Existing comment:
Reef Bay Sugar Mill
St. John, US Virgin Islands
Built 1800s
The sugar industry on St. John began to collapse in 1848 with the abolition of slavery in the Danish West Indies. Plantations that continued their sugar operations used steam power instead of slave labor. However, depleted soil and foreign competition lowered sugar prices, leading to further decline. After a severe hurricane in 1916, Reef Bay Mill, the last in operation. closed, and with it, the sugar era on St. John came to an end. |