent site for their trading and commercial interests. Agriculture was to serves as a supplement to the income provided by commerce and trading. ^5 1 ■I St. Croix surpassed the other islands in the Danish colonies in its agricultural development and proved to be more beneficial to the Danes. By the 1780's sugar plantations on St. Croix were prospering. By 1812-1814 sugar production on the island was at its height. There were 175 plantations in operation with 75% of their acreage in cane. After the Napoleonic wars, plantation agriculture begain to decline in the-Danish West Indies.. Sugar production had expanded to other areas such as Cuba and Puerto Rico whose more fertile soil gave them an advantage over the Danish West Indies. Burdened by heavy debt, the planters found it im­ possible to take appropriate measures to maintain the soil. Agricultural methods were generally inefficient and milling operations were wasteful and uneconomic. Europeans added more competition for the Danes with the development of the sugar beet industry. Absentee landlordism made it difficult to maintain sufficient control over the plantations' production . Slavery, which provided the planters with, cheap labor, was abolished in 1848 and, with the increase in operating expenses, many plantations discontinued production. Qmajor bibliographical references Dookhan, Isa,ac, A History of the Virgin Islands of the United States. Epping, Essex; Bowker Pviblishing Company, 1974. Lewisoln, Florence. St. Croix Under Seven Flags. Hollywood, Florida; The Dukane Press, 1970. EDgeographical data ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY_________ ^ UTM REFERENCES 170 46" North Latitude 64® 52' 56" West Longitude a| , I I I , I , , I I , 1 t 1 . , I ZONE EASTING NORTHING J. , I . . I I ■ I . I , . ZONE EASTING NORTHING Pj . I I I ■ I I . I I ■ I . I . . I VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION The nominated property is located in the West End Quarter of St. Croix on Parcel #1, Estate Prosperity off Mahogany Road. LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES STATE CODE COUNTY CODE STATE CODE COUNTY CODE HIform prepared by Russell Wright, Annie Hillary NAME/TITLE ORGANIZATION DATE V.I. Planning Office STREET & NUMBER P.O. Box 2606 TELEPHONE 809-774-1730 CITY OR TOWN St. Thomas, STATE Virgin Islands E0STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER CERTIFICATION THE EVALUATED SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS PROPERTY WITHIN THE STATE IS. NATIONAL___ STATE X LOCAL As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89-665), I hereby nominate this property for inclusion in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according to the critena^^^^^^^ure^et^^h b^^|^ah^iaU’ark Service. STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER SIGNATURE TITLE DATE /f 7? FDRNPSUSEOHLY J HEREBY£ERTIFY THAT THIS PROPERTY IS INCLUDED IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER DATE iiuoTOPwe nncocn' DATE ^ ATTEST ■WWflBHAL RCOIOTEft Form No. 10-300a (Rev. 10-74) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM FOR NPS USE ONLY RECEIVED AUG 151977 F£8 17 1978 DATE ENTERED CONTI NU ATION SHEET ITEM NUMBER PAGE Three • 7 Zabriske, L.K. The Virgin Islands of the United States Of America - Historical an(3 Descriptive Commercial and Industrial Facts, Figures and Resources; New York, 1918. McGuire, James William. Geographic Dictionary of the Virgin Islands. Special Publication No. 103 (Serial No. 269), United States Coast and Geodatic Survey, Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C., 1925. Recorder of Deeds Office, Christiansted, St. Croix rI ePO 692 455 ^ r^lTBAOM CiAlM z:&4Tr^ r^s ,,£5D^seeefenl4a2S ■i;cc>c.i-4.