Estate Rust Op Twist

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In the early days of sugar cane cultivation, when the Island was first colonized by the European settlers, each of these estates possessed it's own crude equipment for processing the sugar cane being grown throughout the Island. On the rise behind this Estate Rust Op Twist plantation house can be seen the remnants of the windmill that was once used to extract the juice of the sugar cane stalks.
A large spindle which was turned by the sails of the wind mill, was attached to two large cylindrical milling stones, positioned vertically side by side, so as to almost touch each other. When in-use through the adaptation of an array of gears, the two stones were sent to twirling in opposite directions in unison on a vertical axis. I use the term twirling, as if they were batons, but these stones weigh-in at two or three tons each.
The thick green and fresh sugar cane stalks were then fed through the gap between these two monstorous rocks, spinning in opposite directions as they were powered at times by the seemingly unstoppable force of raw wind power. The juice that was squeezed from the raw plant was collected in caldrons, set to boiling by fires stoked with, what else, dry sugar cane stalks! Molasses was the spoil from this process, however this thick brown liquid made a perfectly fine grog when fermented,distilled and aged; we know this product as rum. Most of the Caribbean Islands were used for the cultivation of sugarcane and processing into sugar.
The ancient windmills, smoke stacks and other sugar cane harvesting and processing buildings and implements are scattered throughout the Island. At one time there were more than 300 estates, compared to the 140 estates extant on St. Croix today. The remaining ruins have been either incorporated into the design of homes, or are awaiting restoration, hidden from view by years of overgrowth.
A visit to the Estate Whim Plantation in Fredricksted, it's on the Centerline Road; also known as Queen Mary Highway. The curators can demonstate how the different equipment was incorporated into the art of making sugar, molasses and rum from the sweet drippings of the mill stones of the sugarmill.