£USt^ 2h. c,^oy state Y. 2 ■ 77. /3^G ^S0oaT9-T TECHNICAL Photos__ E_ Maps __ L_ CONSOL il,A!L , uo ■. !id nri 1.1. An/ir-Y)A X lAC^t fp J CU P'**._ HISTORIAN y t U ■; v7 /f ^1-a.Acy yio^Mri^ (? CnrsA^yeSir - '/tC^Mdl.LCZx^ /j'iyVL^tjtl^^-^ - w\0tyO <;/■ /^ ] <53u^ /7_ /l& AA^^^ ^ ARCHITECTURAL^ HISTORIAN ■‘=t> 7^ -Z ARCHEOLOGIST ^^ 5HPa u»»s ioflb-j sW Hi^v^ i'* 5v*v^ v|-»| ^Cm(^ U>**m |m Vwr4 rv •*** :*viJ ir OTHER 7. ►\ UH^ l< if ■v»>...v«4>-w! sir^ HAER Inventory Review a/ J REVIEW UNIT CHIEF WaA^IJ.’X. CsyMy^OLftt VflS&v)^^ ^hh&> BRANCH CHIEF % -7 _f. KEEPER ^ ^<7/7? Send-back National Register Write-up Federal Register Entry ^• y- 7^ Re-submit Entered f£B j 7 1978 INT;2 106-74 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service WASO No. 7 V. f .. V. 4'- i. |V ENTRIES IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER state virgin islands Date Entered FEB 17 1978 Name Hafolia Great Hoesa Vectas ElU ■v,' J-r- Estate Perseverance Bafeaslsht Estate Hogansborg Instate Prosperity Estate ISomt Victory HNS Santa Nemlea Estate Neltjeberg lion* Ron De Lugo Regional Director, Southeast Region 88G Mott/js 3/1/78 Location Charlotte Analle vicinity 8t* Thostas Island Charlotte Amalie vicinity St* Thomas Island Charlotte Analle vlclx\lty St* Thomas Island Charlotte Amalie vicinity St. Tbotaaa Island Chrlstlansted vicinity St* Croix Island Prederlksted vicinity St* Grolx Island Prederlksted vicinity St* Croix Island Coral Bay vicinity St* John’s Islaxsi Charlotte Amalia St* Thomas Island -h. Also Notified a a j", ’.n''-I 3 State Historic Preservation Officer Hr* Thomas Blake Planning Director, Virgin Islands Planning Board Charlotte Amalie St* Thomas, Virgin Islands 00801 •V. I I I- pwws OWNER fiPflivuTE DSTAU DMUNICIPAL DCOUNTY PMULTIFU DFEDEBAKagency name). 2)NAME as it appears on federal register: Estate Prosneritv ^OTHER NAMES'. /^date of entry ; FEB 17 19: /^county code'- 0 0800 (5) LOCATION street & number city / town vicinity of 1 tni. N of Frederlksted Frederlksted state! V.I. 1 county St. Croix (gjNPS REGION Southeast NATIONAL REGISTER DATA SHEET administrator ; SEwstEt wsieitB wstMr ■ :|3KS, AUiE......................... - ' " '-■ mm existing surveys DHABS DhaeR □nhl|@f'Jnded-> Gyes DHO |®congress. district ! 1st [(©SOURCE of NOMINATION 3STATE □FEDERAL 0«O il state who prepared term? □ local DpriVATE ORGAdlZATlOH ^CONDITION □ excellent □ good □ fair □ deteriorated □ ruins □ unexposed □ unexcavated □ altered □ unaltered □ reconstructed □ excavated □ original site □ moved □unknown @£eatures'. GSUDSTANTIALLY INTACT-1 o-DSUBSTANYIALLY intact-2 ^GSUBSTANTIALLYINTACT-S 2DN0T IMTACT-O 2g not INTACT-O OQNOT INTACT -O "□UNI(M0WN-4 "PUNKNOWN-S >PUHKN0WN-6 ?□ MOT APPLICABLE-7 P^r-r------------- - z- uiPNOT APPLICABLE-8 iPNOT APPLICABLE-9 ^ACCESS PYES-Restricted □ YES-Unrestricted □ No Access PUnknown (©ADAPTIVE USE OYESDNO® SAVED? DYES IS PROPERTY A HISTORIC DISTRICT? □ yes □ no ^ AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE • □ ARCHEOLOGY-prehistoric-2 PCOMMERCE-6 □ ARCHEOLOGY-tiistonc-l □ AGRICULTURE-3 □ ARCHITECTURE-4 □ ART-5 □ COMMUNICATIONS-? □ CONSERVATION-8 □ ECONOMICS-9 □ EOUCATION-10 □ ENGINEERING-11 □ ENTERTAINMENT-26 □ EXPLORATIOM-12 □ HEALTH-27 □ INDUSTRY-13 □ INVENTION-14 □ LANDSCAPE ARCH.- 15 □ LAW- 16 □ LITERATURE-17 □ MILITARY- 18 □ MUSIC- 19 □ PHILOSOPHY-20 □ POLITICS/GOVT.-21 □ RELIGION-22 □ SCIENCE- 23 □ SOCIAL/HUMANITARIAN-24 □ SOCIAL /CULTURAL-30 □ TRANSPORTATION-25 □ RECREATION -28 □ SETTLEMENT-29 □ URBAN PLANNING-31 □ OTHER (SPECIFY) ^CLAIMS: explain ^first’D ‘ oldest’ □ ‘only’ □ ^functions WHEN HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT: CURRENTLY: ^dates of Initial cinstructlon: major altoratiotis: liiotoric ovents: ETHNIC GROUP ASSOCIATION ^architectural style(s): ^architect: ^master builder: ^engineer: ^landscape architect / garden designer: ^interior decorator: Q artist: partisan: ^builder/contractor: & NAMES give role A date ^personal: events: institutional: ^NATIONAL REGISTER WRITE-UP reviewers initials. .date. IIP ADDITIONAL SPACE NEEDED. NUMBER & PUT ON REVERSEI